Starting restoration, some general questions

[wim van wesemael]

Hi there, 

 

I've stripped my 02 touring to the shell and am now left with a very dirty and rusty body. 

I was going to start replacing sheet metal but now I'm a bit puzzled. 

Obviously some cleaning and sanding must be done before I can weld.

But would it be better to sand the whole car (and remove everything sticky like sound proofing) and then begin welding? In what order should I tackle this? 

 

Also it would seem the underside has a gray rubbery coating covered by a sort of white paint and then the typical black undercoating. The black and white stuff shoots of with an air chisel but the gray goo is next to impossible to remove even with a wire wheel. I'm assuming sand blasting isn't going to work either. 

 

Do I need to get to absolute bare metal for a respray? This gray rubbery coating is really annoying to get off and I'm a afraid that I'll always have a smear left somewhere. 

 

Thanks, 

[joysterm]

The issue you have identified is on the underside of the car I am assuming,  so depending what level of restoration  you are looking you may have some choices. Are you doing the work or are you going to enlist a shop to media blast the underside. I think you will find a few media choices to get to a "clean slate". The more of that crap you can remove the better in my view. You will end up with a true picture of what metal work has to be done to address all the now exposed issues.

 

That said, be mindful of who and what type of media is used  if you are going to media blast the project. Walnut, glass bead, soda, are a few that will work depending on the the material that has to be removed. https://www.graco.com/us/en/contractor/solutions/articles/how-to-choose-the-right-blasting-abrasive.html

 

Left in the hands of a inexperienced person you can easily turn it into a warped mess by over heating  the metal.

 

Good luck with your project.

[wim van wesemael]

Thank you for your input. 

Will media blasting cope with the rubber like substance? 

[stephers]

Not usually, it is a real b*&&*h  to get that stuff off       I found that the only way to get it off is a series of different sizes of wire wheels         Good luck with everything

 

Thanks, Rick

[tech71]

If its truly stripped to a shell, why not dip the entire car?

That will definitely cope with rubber like substances, paint, rust, dirt.

Not cheap but neither is hours and hours of blasting, wire wheeling and associated nasty ass clean up.

Maybe someplace like this near you...

These guys even offer epoxy primer paint services now and they have an 02 specific price list?

Our Process | Metal Dipping

METALDIPPING.COM

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» Our Process | Classic Car Acid Dipping to remove paint &rust

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by tech71

[Mike Self]

If you're gonna do some welding on the body, suggest cleaning/stripping down to bare metal only in the area to be welded--to prevent any unwanted fires.  If you stripped/sanded the whole car first, you'll have all that naked metal for air to get to and form a thin coat of rust.  Even if you can't see it; it's there and will affect primer adherence.  

 

Once you have all the new metal welded in and ground down, then you'll be ready to strip the whole car, primer and do any necessary filling/skimming of seams, low spots etc.  

 

mike

[wim van wesemael]

I had the idea to coat the bare metal in some kind of primer... 

Either a red metal etch primer or a zinc weld through... 

When I have some substantial areas clean I'll put it in epoxy primer. 

[Oldtimerfahrer]

Dipping the whole thing is easiest, especially if you want the best result with the lowest time investment. Then prime and weld.

[Son of Marty]

From my research the dip place in Oregon will charge you to remove all tar and undercoating left on the shell, it screws up the dipping liquid. Heat gun and scrapping will get it done.

Edited December 23, 2021 by Son of Marty

[fjord-tii]

My car was media blasted on a rotisserie, which was great, but the blasting media kept falling out of the weirdest places months later. Fortunately did not get into the paint job.

[wim van wesemael]

I'm a little reluctant to dip it (if I'd figure out where I could). I'm sure some corrosive residue will remain somewhere and start to mess up the paint. 

For now a heatgun and scraper followed by a wire wheel does seem to work on surfaces but of course plenty of areas hard to get to. 

I have what I need to blast over here but I'm reserving that for those corners etc. 

I guess this is just going to take ages... 

[CoastalCrush]

I stripped my touring with a grinder, some abrasive wheels and a mini orbital air sander.

Edited December 24, 2021 by CoastalCrush

[BarneyT]

For better feedback as to what you made need, please post pictures of your car…but what Mike said is correct…

[Mike Self]

One of the most miserable weeks I spent working on cars was the one on a creeper, flat on my back wearing long sleeves and long pants, a shower cap and goggles--in July--scraping old undercoating and rust from the underside of my '49 Fiat Topolino station wagon.  Didn't dare remove the body from the chassis--it's a real woody and I'd never get things aligned again.  

 

The underside of the body came off clean and unrusted--the old undercoating came off with a paint scraper followed by a Kurly Kate pot scrubber dipped in thinner.   The frame required sanding--mostly by hand 'cause I couldn't get a power sander into the crannies.  Then a wipedown with surface cleaner and spray can primer.  Yecch.  but at least it got done.

 

mike

[wim van wesemael]

Thanks for the pictures. Looks like the only thing I'm short on is patience ?

It does come off and I do get to bare metal like this. 

I've noticed you took the nose off (which I have to do as well). You didn't brace the front end of the chassis between both sides. 

Should I be doing this? I'm a little worried about taking off to much panels and distorting the body... 

Thanks a lot for the info. This keeps me on track.