Lincoln Body Work Advice

[insomniac391]

Alright, so its time to start tearin down the Lincoln, so I got some questions and I'd appreciate any other advice.

Wet sanding?
- I've seen it done, but don't understand why. When I did the prep work for the Vic, I literally took a belt sander to the paint and it turned out fine. So what is the best way to go about removing old paint.

Grinder.
- If rust has began to eat into the metal to bad I'll just take a grinder to in and Bondo it, is that right?

Spray can Enamel.
- If I put that on my car is it going to look like shit?

[91grandmarquis]

As far as wet sanding goes it keeps dust way down, plus you can see the clear coming off the car as a white paste, which can help out a lot. Mainly just dust though. Make sure you get good wet/dry paper/ I used 300 grit on my whole car.

[insomniac391]

As far as wet sanding goes it keeps dust way down, plus you can see the clear coming off the car as a white paste, which can help out a lot. Mainly just dust though. Make sure you get good wet/dry paper/ I used 300 grit on my whole car.

my metal getting wet wont cause future rust under paint?

[johnunit]

wet sanding is generally done when trying to smooth out paint, not when trying to remove paint.

Are you trying to detail/polish the current paint, or prep it for new paint?

[insomniac391]

wet sanding is generally done when trying to smooth out paint, not when trying to remove paint.

Are you trying to detail/polish the current paint, or prep it for new paint?

prepping for new paint

Edit: I'll think I'll experiment with the Caprice first.

[marquisman]

i hope you are ready to put your heart into that lincoln so it gets done right. before you do anything, strip that precious chrome off. as far as stripping paint, the guy doing the work on GMGT has these special sanding disks for an air grinder and it worked awsome on the car. wet sanding is more of a finnishing thing. also if you got rot, cut out rust and patch with metal. try not to use too much cheese. your car is what you put on/into it lol

[CheeseSteakJim]

Wet sanding can be done to primer so it's perfectly smooth for the base coat to lay onto. I wet-sanded the primer-filler on my car before beginning with color. I also did it to the clearcoat.

As far as wet sanding goes it keeps dust way down, plus you can see the clear coming off the car as a white paste, which can help out a lot. Mainly just dust though. Make sure you get good wet/dry paper/ I used 300 grit on my whole car.

You did it as a final sand on the clearcoat?! That's way too rough. I finalized my car with 1500 wet. Some guys do 2000 but I had already spent nearly a week wet sanding the car.

[insomniac391]

i hope you are ready to put your heart into that lincoln so it gets done right. before you do anything, strip that precious chrome off. as far as stripping paint, the guy doing the work on GMGT has these special sanding disks for an air grinder and it worked awsome on the car. wet sanding is more of a finnishing thing. also if you got rot, cut out rust and patch with metal. try not to use too much cheese. your car is what you put on/into it lol

mmmmmmmmm, idk about pullin all the chrome off. The clips are a bitch to mess with, if I take the chrome off I'll probably have to buy all new clips. Whats the proper way to do it anyway, I just popped them off with a trim remover on the Vic, not sure if thats 100% correct though.

[CheeseSteakJim]

The only ones you'll have real trouble taking off are right behind the front wheel on either side. The wheel arch molding ends in two white plastic clips right there that ALWAYS BREAK AS SOON AS YOU TOUCH THEM. The only way to gently get them out of the fender is to remove the fender (or possibly the splash shield... haven't tried it) to access the back of the panel. P72Ford can tell you about our efforts in finding them in a junkyard without breaking them during removal.

If it has vent windows, removal of the side-view mirrors requires a contortionist with some tiny fingers and lots of patience. I was able to do it with average sized hands and arthritis, but it takes time due to lack of movement.

The door handles are relatively simple to take off once you get the door panel out of the way.

The windshield reveal moldings can be a pain and require a gentle hand but once you get used to the motion required to remove them, and provided you have the specific reveal-molding-remover, it's not too bad. They're stupidly easy to reinstall. Just lay them over the clips and smack them with your palm.

All the other ones just have corresponding nuts hidden somewhere behind the molding, and just about all of them are easily accessible.

