Hi Brad,
Thanks for the question.....I'll do my best to help you out.
First off, I don't remove any good paint by sanding, stripping or sand blasting. I attack each area as needed. If it's rusty then I'll sand blast it. The scratches, chips and dry paint in the original CARC were all sanded with 80 grit on a DA until they were removed or sanded flat and ready for prime. The CARC takes a lot of time to sand it and get it ready for prime. Take your time. It will all be worth it in the end. The prep work is the most important step in a good paint job. This way, when I go wet on wet with the primer there is no additional sanding or prep work necessary. I’m basically eliminating a step to speed things along.
Each panel and part was removed, painted, re-installed and lubed as necessary. I like to hang all my panels this way I'm able to paint the entire piece all at once. I like to use lacquer primer and go wet on wet with the 383 green Gillespie paint.
I must admit though. The body is in very good condition to start off with. It didn’t require much if any sand blasting. There were a few dings and dents here and there. Just a little hammer and dolling took care of them with out the need for any finishing plastic at all.
It didn’t take me much effort on my part to get the body up to MV standards just time. Don’t forget, I had spent 11 years in a body shop fixing new cars.
If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll be more the glad to help ya out.
Cheers,
C’dub