We are preparing a 1965 Mustang Coupe.

There are honestly 5 coats of paint and primer on top of the original coat of paint, which was Wimbledon White, and two coats of primer - red and grey - under the Wimbledon White, before you get to the bare metal.

We want to sand everything we can before we turn it over to our body shop / paint man, in an attempt to trim some cost off of the total bill.

Should we sand down to the bare metal, or should we sand only down to the original Wimbledon White and stop there?

Please advise as we will begin in about four days with this effort.

Thanks,
Dan of Troy

 

All I can say is be careful cause you can warp the metal and have a wavy car. What are you using to sand?

 

Well if you go down to the metal it will require a different kind of primer to spray on first. However it might be the best for doing the body work and stuff because you wouldn't have uneven body panels because of the paint on them.

 

use a stripper not sand paper.

 

I semi-agree with Glenn. Probably be better to use a stripper, or maybe media blast if possible.

Thing is... if the paint is otherwise stickin' then the only reason to take it off is unevenness, or it's overly thick. So I'd sand it until it's smoothed out, then shoot it immediately with an epoxy sealer primer, followed by a filler primer, then sand THAT smooth. Then shoot it with the color.

Pretty much what I did with Muskrat, but I did the flat sand (with paintsticks, by the way, on the long panels), bodyworked where needed, then shot the epoxy primer, then filler, sanded flatish, shot another medium coat of filler primer, sanded THAT flat, then we shot the Enamel color on that. Stuck like glue, and I didn't take off the 4 other colors under it (in order, Red metallic, black, white, baby blue. Go figure.)

So Muskrat had 5 coats of color, not to mention the primers I did to flatten her panels out. Of course, I shot her with '88 Ford Mustang Oxford White, which helped matters greatly, and put it on a little thick. Single stage, just sanded flat and buffed out. Tada.

Again, it's all about the stickin' of the previous paint. If it's stickin', then you can leave it... unless it's just THAT unslightly/unnerving to ya...

I'll go ahead and say, though, that the more paint, the heavier the car, and of course, the thickness could be a factor in it's doing something untowards later. Sealing it is crucial, as long as it sticks. If you're lookin' for a 20 year paint job, media blast and start over from scratch like you ought to. A 4-6 year paint job? Just do what you need to, it'll probably be ok, just be ready to do it again sooner if you keep it.