Well the paint is just about a year old, so i dont think it will be that hard for it to come off. Where do you buy this chemical stripper? I might try that just so I dont have to sand it. Is it hard to use?

One year old?
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Tom
Something always leaks.

Yes, a friend and I sanded down the old original paint when I bought the car at East Fest of last year. We didn't do nearly enough prep work and after we had done it (he shot it at his shop's garage), it looked great for about 3 months. Then it started bubbling like crazy, and I started to see more and more rust coming through. So after the past months I have been redoing the body work, piece by piece. I just want to get it painted properly this time.

Cleaning is important at every step. The one most often neglected is the first. Remove all the bolt on parts, then all the wax and grease. You're removing inviseable contamination at this point, but failure to remove wax can cause failures for the rest of the job, and may force you to mix your new paint with a compatible contaminate. The failures are called fish eyes, and the paint additive is called fish eye remover. You do not want to experiance this problem.
Primer color does not matter. Use all cataylized, compatable products of the same brand when possible. If not, allow lots of dry time.
Sand paper grit depends on your next step. Strip paint with 40, followed by 80. Shape fillers with 36 followed by 80. Shape puttys (scratch fillers) with 80 followed by 120. Block sand primers with 120 and 180. Final grit depends on your choice of top coat.

WTA wrote:

Well the paint is just about a year old, so i dont think it will be that hard for it to come off. Where do you buy this chemical stripper? I might try that just so I dont have to sand it. Is it hard to use?

if your paints good, i wouldn't strip it unless there are several old coats under it...i'd just sand it with 320 or 400, seal it with epoxy, block it with 2k filler then paint

chemical stripper can be bought for cheap at home depot or any hardware store....i spray it on, wait for it to lift, then scrape the old paint off with a plastic trowel

if you do chemical strip, key is to make sure when finished, that it's all washed off...otherwise, it can and probably would lift the paint from underneath

When I first painted the car, we just sanded down the original paint, so it is entirely possible a little is left over. The surface, as it is now, isn't all that bad. I will most likely just end up sanding it down. I also got a good start on the removal of exterior items; the airdam, flares, bumper, rain gutter trim, front turn signals and lights, rear light assemblies, bmw and 2002 emblems, and the two side grills were all removed today. As to the center "Kidney" grill, do any of you know off hand what size the nuts are that holds it on? I cant seem to get anything to work. Also, I was wondering how neccessary it is to get off the trim around the windows? I really don't want to get involved there because they are in relatively good shape. I may remove that chrome strip that is directly below the window, since I have done it before. As to the big chrome strip that runs around the middle of the car, I removed and patched that. Finally, would it be possible to rent a trailer of some kind to get it to the shop? I really don't feel like risking driving it there, even though it is a rather short trip. Thanks for all the help.

Will

another option is to take it to a professional blaster. It intails you removing everything, but they take the entire shell down to metal in about a day. Usually runs 3-500$
It would be worth it to me, just to save the hassle of all of the sanding.

TK

couple of things that helped me, bought a book from the local community college that has a program in auto body/painting. Also got a complete prep guide from the local auto paint store where I dropped some major $$$ on supplies. This was a three ring binder that explained everything to do to prep a car for painting using their products - Glasurit.

Even with careful prep I see some sanding scratches.

The ending prep has to be baby butt smooth, 600 grit typically, wet sanded.

One more item, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT spray primer without proper protection, ESPECAILLY proper ventilation. This does NOT mean a dust mask. This stuff is REALLY bad, serious toxic, and not nice stuff.

I took my car to a local shop, sort of a MAACO independent and discussed what I wanted, slipped the guy a few extra $$, had them fine tune the work and it came out pretty damn good. Sent about $500 on supplies, $1100 at the shop.

Thanks for all the help. I will definitely look into getting a book on paint prep. I am somewhat leery about using maaco, just because of the horror stories I have heard. The maaco in the next town over from me, is co owned by a guy who is in love with 2002's. I brought it there about 4 days before this past september's East Fest at Limerock, and he really liked it. He even offered to buy it off me on the spot. He actually atteneded East Fest after I told him about it. I would feel a little bit safer if I was to use him. I would try my hand at pianting it myself, but my house doesnt have a garage, so Im kinda of beat on that front.

Thanks Again

Will

Pulled off all the exterior pieces and equipment today. Lights and everything. I was really suprised how easy it is to take all the stuff off. Next step is sanding down.