Here's what I did to get my car ready for paint.
Tools/Materials:
** Filler (crestnetsales.com) -- Evercoat "Z-Grip" filler (FGE 282) and "Metal Glaze" (FGE 416) polyester finish worked well for me. They can be mixed together to give medium viscosity. A gallon of z-grip was more than enough for the entire car.
** Fileboard (crestnetsales.com) -- Norton 80 grit blue magnum (NOR 23608) and Norton 120 grit champange magnum (NOR 31689). Used 1/2 box 80 grit and 45 yard roll of 120 grit.
** Supplies (crestnetsales.com) -- clean sheets mixing palette (GLE 1800), spreaders (CRS PPS1), cheese grater (USC 80596).
** Tools (eastwooodco.com) -- 6" palm sander (31171) for 80 grit; flexible 15" sander (31143) for 120 grit; 5.5" tear drop sander (31156) for tight spots.
Good prices on filler, fileboard, and supplies at
Crest Industries.
Metal prep:
* Body off, disassemble to shell.
* Metal work as required -- rust repair, hammer out dents, panel replacement, etc.
* Body and parts stripped to bare metal by pro's (Class "A" Powdercoat, Sacramento) -- call hot rod shops to find pro stripper in your area -- don't trust rusty car to ammetuer blaster (panel warpage/rust blow thru).
* Primed with epoxy sealer
Body work:
1. Roughen dented areas with 80 grit to remove gloss of epoxy primer.
2. Wipe with laquer thinner to clean surface.
3. Apply filler.
4. Used "cheese grater" file to shape globs of filler after about 5 minutes. After 20 minutes, use 80 grit to knock down shaped filler then block sanded with 120 grit. Change paper often and let the paper do the work.
5. Refill low spots as required.
6. Prime bare metal spots.
7. Seam seal as required.
Cost/Time:
* Tools and materials cost about $250.
* Paint stripping and priming cost $580 (body, hood, deck, running boards, bumpers, handles, headlight assy, fuel tank, misc. pieces)
* 60 hrs labor in body work (much longer than would take a pro).
The body work turned out good. It was hard work, but rewarding to see the results. At $60/hr shop rate, I think I saved a bunch of $ even after buying the tools/materials. Having a pro strip and epoxy prime the car was well worth the money. I couldn't imaging doing as good a job with chemicals or sanding.
The body is being painted next week. Porsche Lapis Blue / 2004 GT Silver with PPG.
Attachments show stripped and primered shell.