Hello everybody here at this forum. This is my first post so I hope I don't make too many mistakes.I retired from my job 2 years ago so I decided to try and prep and paint my truck.
I have a question on how far I should sand the truck. I had a body shop here in town paint my truck 6 years ago and now it has the clear coat peeling off all over the body,not just the hood and the roof. My question is: do I have to sand the truck down to bare metal or can i just sand to get rid of the clear coat. It also has 3 very small dents.Most of the body is pretty straight.I started sanding about 3 weeks ago and if I had known about this forum before I started,i would of asked the pro's here. So far I have used 180 grit to get rid of the bad clearcoat.I used a DA to do that.After using 180,I used 220 and than 320. It looks pretty smooth right now. I made sure that there were no shiny areas anywhere. On the dents,I took it down all the way to metal and used body filler.
I sanded the filler with 36 grit,than 80,and 180 so far.Not done yet on this area. So,I would apreciate some help with this project.My neighbor says I should go all the way to the metal but I would rather take advice from persons that know more about this.
Thank you all so much for your help,advice,or suggestions on this project.
Mando

with out looking at it i would get some 80 grit or even 36 grit and take it to bare metal, you'll have a much better job in the end. and besides you have a lot of D/A experience
Jay D.

Good Morning and thanks for the welcome. If I take it down to bare metal,I undersatand that it will be very susceptible to rust. Once i get it to bare metal, should I prime it with a 2K primer/surfacer or a different type of primer? I don't think I want to use an epoxy type of primer unless you guys think its the best primer to use.
One more question: The same shop that painted my truck also sprayed the bedliner. That was coming off too.Looks like the guy didn't even sand or scuffed the bed enough for that coating to stick to the bed. I went ahead and took off all the sprayed on bedliner that he put on with a wire wheel and than used a polycarbide wheel to really rough up the bed so that the new spray will stick good this time. I am just a beginner on this type of work but I really like it and enjoy this type of work. Oh,my question? When painting the complete truck and also spraying the bedliner, do I spray the body first or is it better to do the bedliner and than the body/ Thanks for your reply and help with this project.

Strip to metal, spray two coats of epoxy primer on the bare metal.
(Note: you can spray your new bedliner directly over this.)

For the rest of the truck you will need to do your filler work, block sanding it into the epoxy primer. Cover the filler areas with more epoxy primer and then shoot your 2k build primer and start the block sanding process to get it straight.

why wouldn't you want to use the epoxy on the bare metal? do you have a shop to work in or are you doing this outside.
Jay D.

Ok, sounds like the best primer to use is the epoxy primer since i'm going down to bare metal.Thanks for your advice on this. I do have a shop in my back yard that is 24x24 that I built to work on my personal car and truck.I have been doing mechanic work since i was 18 years old,as a hobby,not a professional but good enough to keep my own cars running.
If I can do a good job on my truck in the body work and painting,I will be able to save a few more dollars. Since I am retired,that is of great help.I really appreciate all your help and advice. I'm sure I will have more questions on this project and i am glad that I am in the right group to get my answers. Again,thank you kindly.

good to hear you have a shop to work in. if you want, you can sand just a couple panels and then spray them with the epoxy. then your good for a few days so that you don't have to worry about surface rust. do the hood and front fenders then mix a small amount and spray them. do the doors and the cab next and so on .
Jay D.

poolguy01 wrote: Oh,my question? When painting the complete truck and also spraying the bedliner, do I spray the body first or is it better to do the bedliner and than the body

I always do paint first, then liner. Reason for this is that you can extend paint under the liner, giving you an overlapped joint for better protection than a butt joint where the two layers meet. It means that your masking, when you do the liner, has to be really good (that stuff gets everywhere and you can't get it off) but I usually use the plastic on a roll which works well.

There is a special masking tape that has a thin string line on one edge. Use this for clean edges. Normal tape isn't strong enough to cut through the liner.

Thanks to all for your great advice. I have heard that you cannot sand the epoxy primer,is this true. I would like a primer that I am able to sand and be able to use the guide coat so that I can see my highs and lows. Some of my questions may be kind of dumb but keep in mind that I am just learning and hope to learn enough so that I can work and paint my own vehicles and maybe my daughters cars too.I need to stay busy and not be a couch potato.
With the help of the pro's here,I hope to accomplish this journey.
Can you folks here recommend a good brand of primer and a good brand of paint and clear I can use on my truck. Its an older truck bought in good shape.I bought it brand new in 94 and have kept it in good shape. I am going to the local salvage yard to see if I can get me a junked hood so that I can practice until I think I have it right.

Whoever told you that epoxy cannot be sanded needs to be ignored from here on out.

Epoxy primer has an open window where you can apply filler or top coats without sanding. After that window has passed it needs to be sanded before applying anything else.

You will need to read your Technical Data Sheet for each product you purchase. Check out the Store Front tab above for a good selection of reasonably priced materials.