Doug wrote:
> 1. I assume the general steps would be: Take it all apart
Very important in there, take lots and lots of notes, lots
and lots of pictures, and leave sub assemblies together when
possible.
What you DON'T want is a 5000 piece 3D jigsaw puzzle. You
can forget so many details over a few weeks.
> 2. Stripping paint- do I just get out the sander and take it to metal or is
> there a chemical stripper recommended?
I prefer a high speed sander, but there are valid reasons on
both sides of the argument.
Strippers make a lot less dust, but it's sometimes hard to
get all of the stripper out of the crevices and such which can
ruin the next paint job. But they are very complete, and don't
run the risk of warping the metal.
Consider carefully if you really want to strip the entire
car right to metal. I have seen cars that started with perfectly
smooth panels that had been done by a good body man, often
at the factory.
They were then stripped to metal needlessly, and then not skimmed
nearly as well by the hobbyist. The result, he can proudly say "I
stripped it to bare metal" but the panels are wavy and the
car is worse for it.
Obviously if the car has 50 coats of flaky paint, you have
no choice. But accept that even on never restored cars you
risk sanding away expertly applied smoothing materials, and
you are going to have to do that work over again to the same
standard.
This is a painstaking and exacting process of spreading
or spraying 100g of surfacing material, and sanding 99.9g
of it off, over and over again, until the surface is truly
perfect. You end up with only a trace of filler or thick
primer here and there, but it's the step that makes a
panel truly smooth and ripple-free.
> If I strip a section, should I treat
> it with primer or something to prevent rust if it's going to be a while
> before I can paint?
Absolutely. This is another problem with strippers, you might
strip areas you cannot easily repaint, because the stuff runs
everywhere, into seams, and so on.
> 3. What about the rust?
>
> As near as I can tell the damage to the inner
> sills is limited to a inch or two on the end. Do I replace it all or fix it
> up?
You'll have to cut the outer sill off anyways, and when you
do you get a great look at the inners.
--
Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
"For lucky best wash, use Mr. Sparkle!"
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