MGA Forum

I am no where near working on the body but of course I am thinking about it. ;-)

My body has only a tiny bit of paint on it, the rest is a heavy coat of surface rust on ALL surfaces. So far I see no rust damage in the sills etc.

I have been exploring media blasting options and the more I do so the more I am inclined to spend a lot of "quality time" going at it with a wire wheel. I live in a metropolitan area so the idea of blasting on-site is out.

Since the paint is all gone, maybe it is reasonable to take this approach. My biggest concern is how good a job I can do especially up under the dash area and other nooks and crannies. I am on a tight budget so throwing money at it is not an option. Otherwise I would dip it.

Anyone else take this approach? Strip and prime. Repeat 47 times.


Rich

For body work its best to strip and prime. Usually takes two or three goes (preferably with methylene chloride / phenol stripper, but hard to get now) to remove the paint. Blasting risks deforming the metalwork, but some have done it successfully. Use the wire brush (in an angle grinder) on heavier metalwork, like suspension parts.
Dave H

Strip what? I have no paint to strip! All surface rust.

Rich

To get all of the rust in every nook and cranny with a wire brush and rust remover is almost impossible! Media blasting is by far the easier, quicker, more thorough method to get the rust off and see what you really have! It doesn't cost that much and you can then spend your time and effort on bringing the car back! I spent the better part of two days stripping the seat frames and they won't be seen but I made sure to get as much rust as I could off. I used a wire wheel, a stripper wheel, various grades of sand paper on a palm sander, and finally, Naval Jelly. After thoroughly cleaning the metal, I used an etch primer and then three coats of black enamel. I was able to "bake" the runners but the seat frames were too large so I left them to cure for a month. Did I have to do all of that? Probably not. It was satisfying when it was done but it also made me realize the enormity of trying to do that to the entire body and I quickly decided to pick my fights and send the body, wings, boot and bonnet and valance panel out to be media blasted while I concentrated on the chassis (that's another story for another time.)

I would suggest taking a small part like the valance panel and try to remove the rust yourself using everything I just mentioned. If, after you have successfully completed that task and you wish to do everything (realizing that the valance panel is approx. 1/25th of what you will need to do), then go for it. A couple of thoughts though: #1 It's important to get all of the rust off because if you leave some, it will only come back and then you are in the same boat and #2 removing rust is a thankless job (much like weeding a garden.) If the job is too large and takes too long, enthusiasm can wane and then your project stalls and that's not good! I've known of too many of those happening too! Whatever you decide, good luck and remember that we're here for you!

Lucky you. Wet and dry paper then, working from medium to fine.
Dave H

Thanks Dave and Steven,
This is probably one of those things that is very doable, but only as a thought experiment.

I will remain open to media blasting. I found a local outfit that does "dustless" blasting. Water with glass beads.

Rich

Even if media blasting, unless you plan on painting it very soon after, it's advisable to use a metal prep.

Here's my story.

With the sheet metal work I see done by some of the talented members here I'm embarresed to say I had my body done professionally at a high end (i.e. expensive) shop in PA. The work was done to a high standard but when costs hit 2.5 X the estimate I cried uncle and pulled the body from the shop when about 90% done. I retiring the body to my dehumidified garage for 4 years while I recuperated the expense and finished the chassis myself. At the time I had pulled the body out of the shop they had painted all the panels with an epoxy primer to "protect it" as they knew it was going to sit for a while. I had requested that they phosphoric acid Tx the surfaces first but was told by the painter that "we don't need to do that because we media blast and use an acid etch primer". Haha.

Long story short ... when it was time to paint I used a shop right in Syracuse (that I probably should have used for the sheet metal work as well). Jeff has a very good local reputation but was unwilling to paint over the epoxy primer as everwhere we took the primer down to bare metal there was spot rust and Jeff was not going to have "spyder like" pin-point rust popping up through his work in 5-10 years. We are close to the Canadian border so trucked the body and non-aluminum panels up for acid dipping as this was not a big deal. NY has too many regulations for this type of operation in state.

Not recommending anyone acid dip their car but you do not want any rust on those surfaces under the primer. If media blasting still use a good metal prep prior to painting. Most have some combination of phosphoric acid mixture and you can apply it with the coarse Scotch Bright pads.

Here are some picks of car prior to removing epoxy primer and later on rotisery at Jeff Franklin's shop after stripping the primer and metal prepping.

John

Bottom pic...Whoa, Nelly!

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Dave

Hesitated to post that last pic, ... with all those curves its NSFW. Yeh Baby!

Wow John! That came out great! Gives everyone hope

Wow what a gorgeous paint job!

Thanks, the point of showing off the nice paint job is you do not want to put a lot of effort/money into paint to have it bubble through down the line.

I'd take those Scotch Bright pads with a good metal prep phosphoric acid and scrub the surfaces even if you were going to paint hours after media blasting, wire brushing or what ever method your use. Talk to your paint supplier for final surface recommendations. Jeff at Franklin restoration has his own special mix. He has a bare metal Bugeye Sprite body hanging on his shop wall that he says he will restore someday. No rust years after prep. Some of these preps are better at long term rust prevention than others, they form an oxide or greyish something on the surface, but all contain a weak phosphoric acid.

I use this from Home Depot, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Klean-Strip-1-gal-Phosphoric-Prep-and-Etch-GKPA30220/100406369

Have used it by the gallon to soak and rust remove probably hundreds of small parts. It can leave a gray colored coating if used for long soaking for rust removal. I wire brush or Scotch Bright back to a clean surface immediately prior to priming or plating. Not sure what Jeff uses for final prep with his solution.

My conclusion, after reading all of this, is that I am being delusional. Looking at the underside of my body not only do I see paint but undercoating, that would be a huge PITA to remove by hand. I will plan on doing some sort of media blasting. What is the proper order of operations? Should minor body work be done before blasting? Or before and after assuming that the blasting reveals issues?

Thank you all for sharing your experiences.


Rich