lowchevytrucks8503

iTrader: (1)

Need to get my pickup back to bare metal without damaging it? what grit sand paper will remove the paint and surface rust without hurting the metal? and what kind of sander is best?

viciousknid

iTrader: (8)

backing soda blaster works wonders if you can come across one.

outlawz2004

iTrader: (18)

DA sander works good. You could start off with an aggressive grit like a 60 or 80 to take off most of the stuff if the paint is real thick(had to do this on a 57 chevy with about 6 coats of paint on it). I usually just use some 100 or 120 though. Takes a little longer, but wont leave a bunch of scratches or remove metal around the small curves or bends.

Raffman

iTrader: (9)

Why do you want it to bare metal?

lowchevytrucks8503

iTrader: (1)

over 50% of the truck is covered in surface rust.....if you can find my garage theres pictures of it. I'd like to do it right but I don't have the money for paint yet so I was going to have someone primer it and paint it flat black for now until next summer unless I win the lotto!

fastnblu

iTrader: (2)

I've never used a backing soda blaster as Joshua said, but blasting w/. that is an option. I've also heard of walnut shells & other things. Some say sand as a media pits metal depending on how coarse. It gets everywhere & when painting, can rear it's ugly head as loose grains of sand pop loose. Blasting w/. any kind of media will be quick. Then ya gotta get to priming before metal oxidizes over. If you've ever sandblasted, ya know what I mean. If blasting w/. anything, the shop will know if u ask the right questions.

outlawz2004 said he used a DA sander.He used an aggressive grit like 80# & it'll take it off fast, but as he said, & I will, it's aggressive. Those aggessive scratches will need to be followed up by finer less coarse scratches. 180# will take longer but if ya miss some of those scratches it'll be easier to remove w/. yet finer scratches. So it's 80 for speed, but be warned or 180. If going coarse, use a DA or try to get your hands on a 8" DA. I call that a bondo hog.
If u have primed & only primed, moisture is attracted to that. So know u at least should go beyond that stage to prevent surface oxidizing on primer. I see round here all the time, but IDK how long before that takes to occur. Again, in TX, you're prolly drier than here. If u can't figure it out, I hate doin things twice.

U live in TX, so that surface rust could sit on there doing lil harm IMO & is only an eyesore. U don't leave in a rustbelt state where u have to worry bout rustout/ rusting thru. If u can wait, I'd do it when u have the $ the following summer like u stated.

viciousknid

iTrader: (8)

I watched a thing on Youtube from a show about the guys that build the GT500 eleanor for people. They find old beat up mustangs and sand them down with a Baking soda blaster. It would rip the paint right off and was soft enough to not damage the metal any.

You can check out clips of soda blasting on Youtube. very fast process. Wouldn't mind picking up a blaster one day just to have it.

outlawz2004

iTrader: (18)

Blasting would save a ton of time sanding, but if all he has is surface rust, a DA sander will take car of that fairly quick.

lowchevytrucks8503

iTrader: (1)

I'm not sure what it would cost to have the truck blasted. I live in a small town and i'm sure that there is noone here doing it. I have thought about it though... I know normal sandblasting will most likely warp the panels that's why I was curious to see what grit of sand paper to use even though it's going to be more labor intensive. not to worried about the labor part. If I use the 180 and primer the truck and leave it in my garage until I have the money for paint will it still surface rust in about a years time? Oh and thanks for all the help guys I knew someone on here would have the correct info.

Raffman

iTrader: (9)

If you're in texas I'd leave it til your're ready. There's paint striping discs out there that will do a decent job on rust . I would get it as clean as possible absolutely no moisture then epoxy prime it. Keep in mind you will have to sand that epoxy thoughly and recoat before you paint it.