Marine Blue

That aluminum looks cool sanded down! I think others are right, this car would look sweet with a polished exterior. The lines on the car really stand out with the light reflection.

Look forwrad to seeing your end results Russ and thanks for posting progress.

FBIII

Russ, approx 10 hours labor to where you are with the stripping and priming? All I can say is holy sh.....
That's amazing. You must have a DA in each hand.

MPDano

Wow impressive accomplishments so far. Are you going to paint her the same color? I really like it!

largecar379

if one were to try to run the aluminum "polished", the only way I see to do it is removing the paint chemically. and that opens another can of worms---

As you can see in the pics, the grinder puts some pretty good scratches in the aluminum, too much to try to bring back smooth for polishing.

I hate to think of the hours necessary to sand it back perfectly smooth---60 paper, then 120, then 300 or so, then out to 400, 800, then 1000 and finally polishing with 3 different stages of jeweler's rouge......

I've repaired scratches in my aluminum fuel tanks (on my Peterbilts) before, and it's a real headache.......

and then you have to keep polishing them every 3-4 months to stay on top of it. What to do about the steel sections? just leaving the unpainted aluminum sections would be weird....


--Russ

largecar379

yes Leo, going back "Oak Grun".

Removing the spoiler, hood crest, and then it's the lower windshield panel, hood, and the remainders of the front fenders today---nice weather.....

--Russ

largecar379

would have been a little less had I been more aggressive with it, but wasn't sure about how the aluminum was going to react to the 36 paper.....didn't want to gouge or burn it. not sure I'll use the 36 on the hood though, it's pretty thin. probably use a fiber type wire wheel I've got to do it.

--Russ

Fabio421

36 grit is way too coarse IMO. Thats why its going so quickly. I have never started with anything coarser than 80 grit on an automobile. When you are doing the body work, keep this in mind. If you can feel it, you will see it. The smallest scratches will show up in the paint. The darker and shinier your paint is, the harder it will be to get it to look perfect. I notice a large ding inder your passenger side rear quarter window. Try hammering that out or pulling it out before applying any filler. Also, when you are blocking the body after primer, spray a light coat of black on the area you are working on. This will help you see the high and low spots easier instead of a sea of light grey. Lighting the car from the sides and bottom will also help you to see imperfections. The aluminum will need an etching primer. Your sales rep at the paint store should be able to fill you in on all of the details.

Keep us posted. I am enjoying this thread and follwing your progress.

largecar379

Thanks Fab---


The key here is I will not be doing the body work, I'm just doing the paint removal, per my resto guy's instructions.

all rust area blasting, body work repair (dings and dents), primer and paint application will be done by some who knows what the heck their doing!!!!!

I'm just the flunky paint remover------

(Ooops....better get back to it---)

--Russ

BC

All the memories are flooding back of my work on the 78 now. When you sand the metal, how were you planing on keeping the galvinization? Or is that no longer a concern? On the aluminum, I used a two stage pre-primer process to alodine the aluminum.

I hated doing all this when I was doing it, but now I look back and think of it in a postive way.

BC

And unless you enjoy the smell of burning plastic, then you should have the bumpers media blasted.

largecar379

Yep, Brendan you're thinking like me. the rust areas, bumper covers, and what ever remains that I couldn't get to, will be media blasted.

I was going to have the whole car blasted, but that was a $1500 bill.

If I had my body guy (Paul) do the paint removal, it was, again, going to be a $1500 bill 'cause he'd just send it out to be blasted, too.

as for the galvanizing, Paul will be using a primer that has galvanizing in it (or something like that, I'm not sure exactly what it is, but he knows what he's doing). Anyway, we discussed it, he's aware of that issue.

As for the real deal body repair (a few minor areas), primering, block sanding, and paint work, I'm leaving that stuff to my resto guy. He knows better what primers to use, those that work with the PPG paint he uses on his HEMI car frame up restorations.

I did finish the final paint removal today, just need to do the minor stuff before getting off to Paul's shop.....who knows when I'll get it back.

--Russ

NickT

What are you using to shoot the primer with?

largecar379

just spray can primer from my local auto parts dealer (NAPA).

it's for aluminum (for doors, good, front fenders), and galvanized steel (the rest of the body panels).

this first coat is only anti-rust (for steel sections) and anti-oxidation (for aluminum sections), until I get it to my body shop guy. there is more work to be done before serious primering, block sanding, etc., starts......

--Russ

Fabio421

Russ,

Don't forget that there is paint under the front spoiler. Are you planning on leaving it in place? Do you plan on painting it?

largecar379

spoiler is coming off later today, then taking the paint off there when I also remove the paint off of the windshield lower valance. (extreme lower) body side paint will be removed when it gets to the body shop (have to take the sidepipes off to get to it). everything else will be media blasted.

My resto guy will be painting it--I could do it myself, but I don' have the facilities or equipment to do it. Better to let the Pro do that........I'm just the flunky paint remover.

--Russ