I'm trying to settle a dispute with a buddy.

He thinks sanding to bare metal and then painting is a good thing.

I say it's completely unnecessary and maybe even a bad idea because of a risk of rust.

What's the word?

 

if the car has no major body work underneath you could get away with sealing it and shooting it just make sure everything is feathered out real good if you do take it to bare metal make sure you selfetch the car so it doesnt rust

 

Rust/metal is one of those age old arguments that never gets solved, because it's something that's different for every single person. i lived in Southern California, and taking a car to bare metal is a heck of a lot different then in northern california where the weather is always foggy/wet/crappy/i hate it. Any who, taking a car to bare metal all depends on the condition of the panel that you're fixing. if the body is one hundred percent straight, and you just want a color change, then yeah, you can just scuff and shoot, no biggie. But if you have serious damage that you hammer out, then you're going to want to go to bare metal. Ideally, epoxy primer right over any bare metal, then go to work with filler. (There's a debate on that too)

I used to be able to drive around town with a bare metal quarter panel for a week at a time, and no rust at all, because of the climate. Up here, I look away for 30 seconds and you get rust. SO I'm not apt to sanding to bare metal anymore.

 

if you dont need to go to bare metal.. its best not to. you can use the factory paint job... or factory primer/e-coat as a basis to start. since the factory e-coat gives u the best protection and adhesion why would u wanna get rid of it?... riddle me that

 

 

It all depends on what you're doing and how much work you want to get into. If you were doing a complete color change, I would at least want to strip the front clip down, mainly because of rock chips and what not later on. Also, if the car's been repainted quite a few times, it's best to knock it back so you're not 10 layers thick, whether you're sealing it or not. Who knows what lies underneath that finish you're looking at unless you've owned the car since day 1 or have already stripped it down previously...