Advice needed

[Nick-Rackham]

I've got two paint removal / preperation questions that I need advice with.

I'm slowly getting all the old underseal and crap off the chassis and underneath. It's a combination of underseal over hammerite over either original paint or previous underseal!

Once it's cleaned off as far as I can with scraping etc I'm thinking of treating where it's surface rust with a wire brush, metal ready, wash off, dry thoroughly and acid etch then red oxide. Trouble is, there's a lot of the old underseal "spread" in places that no amount of scraping will remove, just moves it around like treacle! So I need to know what's the best way of getting this off. Once it's off what's the best way to prep for acid etch? quick rub down to give a key? wipe with thinners to clean? I'm kinda stuck with this as to what is best to do! I want to do it properly so it lasts and I don't have to strip it all and go again! I've already got metal ready, acid etch, red oxide, stonechip and waxoil and was hoping that would treat it, seal it, protect it and ...... (hopefully last!) Open to all suggestions ideas etc

The next thing I'm thinking about is how to remove the many resprays she's had!

I've got a really thick Neptune blue over beige/yellow primer, over red oxide, over metallic blue over white primer and then the original paint. So what's the best and quickest / safest way to get back to the original paint?

Many thanks in advance for all help advice and guidance

 

[67panel]

striped a hand painted bus once ,nitromors wodant touch it so used a DA sander(air powered)and 80 grit pads,need a good box full best bit is it wont damage the metal.

 

[james_stan]

My view might be different from others but here goes anyway..

These busses are old and almost all except those raised in Arizona will have some rust and
rot. In Europe this can be quite a lot of rust and rot. However this is over a 40 year/150kmiles period and so the fact that the bus, your bus has an MOT ain't bad.
If you can't poke a screwdriver through the underseal and into the box sections then why strip it all back indiscriminently ?

I agree that taking out proper rusty metal is a good thing but let's not get carried away, after all we need to spend some time using these dratted things.

So if you can weld up the bad bits to a point and rustproof so it lasts another 40K miles then even that will probably see most of us through a 15-20 year use cycle by which time there'll be no petrol left anyway and we'll all look that gyrocopter pilot in MadMax II.

My point is that I think it's possible that one can get carried away during 'restoration' it's all a case of where do you draw the line between doing the mechanics for a hobby or going travelling for a hobby. I guess part of he problem is that due to rising prices the 'make do and mend' approach is somewhat frowned upon.

Sorry about all that - bit of a post pub babble but I hope you get my drift.

JS

 

[dubs and classics]

If you get the worst of the underseal of with a wire wheel, the smeary stuff thats left will wipe of nicely with white spirits on a stiff paint brush.

Acid etch primer is for bare metal really.

A DA is the best for not damaging panels, however if you really do have lots of layers to get rid of then a mule skinner is effective. They can build up heat if you dont keep them moving though. They do wear out pretty quick as well but are probably the quickest way of getting rid of deep paint.

 

[lilblue1970]

The fact it's so hard to remove suggests it's doing it's job. If it ain't broke etc. We all wish everything looked pretty but really it's about practicality. My bus has all sorts of layers of history on it and while it's working I'm leaving well alone and it's not just me being nostalgic.

 

[type2tattoo]

I used some stuff very like WD40 on the underseal which loosened it up really well and made the job a lot easier, it was called ferrosil? or something similar from Bilt Hamber but was quite expensive, maybe WD40 will do the trick? worth a try

 

[Nick-Rackham]

Thanks for all the replies guys and girls really appreciated

On the underneath question, the thing I'm probably most concerned about, taking into account that I want to use it not spend my life polishing the chassis! is that most of the underseal and hammerite is OK, but it's not until you get stuck into a bit that suddenly a huge piece falls away revealing rust, so I guess that I'll probably continue as I'm 60% there anyway. I'll have a look at the white spirit / Billet? stuff to see if that'll make life easier. I need a good surface to work on. The underneath between the chassis rails is just surface rust and hasn't been treated with anything, just the odd bit of original primer so that bit is fairly easy to wire brush, getting all the loose stuff off and using metal ready. But to the question then of what to do with it after it's cleaned off? Would Metal Ready on the bare rusty bits and a quick key with some paper be enough to put red oxide on with? If Acid Etch is only for bare metal would it not work on keyed original paint? Would Stone Chip over that and then WaxOil be enough for the next few years?

I'll leave the paint on the body where I can for the moment, I really want to use it this year and not spend all my time and holiday getting it perfect!

 

[ProfessorWheeto]

If I was doing my underside again I'd use UPOL Raptor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKDpYIT6VkA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Although its marketed as a truck bed liner is a direct application product (goes straight onto bare metal, primer, topcoats etc)
It contains rust inhibitors (same as a good quality primer)
It's over paintable so we've been using it as a stonechip on sills etc, but it also doesn't need to be painted over, you can leave it as the topcoat.
It comes in black or clear, the clear is tintable to ease coverage when painting over the top.
It's a two pack product which is mixed in the bottles supplied, all you need to do it is a mask, gloves and a stonechip gun.
Gives a really nice textured finish too and its so easy to use its unreal.

So yeah if I were you I'd clean the rest of the crap off, give it a good panel wipe down, key it up with P180, panel wipe again and then raptor it.

As has been posted above P80 on a DA is probably the safest way to strip the paint, the flap discs and other grinder abrasives people use can generate a lot of heat and if your not careful its easy to warp and bow panels.

 

[Nick-Rackham]

Many thanks, that UPOL Raptor looks good. I like UPOL products, always seem to do what they're supposed to and good quality. Do you know if it would be OK to use over Metal Ready. I've done quite a bit of the underside that was rusty with this and it's cured and come up good. Washed it down to make sure it's OK to over paint.

Thanks again

Nick

 

[type2tattoo]

Have a look at the bilthamber stuff http://www.bilthamber.com/search-products.php?cname=Degreasing%20::%20Cleaning" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I used the ferosol to clean it and then painted it with hydrate 80, it looks great and shiney over a year later

 

[chicargo]

have you tried a electric heat gun to get the underseal off ?. i think once you warm the underseal up a bit should come off a lot easier, just be carefull around fuel lines ect

 

[Nick-Rackham]

Hi, yes, heat gun just makes it more "spreadable!" it seems to come off easier when it's cold, guess it's more brittle. I'll keep plodding on with scrapper and white spirit for the stubborn bits.

I'll have a look at the Bilthamber stuff. Looks good but never used it, I've got most UPOL stuff including Gravitex Stonechip so not sure what's best! lots of thinking...........

Thanks for replies

Nick

 

[ProfessorWheeto]

Many thanks, that UPOL Raptor looks good. I like UPOL products, always seem to do what they're supposed to and good quality. Do you know if it would be OK to use over Metal Ready. I've done quite a bit of the underside that was rusty with this and it's cured and come up good. Washed it down to make sure it's OK to over paint.

Thanks again

Nick

Yeah as long as you give it a good panel wipe before application it should be fine.

 

[Nick-Rackham]

Just ordered some panel wipe Hopefully should be good. Many thanks for the advice