TO STRIP TO BARE METAL OR NOT??

[sixty-niner]

Hey guys, I am going to repaint my charger because I was not happy with any of the work that was done previously.  I have a friend in my body shop class who owns a soda/media blasting business and said that If I paid for materials that he and I could just take it to bare metal one weekend.  My body shop teacher asked me why I wanted to do that?  To him the car was very straight but cheap materials were used. He said I could just sand it down and begin to block with quality primer, sealer, and paint and it would be much faster and I could be driving and enjoying it.  Any opinions?

[Fred]

If it was me, I'd take it back to bare metal. That way you'll avoid any nasty and probably costly surprises later on. You have the opportunatey so take advantage.
It could cost you twice as much later on.
I say do it once and do it right.    

[twodko]

X2

[JB400]

The house is only as solid as the foundation.  If the paint job that is currently on it is showing issues, why bother trying to put a better paint job on top of it?

[sixty-niner]

Good point

[tan top]

bare metal 

[NHCharger]

Another vote for bare metal. Eight years ago I had my 71 Charger repainted. The painter recommended stripping to bare metal but I was on a budget (first mistake). The car had one repaint over the original paint. I said no so he just sanded the repaint down to the original paint and any problem areas were taken down to metal. Ended up having a problem called lifting. The new primers are very aggressive as far as grabbing/gripping whatever they attach to. Where we painted over the existing paint there was a slight distortion if you looked that area just right, also depended on the lighting. Solution was to let the car sit until the paint fully cured, then wet sand, cut and buff. Since I was paying for my son's college education at the time the car sat for almost two years.

[areibel]

I agree, strip it!
The shop teacher is giving you the body shop method- less work means more money in the pocket.  But doing a resto is a lot different than what most body shops crank out- and the differences can cause you headaches if you're going to keep the car for a while.

[bill440rt]

Whether you choose to media blast it or not, take it all down to metal.     Sand, chemical strip, etc.
Just an FYI, but if you choose media blasting you'll need to take the ENTIRE car apart to prepare for blasting.

If you're not happy with it now, you'll be REALLY unhappy if you respray it and any problems start to rear their ugly head again. If you take it to metal you'll know yourself what is underneath.
Like others have said your paint job is only as good as what's underneath.

 

[b5blue]

I agree, get her naked and epoxy prime! (I did it with a 7" sander/buffer from Harbor Freight and a cheap sandblaster.) 

[Charger-Bodie]

Strip it.

[Mopar Nut]

Bare metal, do it right the last time.

[sixty-niner]

Bare metal it is then!

[Fred]

 

[b5blue]

Take pics!
  http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,93378.0.html   

[elitecustombody]

No brainer especially when only costs you in material. Get it stripped and start fresh,

[1970Moparmann]

You got your answer.....