What's the easiest way to strip my truck down to bare metal???

At home that is. My plan is this. Tear it down off the frame since I'm gonna build a new frame. Then pick one part at a time (fender/cab/bed/whatever) and strip it to bare metal so that I can prime it and fix any dents or rust. Any spots I can't get the rust off, I will use one of those brush on rust treatments on it to maybe stop the rust on the truck.
What is the easiest way to take it down to shiny american steel? Lets talk Harbor Frieght tools here

Aircraft quality paint stripper.

http://www.tcpglobal.com/autobodydepot/paintremove.aspx

Mechanical means is hard work and can heat and distort panels.

You might try soda blasting. I hear that is alot less destructive than sand and way easier to clean up. My '42 was in similar shape and I slowly sanded and sanded and sanded. It worked good but I would sure try soda blasting if you have a compressor or can rent one? Good luck, looks like a neat project. Thanks for posting pics.

A flat wire wheel on a grinder works well just be easy on big flat spots to not heat up and warp the metal.

Soda blasting is the only way to do it. Expense is in line and no disaasembly or mess. Chemical strippers are tough to neutralize.Find some one in your area and they usually come to you.

Be prepared to preserve what is left afterwards quickly..

I can't pay to have it blasted. It would be too much. It would be better for me to go spend about $50 on a new power tool at HF to get the job done. My air compreesor isn't good enough to use an air tool for it. After a few minutes with a die grinder with a wire wheel on it, the air pressure is gone and I bog out.
I need to get an electric tool. HF had a large sander/grinder for $39. I may try that.

IM,
Just wondering why u'd get rid of all that nice patina? I think it looks pretty good as is!

BoB

I am no expert but if ya slip a couple of singles$$$ under the hood it may strip by itself. Worked for me years ago. Low spped grinder and some scotch pad disc. Works pretty good.

Patina looks great on some builds. The look I'm after with this beauty, patini isn't gonna work. Then again, if I can't get all the dents out and have a nice cab, my plans won't work either.
I picked up a 7" variable speed grinder/polisher. I picked up a bunch of wire brushes and 60 grit discs for it. Started with the knotted wire cup and it worked alright. Tried the 60 grit pads and it comes off like butter. Think this is the ticket. It does leave a rough finish, but I plan on skimming it with bondo or some other product. Then smoothing that out until my surface is ready for paint. I plan on a flat black on the hood/roof and fenders. The nose/grille working inside the fenders to the doors and the sides of the bed will be a Granny Smith apple looking green. Same thing inside the cab. Kind of hard to explain but it's gonna be green apple and flat black.

Air or electric pistol-grip sander and a flap disc. Like these:





You can pick these up at Wal-Mart. Cheap.

Just remember to move around and not stay in one place too long and you'll be fine.

My plan is to strip it down. Get the dents and rust out the best I can. Then body filler to smooth it to the best of my rookie abulties. Them I'm painting it. Well see what happens.

i've used the method you've just found on several jobs....
i use an electric sander/polisher with 80 grit discs (the "hook&loop" stuff from 3M) it works really well--you can take 80 or 120 and a D/A sander and finish the metal with it before priming and those 60 grits scratches shouldn't show thru...after getting it down to bare metal, i recommend putting an epoxy primer over the bare metal before doing patch work or repair work

good luck-&keep us posted on that big ol binder

I'm doing the same thing right now with my car.The P.O. sprayed some weird crap on my car and I have no idea about what it is so I'm goin back down to bare metal.I've had good luck with a 4 1/2 elcheapo HF grinder with sanding disk.I also be using just a regular palm sand with some 30 and 60 grit paper.For the really small hard to get to areas I been using a Dremel rotary tool.Some places you just can't get to though and for those I put on a rust converter.Its been going pretty fast for me using these tools.

studedude said:

I'm doing the same thing right now with my car.The P.O. sprayed some weird crap on my car and I have no idea about what it is so I'm goin back down to bare metal.I've had good luck with a 4 1/2 elcheapo HF grinder with sanding disk.I also be using just a regular palm sand with some 30 and 60 grit paper.For the really small hard to get to areas I been using a Dremel rotary tool.Some places you just can't get to though and for those I put on a rust converter.Its been going pretty fast for me using these tools.

Click to expand...

What rust converter do you guys suggest I use? Plenty of spots I'm gonna need it that I won't be able to get at. When applied over the rust. Can it then be painted over?

So far I've been using 2 different kinds.One is Purple Power De-Ruster.You can get it in 1 liter bottles at Advance Auto.It works good and is cheap.Only about $6-8.Its clear outta the bottle.Its good if you use it and then paint over it.The other is Rustoluem rust reformer.It is more milky and I think it works a little better.I use both alot.Some ppl rag on'em,but Ive been useing them for a while with out any problems.I used the Rustoleum on my floor pans when I redid them.The door gaskets on my car are shot and I got tired of going out there everweek end and there being surface rust all over the place.

So the spots you cant sand down to bare metal get treated with this liguid and it stops the rust? And can then be painted over??? And it actually will stop the rust in those areas and your paint won't start to bubble in a year or two?

I been useing the rustoleum for a while and I've got some stuff painted over,its been about a yr now and all is well.On my car I had to spray some down inside the pillars to kill the rust and so far so good.I can't sandblast either.Its just not in the budget.I know some ppl use more expensive stuff like por15 and rust bullet but I just don't see spending that much when I've had good results with the cheaper stuff.

If you have a 4-1/2" grinder with a wire wheel it will work three times as fast as any sanding disks or flapper wheels. I get my rust stopper at the lumber yard in the paint section in a gallon jug. Just pour it up in a spray bottle to use.

I have several wire wheels. Knotted and straight wire. Wheels and cups. None of them worked even close to as good as the 60 grit disc on my 7" sander/polisher. Not even close.
But I'm still using the wire wheels and cups in spots the disc cant.

wire wheels work good if there's more rust than paint, and the sanding/grinding discs work better on areas where there is more paint than rust--your binder appears to have quite a bit of paint actually left on it, tat's why the sanding discs are working better....