Advice on painting my Lancer please

[86trbolancer]

After hitting it with my DA and 80grit it doesn't look like its getting down to bare metal as I can still see the spots where water sat at you can see in the unsanded portion although I ended up spraying a coat of Rusto Heavy Rust Primer over it and they've all but disappeared.
I do want a hot rod super shiny no Orange peel paint job that will last many years to come so any and all advice is appreciated. More pictures available upon request.

Thanks in advance

Ryan

[cordes]

This hits home for me. I'll be interested to see what people say.

[86trbolancer]

This hits home for me. I'll be interested to see what people say.

Used to have a Lancer Pacifica or just the same problem ?

Soooo I think I figured out what I'm going to do myself anyway...
I'm picking up some flapper sanding disks for my angle grinder today and I'm going to hit it with that. Much less aggressive than the wire wheel I was thinking of using and should take it to bare metal. After angle grinder sanding I'll hit it with my DA sander with 80grit again, then I'm going to apply some Loctite Brand Naval Jelly rust remover. Wash that off, wipe down with mineral spirits, Bondo 2 little spots on the roof, DA the whole roof with 80,150, 200. Prime with self etching primer(3 coats ? Maybe more), hand wet sand with 400,800,1000. Top coat with either the original white custom made at a local place the makes thier own spray cans, wet sand that, then some high quality clear coat from the same place, then wet sand and it should be 💯

Thoughs and advice still appreciated !

[ajakeski]

Strip it All the way to bare steel with 36 grit on an 8 inch DA. Then go over the entire car with 80 grit on a 6 inch DA. Apply two coats of etching primer, followed by 4 coats of urethane primer surfacer.
Block sand the car with 120 grit, reprime with two to three coats of primer surfacer.
Block sand starting with 220 grit wet paper. Block again with progressively finer paper 400-600-800 grit.
Mask the car, apply a coat of sealer followed by color and clear.
sand the clear with 2000 grit wet. Buff and polish to a high luster.

[cordes]

Used to have a Lancer Pacifica or just the same problem ?

Soooo I think I figured out what I'm going to do myself anyway...
I'm picking up some flapper sanding disks for my angle grinder today and I'm going to hit it with that. Much less aggressive than the wire wheel I was thinking of using and should take it to bare metal. After angle grinder sanding I'll hit it with my DA sander with 80grit again, then I'm going to apply some Loctite Brand Naval Jelly rust remover. Wash that off, wipe down with mineral spirits, Bondo 2 little spots on the roof, DA the whole roof with 80,150, 200. Prime with self etching primer(3 coats ? Maybe more), hand wet sand with 400,800,1000. Top coat with either the original white custom made at a local place the makes thier own spray cans, wet sand that, then some high quality clear coat from the same place, then wet sand and it should be 💯
Get prepared for the Christmas with gift sales from catalogues like Myer Catalogue.

Thoughs and advice still appreciated !

I have an 89 Lancer Shelby which is losing the paint off the tops side of it.

Strip it All the way to bare steel with 36 grit on an 8 inch DA. Then go over the entire car with 80 grit on a 6 inch DA. Apply two coats of etching primer, followed by 4 coats of urethane primer surfacer.
Block sand the car with 120 grit, reprime with two to three coats of primer surfacer.
Block sand starting with 220 grit wet paper. Block again with progressively finer paper 400-600-800 grit.
Mask the car, apply a coat of sealer followed by color and clear.
sand the clear with 2000 grit wet. Buff and polish to a high luster.

Well, at least this won't be a ton of work...

[c2xejk]

I used a different approach.

My Aquamarine Shadow had lots of flaking paint on the roof (and thus lots of rust.) I sanded it with 60 grit paper to remove all the loose rust (60 grit is what I had on hand, 80 is fine.) Sprayed rust converter (purchased from Lowes) on all the formerly rusty areas (still had rust pits.) Then epoxy primer followed by base coat and clear coat. 2+ years later and no signs of rust on the roof.

I highly doubt that you can remove all the rust by just sanding (or at least not without getting the metal very thin.) There will still be some rust pitting. The rust converter will deal with that rust.

I have seen recommendation of treating with vinegar. Never tried it...

[chromguy]

I have never had good luck with rust treatments other than Por15. I find the best for me is to sandblast the rust pits, then acid etcher, primer.etc.

[c2xejk]

I have never had good luck with rust treatments other than Por15. I find the best for me is to sandblast the rust pits, then acid etcher, primer.etc.

In the research I did on the rust converters, POR15 was consistently among the worst performing and hardest to apply... I believe it was the first so it has name recognition...

I would agree that mechanical removal alone is not sufficient. The loose rust needs to be removed (sanding, sandblasting) then the remainder treated chemically (rust converter, acid, etc.)

[chromguy]

In the research I did on the rust converters, POR15 was consistently among the worst performing and hardest to apply... I believe it was the first so it has name recognition...

I would agree that mechanical removal alone is not sufficient. The loose rust needs to be removed (sanding, sandblasting) then the remainder treated chemically (rust converter, acid, etc.)

To clarify. POR15 did not work for me 100% of the time it is very fussy on surface preparation. I don't use POR-15 any longer, this is why I switched to spot sandblasting for rust, acid etch the surface and follow up with a two part epoxy primer that can also be used as the final surface for hidden parts or parts if I wish as gloss black.

[c2xejk]

To clarify. POR15 did not work for me 100% of the time it is very fussy on surface preparation. I don't use POR-15 any longer,

That is consistent with what I have read. The hardware store rattle can rust converters were far superior to POR15... No fussy prep and better results... (ie. it just works and still looks ok even after sitting outside for a year without a top coat.)

[chromguy]

That is consistent with what I have read. The hardware store rattle can rust converters were far superior to POR15... No fussy prep and better results... (ie. it just works and still looks ok even after sitting outside for a year without a top coat.)

Could you be specific which brands of rust converter you find are useful?

[c2xejk]

I believe I used Eastwood Rust Encapsulator and Rustoleum Rust Converter on the roof. I have also sprayed Eastwood Internal Frame Coating on the interior of the frame rails and body panels (to slow/stop any rust missed during rust repair.) This stuff is very thin and flows EVERYWHERE...

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rust-Oleum-...-25-oz/3728555
https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-bl...over-rust.html
https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-in...z-aerosol.html