Seeking advice for major paint touch up and body work

[epowell]

Hi Folks

When I bought my van it was all one solid colour (freshly painted and rust repaired) and looked all pretty nice.... ....but over time bondo started cracking in some areas, and other areas where the rust was not dealt with properly, started bubbling thru, leaving me to have to dig in and do some major rust re-repairing... etc etc.... the result is what you now can see in the 10 fotos below.

Of course there is some seam rust to deal with... and a little bit under the window seals in some areas.

Otherwise my goal is to essentially get the thing looking relatively presentable. I'm not interested in perfection, and I will like to be able to drive thru bushes from time to time and not worry about getting a few scratches - but on the other hand, the way it looks now is pretty sad. The major ugly spots are where I put on a bit of bondo, then painted with green colour epoxy primer - that's all, and no leveling and flat sanding or anything like that.

Right now I am looking to get a grasp of the big picture, and formulate a game plan for dealing with this in April - to be really for a Summer trip.

I guess the first thing is to
- grind out all the rust... seams, etc...
- Next would be to treat the metal
- then fill the seams
- then fiber bondo, then fine bondo, then flat sand.
- then epoxy primer...
- FINALLY, I am intending to buy some top coat - hopefully the same colour - and apply that with a roller, then do some serious flat-sanding... and polishing.

I guess the part that I am most concerned about is getting the top coat to look decent.

Anyone done this kinda thing before??

Thanks
Ed

PS - lastly I'd like to paint the wheels also
and also repait the custom bumpers gloss black.

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www.edwardpowell.com

[4Gears4Tires]

I think everyone here has done this before. It seems to go hand in hand with vanagon ownership. You have a solid plan. Make repairs as small as they need to be and no larger.

Wear a leather/heavy duty apron if you intend to wire wheel for an extended period of time. Which it looks like you will be doing. Use a wire wheel on and angle grinder, not a drill. Just go nuts with the wire wheel and enjoy the absolute chasm of despair after you see the amount of work in front of you.
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'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition

[dobryan]

[djkeev]

[epowell]

Thanks guys....

I am intregued by the concept of a WIRE WHEEL on an angle grinder. I have never done that. What I generally use are small grinding bits on a Dremel. Is that an inferior option?

I guess the obvious thing I didn't mention is that wherever there is rust coming thru (especially seems) I am going to have to somehow access the reverse side to see what is going on there......
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www.edwardpowell.com

[smeeegheeead]

[epowell]

[4Gears4Tires]

Definitely get wire wheels for the dremel and for the drill for the those successively smaller places where the angle grinder can't reach.

Get several different profiles too. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=types+of+wire+wheels+ang...;ia=images

Just look at all these choices. A cup style like smeeeg mentioned is a good choice. I'd also get a concave style and then 2 different flat styles. One that is twisted and one that is not twisted. The twisted wire style will tear through some stuff. Be careful with it. It will also save you a lot of time.

Because I hate to constantly switch attachments I find that having 3 angle grinders is a good way to work. Obviously you could buy more, but 3 seems like it works out well. 1 cut wheel, 1 grind wheel, 1 clean (wire wheel). Having 2 is acceptable. You will be really annoyed with only 1.
_________________
'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition

[alaskadan]

Don't tell anyone, but I take the guard off of the angle grinder because it just gets in the way. The dremel is way too wimpy for most of this work, had we known you've been doing all this work with a dremel we would have suggested more power a long time ago Ed. I like the braided wire cups and wheels. Especially the braided wheels with the threaded arbor. After you use it for awhile the wires start to lean one direction and get a little less effective. Flip it over and now they are leaning into the cut and really hog material off.

[epowell]

Yeah.... strange - I remember being surprised when the dremel method was suggested to me here - I assumed it would be too wimpy... but went for it anyway and have been using that for years now. It's very convenient but sometimes SLOW!

So there you go - - - never get too confident to stop asking for help. I already learned something to save me tons of time!
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www.edwardpowell.com

[alaskadan]

Yep live and learn . You may be tempted to buy the 16 dollar harbor freight grinder, I did. I went through a few of them doing as many car restos. They work but thats about it. If you value the cartilage in your hands pay for a good name brand grinder. Dewalt, makita, Milwaukee etc. Right out of the box they will be way smoother. I have to wonder how my wrists and knuckles would feel today without the hundreds of hours behind a HF grinder. I ran them into the ground until they melted or the gearbox ground to a halt. You know there was a little vibration going on. A side note, grab a couple of the 1/16" thick cut off wheels for it. Great for cutting out bad metal and very good for grinding down welds with a small point of contact its easier to stay right on the weld and not adjacent metals.

[4Gears4Tires]

Possibly it was mentioned in connection to the seams? Getting inside there would require a very small wire wheel.
_________________
'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition

[fleetwood41]

Not to high jack the thread, because I don't really have any advice, but I do have questions. You all seem way more experienced at this rust work than I am, although I have done tons of other work on my rig.

I'm in the exact same boat. I use the hell out of my van as a camper and a daily driver but I have some bad spots that need attention sooner than later and want to do the work myself.

So is the ultimate goal just to remove ALL visible rust down to bare metal?

What will you use to treat the metal after rust is removed?

What will you use to refill the seams?

Will epoxy primer survive on it's own? How long? Is the top coat mandatory for longevity? (This is the part that I could really screw up, but I'm not looking for perfection either.)

Thanks for any help! And again, sorry if I'm high jacking this thread but it looks like Ed has some attention and the good information is coming forward.
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1987 2WD w/ 2.5 Subi & Poptop Conversion

[epowell]

[alaskadan]

Read the instructions for any paints and primers you buy. Most have time frames for topcoating before you have to sand and or prime again. Etching primers really help adhesion. I don't get the whole roll on paint job thing. It just makes a big job tougher imho. If someone was going to be OK with the results of a rolled on paint job then a 50 dollar spray gun will best that. Is it no need to mask everything off? Either method the windows should all be removed so masking is a piece of cake. Spraying is faster, flatter and you won't have to sand off half of it. Maybe if I lived in a county where spraying that kind of material was illegal or something.

[fleetwood41]

Agreed - the flat sanding, or just about any sanding, seems to be an art form! I don't understand how the good ones do what they do with body and paint.

Again, thanks to all for your input and advice.
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1987 2WD w/ 2.5 Subi & Poptop Conversion

[epowell]

[epowell]

[skills@eurocarsplus]

imho...

ALL of that bed liner has to come off. that stuff is evil and i can't stand the stuff when used on body panels.

there was a used car dealer here that LOVED that stuff. we use to call it "smith brothers black" because every car they sold had the lower 10" with that stuff plowed on hiding a spray foam and dura glass job.

the problem stripping that stuff is that once it heats up, it just smears. i'd suggest a crud thug to strip it. a wire wheel is going to heat it up too much
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[fleetwood41]