Stripping & priming my Convertible
 

A few years ago I had my convertible media blasted and put into storage, unfortunatley I never primed the body prior to storage. It now has surface rust (which is no surprise), my question is what can I use to clean up the metal to get it ready for epoxy primer? I was told to start with a DA & 220 grit and go from there. This will take place in my garage and driveway so I have to keep the mess, noise and other "issues" to a minimum so my neighbors will be happy. What process/tools can you recommend?

I've provided 2 pics to show the condition of the car now.

red scuff pad,GOOD PAIR OF GLOVES,then a strong metal prep,kleen-strip has one called phosphoric prep&etch,you can get it at lowes or home depot,,it will clean up surface rust,and clean the bare metal of any oil or junk that comes with sitting, any rust left behind use sander or wire wheel to get into the pores..... have fun:thumbsup:

220 is to fine of a sand paper for that use 80 it will give a good profile to the metal for the epoxy primer
220 is going to want to "polish" the metal

I'm assuming your talking about the red Scotch Brite pads. Whats the difference between the red and green scuff pads?

Should I use this with a DA?

80 on a DA .Then use your hand were you can't get with the DA

i know of red,grey,white....from 3m....red is coarse, grey-medium,white fine...green may be even rougher than red....you want the course to scrub the metal

Time to get started on this clean and prep work.

Yikes- the pics you posted in the original post are from almost 4 years ago- I'm almost afraid to ask how much worse the surface rust has gotten since then.....

Believe it or not it looks the same. I started and stopped but its always been kept in a garage away from the elements.