Expert: William Forster - 10/25/2007

Question
Hi Bill and thanks for taking my question.
I have a 67 caddy deville convertable.
It has been re-sprayed sometime before I bought it?
The paint has tiny, visible cracks throughout and is worn out.
I cut out and welded in new metal on all rusted areas(lower doors and fenders).
I took a class in repairing dents with filler, but that was ages ago.
I wanted to ask you if you could recommend a DVD, book or video to buy or maybe you can answer it here?
I want to cut back the old paint, fix any imperfections, and re-spray it myself.  I prefer not to cut it down to metal (huge job & car isn't worth it to me) but rather repair old filler, scratches, chips ...etc.  I don't know what products to use ...etc.  I am hoping there is a filler/primer that I could use and block that back to perfection?  Big question, I know, but any help appreciated.
Thanks,
BL

Answer
Hello Bob! The paint on the caddy is suffering from a condition called checking, which is a fancy word for cracking. Have you ever tried to just glaze over a crack in plaster or concrete, just to have the crack appear again a year later? The same will happen to the caddy. The new paint will only be as good as it's foundation. I get a lot of questions from folks hoping for a miracle cure, but there are very few, my friend. The only answer here is stripping the caddy. If you don't want to chemical strip it you can use 80 grit sandpaper on a DA sander set it to grind. Some DA's have a steel plate you slide over to lock the disc so that it's no longer a dual action sander, and it just spins like a grinder. I don't suggest a grinder, you can't hold it perfectly flat. That will make heavy grinder marks and cause excessive heat and warpage. Only try to take the paint off, try to leave a lot the primer coat intact. Use long, sweeping passes with the sander, don't linger or try to start stripping at one edge and remove paint until you reach the other side. This will cause warpage. Once most of the paint is gone, set the DA back to dual action mode, then finish sand stripping with 80. Fill any small dings with a body filler called USC Icing PN 26006. It sands easy and is somewhat self leveling. For larger repairs use a body filler called USC Rage Gold. Once filler work is done sand the steel with 150, then 320. Use a metal etching primer before applying any primer surfacer. Year one, the restoration parts people, have a book called how to repair and restore bodywork in their literature section.