Besides those white clips and a couple other details it's really a very simple and easy car to take apart, and if you want a really fantastic paint job I'd take everything off that touches against a surface you intend to paint.



Also, anything out of a spray can is going to look worse than what's already on that car. If you want a nice automotive finish, use auto body paint and an experienced painter. That car doesn't deserve any less, and if you can't afford it perhaps you should wait until you can.

[gadget73]

Taking a wire wheel to surface rust, then using bondo over it is a sure fire way to develop a rot hole. You have to neutralize the rust, otherwise its just going to spread. You can do it with phosphoric acid and painting over it with POR15 or some comparable rust converter paint. Eastwood makes one. The phosphoric acid is the POR15 metal prep, and is sold under other names as metal prep. Once thats killed off and sealed, you can use filler to smooth it. For shallow rust, probably you'd do fine with glazing putty. Bondo (which isn't a great body filler btw) is really designed for thicker application. Putty is for smoothing out little pits.


How bad is the paint on the car? If its decent, you might want to just leave it be, and touch up areas that are screwed up until you can afford a proper paint job. I'd agree with Nick, its too nice to half ass. There is a reason my car still looks like a wreck. Eventually it will be nice, but it will not be half-assed.

[insomniac391]

The blue part is actually pretty bad, and I can imagine fixing it without redoing the entire thing. The paint is cracking, peeling, and beginning to rust, most of the white is pretty good though.

[91grandmarquis]

Wet sanding can be done to primer so it's perfectly smooth for the base coat to lay onto. I wet-sanded the primer-filler on my car before beginning with color. I also did it to the clearcoat.



You did it as a final sand on the clearcoat?! That's way too rough. I finalized my car with 1500 wet. Some guys do 2000 but I had already spent nearly a week wet sanding the car.

No I cut the clear with 300 to prep it for paint, You only really need to rough the clear up if its getting sprayed the same color. I didn't do the paint so I didn't final wet sand. Sorry for the confusion. Also If your removing all the paint you can just take a DA to the car to do that. Also wet sanding was done on all my primer, and putty to make it really smooth. This of course with finer grits.

[CheeseSteakJim]

Taking a wire wheel to surface rust, then using bondo over it is a sure fire way to develop a rot hole. You have to neutralize the rust, otherwise its just going to spread. You can do it with phosphoric acid and painting over it with POR15 or some comparable rust converter paint. Eastwood makes one. The phosphoric acid is the POR15 metal prep, and is sold under other names as metal prep. Once thats killed off and sealed, you can use filler to smooth it. For shallow rust, probably you'd do fine with glazing putty. Bondo (which isn't a great body filler btw) is really designed for thicker application. Putty is for smoothing out little pits.


How bad is the paint on the car? If its decent, you might want to just leave it be, and touch up areas that are screwed up until you can afford a proper paint job. I'd agree with Nick, its too nice to half ass. There is a reason my car still looks like a wreck. Eventually it will be nice, but it will not be half-assed.

Confirmin' Thain's car looking like a wreck. Just kidding, at least yours drives!

The blue part is actually pretty bad, and I can imagine fixing it without redoing the entire thing. The paint is cracking, peeling, and beginning to rust, most of the white is pretty good though.

I'd repaint the entire car at that point since just trying to redo the blue would cause a nice little paint ledge where it meets up with the white, but that's just me. Tape lines piss me off, which is why my car has none despite the triple-tone paint job.

No I cut the clear with 300 to prep it for paint,

Oh, okay that's cool then. I was gonna say your top coat must look like CRAP after a 300grit finish sanding.

[cld783]

I agree with gadget 100%..

[P72Ford]

The only way to gently get them out of the fender is to remove the fender (or possibly the splash shield... haven't tried it) to access the back of the panel. P72Ford can tell you about our efforts in finding them in a junkyard without breaking them during removal.

Holy shit that was funny.

"Oh, I can get that off of there..."

Tried to pry the fender back... when that didn't work I cracked the fender with a crow bar and the trim snapped off.

"You idiot"...

I was sick that day... under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn't have displayed such foolishness.