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strip and prime, thoughts?

ehall

NAXJA Member
NAXJA Member
I'm slowly working on my 91 beater, and one of its big problems is the faded paint. I'd talked to a buddy with a body shop and he gave me a good deal but unfortunately I have to get major engine work on my daily driver Cadillac so ... I'm thinking about stripping and priming the XJ myself. I'll still need him to replace the floorpan and repair rust spots but for now I'm thinking about getting some stripping pads for the angle grinder and laying on a couple coats of primer.

My short-term goal is to get it one freaking color instead of trailer-park camouflage. Long-term, the idea is to just keep putting on primer as body work gets done (repairs and also fender trimming and whatnot, maybe a top-off conversion, etc), and then finally paint it for real sometime in the upcoming winter.

What do you guys think about those stripping wheels? They will take all the paint off, I know that much, but will they do much damage to the metal? Will it save me any time on sanding? I'm going for efficiency here, but that also means not creating more work down the line.

What kind of rattlecan primer should I get for bare metal?

Anything else I should think about here?

Thanks
 
Instead of using the flapper discs for your grinder I would get a orbital sander, whether it's electric or air powered is up to whether you have a compressor or not. Get that and get some sandpaper to fit it around 80 grit that will eat through the paint and primer already there. As for rattlecan primer it depends on if you're going with a light or dark color paint, if light then go with normal grey but if going dark then get black. When I redid my rear bumper I used self etching primer (was a nasty booger green color) but after spraying it on it was dry within 10 mins. But a good self etching or sandable should work just remember to put on several light coats instead of 1 thick to prevent any runs.
 
You would save yourself a ton of time and headache if you didn't go to bare metal.

The factory prime coat under the paint should not be screwed up under your faded paint. Just sand down to the primer and topcoat it. If you go through the primer to the metal and you don't use the correct primer (something you're not going to find in a rattlecan at walmart), you're asking for a lot of trouble later.
 
RedHeep said:
You would save yourself a ton of time and headache if you didn't go to bare metal.

The factory prime coat under the paint should not be screwed up under your faded paint. Just sand down to the primer and topcoat it. If you go through the primer to the metal and you don't use the correct primer (something you're not going to find in a rattlecan at walmart), you're asking for a lot of trouble later.

X2 If it is just faded I would do that. You can just sand it down with 400 and top coat it if its all just faded. You really do not have to bring it all down to the primer. Opinions will differ about that but thats mine.
 
Okay, I read up some more about epoxy primers and that does seem to be a bit of a problem.

The reason I was thinking about going to metal is that there are some areas where the paint is chipped and pitted, and sanding them down would be a huge amount of work. It would be easier to just use some paint remover and a stripping disk and be done with it.

Another problem is that I'm having a lot of trouble getting rid of the old adhesive under the rocker trim panels and emblems. A wire brush on a drill got most of it, but some of it just swirls around instead of coming off. And in that situation it would be easiest to just strip it all off and start fresh too.

I don't want to buy an air compressor, so what is my fastest easiest option here. Keep in mind this is going to be a stump-runner, that I will do a lot more body work before I am ready to pay for real paint, and all I want right now is a consistent color.
 
RedHeep said:
You would save yourself a ton of time and headache if you didn't go to bare metal.

The factory prime coat under the paint should not be screwed up under your faded paint. Just sand down to the primer and topcoat it. If you go through the primer to the metal and you don't use the correct primer (something you're not going to find in a rattlecan at walmart), you're asking for a lot of trouble later.

X3 cut through the clear coat, put on some good sealer primer, sanding primer or filler primer (depending on your sanding skills).

Another good tip is to put on a thin top coat of black gloss or semi gloss (actually better). Primer really doesn't keep the moisture out well and the thin coat of semi gloss (to be sanded out before the final coat) lets you see the imperfections really well.

I'd invite a couple of buddies over and wet sand it with 220. The edges and the corners are what actually take most of the time and are best done by hand. Anything other than a rumba sander and your likely to sand too deep. An orbital sander can be used on large flat areas or to remove most of the clear coat.
 
If you wann ado it and not have to do it again in a year go down to the metal. All you have to do is shoot it with a good self etching primer. If you know anything about prep and painting and have a good air compressor, an angle grinder, a varible speed drill, and a good paint gun then it should only take you about 24 man hours to get the job done. Now I figure its gong to cost about 400 bucks to do it from start to finish but its money well spent. If you dont get the rust down to the metal and fill the pits it will just pop and peel anything that you put over it. I doing mine now just the rough spots for now (under the flares). I found that the short strand fiberglass filler seems to work best for the first coat. Then I do a skim with regular poly bondo. then Primer and paint. But this is the absolute best for getting down to the metal the fastest!
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Just make sure to wear a respirator when using it it throughs fine dust EVERYWHERE!
 
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