Body work - to grind or not to grind, that is the question. Advice needed.

Not sure what you mean by give up. You already started the process. If it was me I would take it down to bare metal. If you’re going to paint it then do it right. Too time consuming and expensive to redo it later.

If it’s a daily driver then I would do as little work as possible.

Should have added a smiley face or something on #3, meant it tongue in cheek - there's no quit here.

The rest of the body is in primer, and I'll be painting it all, so will take down to bare metal. I just used a flap disc to do those test pieces, seemed to work well without being too aggressive.

I can relate with your comment. I’ve drug my feet for far too long on the bodywork phase. I’m finally ready for the high build primer. It’s given me a second wind to get back on my project.

It would depend on if the paint above the filler showed an signs of delamination. There is nothing wrong with body filler...it exists to even out surfaces, and if its applied correctly it will last just fine. Its a rare thing indeed to see a car that hasn't had some amount of body filler applied to the metal. A piece of advice though...don't use a flap wheel for removing paint. Even the higher grits will eat through metal FAST. Use a dual action sander or a paint remover wheel, or even a soft wire wheel, or paint stripper. The only other time I would be concerned because there is body filler is if there is just too much body filler, but a shallow skim coat is pretty normal. It is worth the effort to take it down to bare metal though to see what you are really working with.

I appreciate all of the advice, I'll pack up the flap wheel and toss a new sheet on the random orbital & go to town. The paint was/is in good condition, but to your point, I'd rather get to the base to see what all I'm working with. Time to make some dust!

Grind? No. Strip? Yes. I use a single-edge razor scraper to peel off the top layers of paint and then finish with a 80# on my D/A.

A flap disc on an angle grinder will cause too much local heat. You will warp panels stripping that way.

jburroughs12 said:

The rest of the body is in primer, and I'll be painting it all, so will take down to bare metal. I just used a flap disc to do those test pieces, seemed to work well without being too aggressive.

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Does that mean that only the fenders still have paint on them? If so, I would remove it all. If not, then it would depend if you're staying with red. If not, I would remove it. I would hate it if I had a blue car and the red peaked through whenever a little piece chips off.

I agree with the others and would also use a gentler method to remove the paint. Flap discs are more for cleaning up welds.

The doors, fenders, trunk lid, and rear valance are red, but the car will be painted ivy green. I have a whole pack of 80 grit sanding discs for my random orbital so am happy to burn through those stripping the paint more gently.

@Woodchuck Thanks for the idea of scraping the paint off with a razor blade - that's most likely the route I will go before sanding primer/body filler down to bare metal.

Best to strip it, then da with 80 grit and apply 2 coats of epoxy. Then do body work and prime. If this is your first attempt at paint and body work check out SPI forum. There is some very experienced folks on there that will answer any questions you have.

For me, I like to do the chemical strip, razor blade process. Works fast, little effort, smells terrible, and it doesn’t create any panel warp. I hate warp!

Yeah but where do you get chemicals now? They removed the methylene chloride

Problem with chemical stripping is you have to neutralize the chemical stripper and usually that’s done with soap and water which will immediately cause flash rust and if you don’t get it all neutralized you will have paint problems.

Based on your pictures I would have zero issues with a scuff and shoot. The last time that car was repainted it was taken to bare metal. It’s done all the time.

I’d scuff the entire car with 180 then go 2 coats of epoxy. It probably would not need much blocking as it’s already blocked. You’re making more work for yourself and could be erasing work already done by a pro, meaning your new work won’t be as good.

Lizer said:

Based on your pictures I would have zero issues with a scuff and shoot. The last time that car was repainted it was taken to bare metal. It’s done all the time.

I’d scuff the entire car with 180 then go 2 coats of epoxy. It probably would not need much blocking as it’s already blocked. You’re making more work for yourself and could be erasing work already done by a pro, meaning your new work won’t be as good.

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Hey Lizer, thanks for your input. As a non-body guy I really like the idea of not intentionally messing up potentially professional body work. I'm happy with the current finish on the parts, there's no bubbling or other major issues on a surface level, so am 100% okay with a scuff & prime.

On the note of primer, I know everyone has their favorites, but I'd be curious on opinions of the Eastwood vs Speedkote epoxy primers. My Eastwood rubberized rust encapsulator and gun just got delivered and I'll be spraying the underbody sometime in the next couple days, but I'm not married to the brand.

Any strong opinions one way or the other for primer?

jburroughs12 said:

Hey Lizer, thanks for your input. As a non-body guy I really like the idea of not intentionally messing up potentially professional body work. I'm happy with the current finish on the parts, there's no bubbling or other major issues on a surface level, so am 100% okay with a scuff & prime.

On the note of primer, I know everyone has their favorites, but I'd be curious on opinions of the Eastwood vs Speedkote epoxy primers. My Eastwood rubberized rust encapsulator and gun just got delivered and I'll be spraying the underbody sometime in the next couple days, but I'm not married to the brand.

Any strong opinions one way or the other for primer?

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I don't want to sound like an opinionated paint elitist *******, but to pretend I wasn't would be a lie. Eastwood is consumer-quality DIY **** and you don't see any pro's using their stuff. There's a reason for that. One of the best epoxies available is made by Southern Polyurethanes (SPI), it's at a good price point too and that's what I'd recommend. A lot of the majors have tried to get SPI to formulate an epoxy for them but they won't.

I'd take a hard pass on the rust encapsulators as well, unless you're not actually painting over any rust. I hate anything rubberized unless it's in wheel wells to deflect rocks.

Woodchuck said:

Grind? No. Strip? Yes. I use a single-edge razor scraper to peel off the top layers of paint and then finish with a 80# on my D/A.

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Read and live this!

Lizer said:

I’d scuff the entire car with 180 then go 2 coats of epoxy. It probably would not need much blocking as it’s already blocked.

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I’m no pro, but laying two coats of epoxy, and then new color, on top of original color seem like a lot of paint.

Blue Blood said:

I’m no pro, but laying two coats of epoxy, and then new color, on top of original color seem like a lot of paint.

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It’s done all the time and I’ll do it too, especially on late model car panels. I wouldn’t do it if the car already has several paint jobs on it but that car has been completely stripped previously, so you’re only going over one existing paint job.

Epoxy and color doesn't have that much mil build.