hey. I want to completely strip my next project car back to bare metal. I want to do this myself, as i dont have the cash flow i used to. Whats the best way to do it? I refuse to go over the whole car with a sander/buzzer, and I was wondering if sand blasting was a possible choice, as ive seen some cheapo sand blaster kits availible! I did a search and it came up with some posts saying that bead blasting is better than sand blasting? does any one know bout this process and can they elaberate on it a bit more?? or does any 1 have a better way to strip back to bare metal?? Thanks guyz Glenn Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

paint stripping my cousin just did it a little messy but if your careful its not to bad its also cheap.

[B]yeah mate ever seen those massive kick ass grinders around. The one which you can put that big chunky sanding disc on they have a rubber disc which is a base pad and then you have the sanding disc on top.When i say sanding disc i dont mean slow effort ive personally used these and man they strip the paint off quicker than you could pull your **** out for 10 gorgeous babes. im not sure what sort of finish you were after back ther in the bare metal but it works well thats all i say. i hope this helps you well its a start, better than a toothpick!!!

just use paint stripper, im starting this tomorrow, talked to my panel beater for ages and know exactly what to do, and hopefully goes the same, i recommend u go to your local panel beater and ask them the same stuff

i am doing an lj torana at the moment. just use stripper, it makes a bit of mess if your not carefull.

Id have to recommend bead blasting as its extremly gentle on the panels and gets to all the place on the car which can be hard to get to with paint stripper or sand paper. Sanding panel with an oribital sander creates heat, heat creates warped panels. Same applies with sand blasting except it seems to leave a courses finish. I had mine bead blasted and it was the best money spent.

Paint stripping is a prick of a job, I've done a complete vl to bare metal, it's messy dirty work, not to mention the burning sensation you get when you get it on your skin! Anyway the results will be worth it. Lots of hard hours work... But cheap as said before. I applied the paint stripper, and then scraped it all off using a razor blade. Worked quite well. Cheers.

why would you strip the paint off anyway, would it be better off leaving the old paint as an undercoat and prepare that to be painted, well thats what they are going to do with my car, which is best and is there any difference in the end result

Quote: Originally Posted by CVLAIS why would you strip the paint off anyway, would it be better off leaving the old paint as an undercoat and prepare that to be painted, well thats what they are going to do with my car, which is best and is there any difference in the end result could be wrong but i thought that if you didnt bare metal it the 20 year old paint might peel underneath? something like that. also if your bare metal it before paint you get a life time warranty on the paint, well in my case neway, whereas if u dont and it peals or cracks etc, it could be blamed on whatever is underneath

if the paints oxidised, peeling cracked etc then strip it with paint stripper. u will usually find its only nessacary on the bonnet turret and boot lid. if the paint on the cars sound and prepared properly theres no probs. theres not many commos out there with 20 yr old orig paint. every vl ive worked ons been painted 10 times.

do it yourself and get your hands dirty... i say paint strip the whole car yourself coz you will know what its like to do something on your own car then pay someone to do it but alot like to pay others to do there cars.. as for going back to bare metal well if the paint is really ****ed as in crows feet like on my calais it will have to go all the way back.. well the car needs to go all the way back to fix afew dints etc but its all fun and games.... Quote: theres not many commos out there with 20 yr old orig paint. every vl ive worked ons been painted 10 times. as for saying that so not true maybe from where you come from it is but where i come front no... the calais sitting in my driveway is the same paint that come off that line when done at holden... the old guys around the corner is the same paint and thats white.. i know it has not been painted as he got it from factory in 1987 and still has the same paint looks after it very well and is always garaged...

i think pertty much every cars had something painted over the yrs even if its just a front guard if u look most cars have evidence of a repair. im not saying there isnt cars out there with factory paint. that said nothing beats factory paint

how much does bead blasting an entire car cost. Including the insides of doors and engine bay etc?

$250-300 2 get a whole car roughly. id pay no more than that

I'm old skool and cheap, I use paint stripper, only downful as mentioned prick to use very messy and highly dangerous as in explosions or damage to your health.

an incident at tafe involving paint stripper a few yrs back, this fellas paint stripping his panel, u use thinners to neutralise the stripper, as hes poured thinners on the panel its spashed thinnes in his eyes. first reaction when this happens is to grab ur eye but he had gloves with paint stipper all over them, so he had thinners and stripper in his eye, a day in hospital. the bloke still sez he cant see properly. lethal **** it is

Wow lots of feedback!! Fu king iinet has been down for nearly 2 days now! But im finally back on the nerd box now I want to take the whole car back to bare metal, as the previous owner stripped it back completley and then sprayed like 20 coats with no primer!!! and now it looks like a abortion!!WHAT A DUMB SH!T!!!!! Also, I didnt take some of my last project back to bare metal so now its crows feeting, even though there is 2 coats of primer. And yes the primer had plenty of time to dry so as it wouldn't shrink! The paint on my next project is thin on some areas, so hopefully wont be hard as some other thicker areas? Yes I agree with MARKOSHYP. The large sanding disk on the angle grinder is affective on the larger flat panels, as i go over that again with 240grit paper on a buzzer makes it nice and smooth and makes rubbing down alot easier! However............ I want to get into all areas such as back of doors, pillars and sill. These are the main parts i want blasted! Also whats the best way to strip the calais eyelids as it think they're a bit more delicate than the rest of the car?!?! Cheers guys keep the feedback comin!!! Glenn Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

someone already said it but a large sander can heat up and warp panels expecially bonnets and turrets and u wont get them straight again. but if u keep the machine moving and dont heat it up shes good. rest ur arm on the panel and if it heats up 2 much stop. if it was my car though id bead blast it or strip it. paint strippers ur best freind if used properly. just hate for ya 2 warp ur panels. vls look horn when there straight as a bullet, nice dark color and flow coated. good luck with it buddy