[jimk127]

I will soon be sanding my 68 to remove the factory original paint. My plan is to sand it down to the factory primer before body work and painting. What is the correct grit sand paper for removing the the paint and not the primer?
Is there a prefered sanding block type or style for hand sanding to remove paint?

 

[katnip302]

My plan is to sand it down to the factory primer before body work and painting. What is the correct grit sand paper for removing the the paint and not the primer? Is there a prefered sanding block type or style for hand sanding to remove paint?

Jim, That sounds like a lot of hard, tedious work. For hand block sanding, I would suggest using paper in the 180 to 320 range. A 3M palm style block is rubber & user friendly for hand work. It will be slow going though. If you consider using mechanical help for the sanding... a jitterbug palm sander or a DA orbital sander might help you get the paint removed a little quicker with less effort (hours).

 

[jimk127]

Jim, That sounds like a lot of hard, tedious work. For hand block sanding, I would suggest using paper in the 180 to 320 range. A 3M palm style block is rubber & user friendly for hand work. It will be slow going though. If you consider using mechanical help for the sanding... a jitterbug palm sander or a DA orbital sander might help you get the paint removed a little quicker with less effort (hours).

I like the idea of using a DA or electric sander because I can work out side and avoid dusting up my garage. My concern is using a equipment may be too aggressive and get into the primer.
If I were to use a DA or electrical sander, what grit sand paper should I use?

 

[clanceman427]

i'm a weekend novice bodyworker, but my experience at home and at bodyshop class was 80 grit seems something to start with, aggressive enough but won't put deep scratches in the metal like a 40 grit disk.

i'll defer to the experienced bodyworkers here, but i kinda take a strip it to bare metal approach. preserving original baked on primer might be fine. but i go to bare metal with a let's do it all approach. i also live by an epoxy primer on bare metal, then plastic filler for bodywork, then epoxy primer over filler, then the leveling primer coats for which to block and prep for seal then topcoat paint. Keep this in mind if you need to fix any dings, which i'm guessing are inevitable no matter how original and preserved your car may be. hell, I found filler under my hood from the factory (it was a nickel sized pin point dent that must have happened at the factory because it was underneath the original forest green paint.

Kevin

 

[jk69cat]

my recomendation is 180 or below, problem areas need 80 or 120 or a sandblaster

 

[1969XR7Vert]

80 grit to bare metal as Kevin said. Anything finer and you'll take as long as my resto has :buck:

 

[jk69cat]

80 grit to bare metal as Kevin said. Anything finer and you'll take as long as my resto has :buck:

well when you resrect the dead , they take that long! my galaxies no different!

 

[CATNAPPIN]

How bad is the original paint? Does it need any body work? Are you going back with the original color? You may not need to take the original paint off, but use it as a base. You could spray epoxy primer over the scuffed original paint. Apply any filler needed over the epoxy primer. Then cover with a high build primer and block to make a slick base. Now apply your paint. I think this would save you from sanding the original paint off if its not peeling, cracking, or flaking off.

 

[Bad69cat]

80 on a DA sander.....I tried higher grits at first - I musta been competing with Bob for longest until I figurd it out. I had to strip mine 3 times 'cause I F'd up the first 2 paint attempts! Also the first DA I had was a used POS that didn't really rotate well. Buy a good one - not a HF one. Money well spent. 3M paper is expensive but it works the best without a doubt!

 

[IECAT]

I would try to use 120-180 grit on the DA, I'd smooth out the orginial paint as close to the primer as possible. Shoot the body with 2K or 3K filler primer and block sand smooth ,apply again as neccesary. Have done multipule times

 

[jimk127]

I don't have a DA and my compressor is not near large enough to supply one. I have been thinking about a Porter Cable electric orbital sander/polisher or wet sanding by hand. I don't want to go to the metal so I feel like I would have better control if I wet sand but that realy does sound like alot of work. Besides some dings the body is in decent shape. There's no rust to deal with.

 

[IECAT]

get the porter cable da electric 5"6" round with adhesive pad, (no loop pads) Check with auto body supply shops or wed sites, buy your sand paper on 100 sheet rolls, cheapest way. let me know