for those of you that dont know, i have some car restoration issues. heres something to refresh everyone's memory:




ok so im in the process of returning my car to stock and i went out and bought a bunch of preparation supplies. there are some heavy spots of body filler that im going to have to sand down, and the top coat of blue paint is thick high quality 1 to 1 mixture. then there is the original coat, and the yellow coat from the previous owner. so as you can see in the second pic i have a lot of sanding to do. so i have a million questions.. any help would be appreciated.

so far i have a
corner sander
orbital palm sander
sanding block
40, 80, 100, 150, and 220 grit sand paper

what is the best plan of action for preparation?
is there 2 heavy a grit sand paper to use?
i know sanding down to bare metal is not the way to go, but how far down should i sand?

any tips would be much appreciated

 

looking at the last picture,hammer and chizel + 7' grinder wheel looks like the best plan of action to me.hope you have an air compressor and a grinder to get all that crap off or your gonna be there forever.

 

i have electric tools.... i hope it can do the same amount of work.... do you know if a grinder can be used as a sander 2? i was thinking about getting one, but i didnt know if they were interchangeable

 

the time and money to bring that car back to stock doesn't seem worth it. it'd be easier to just get a car that has a stock body.

 

i would say im almost there. i have a new bumper coming... working a deal on mirrors and the only other thing is getting it smoothed out for paint. im doing what i can with what i have... i cant go back now

 

can anyone tell me if a grinder can be used as a sander?

 

you should use the grinder to obliterate all that body filler off. if you use a grinder to sand off the paint on body panels that arent filled with bondo you will create a very wavy surface cause of how much torque the grinders put out and you can possibly burn the metal, you should only use the grinder to take away all that body filler,unless you plan on completely stripping it to metal, etch priming it and then doing body work and skin coat on the whole thing, use a d/a sander or your hand to prep surfaces that dont need bodywork.but the spots that do need bodywork, like that panel.by all means use the grinder to knock all that crap off and then do your bodywork to flatten the panel.

 

man, thanks for all the good info! i know i have a long way to go... and some info rather than down talk is appreciated! i have a lot of orange peel and some uneven areas due to a bad sanding job and im afraid that when i start sanding, im going to find some more bad areas that will need deeper repair. ive already found that in the 'rain track/gutter' as it was filled but not properly welded or prepped. not sure how i will fix that though.

 

i started sanding today and ive come across a lot of body filler. some places where i sanded the body filler, i noticed there is bare metal beneath it. what do i do about that? its going to be at least a week before im done sanding so should i do something to prevent surface rust or will it be ok?

 

put some primer over it is all i can think of. keep it from the o2.