Paint - to Strip or Sand

Hi All - Please forgive the non-conforming car (951), but I'm more familiar with you all and have built up trust with this group. If you could indulge me I'd appreciate your knowledge... I'm considering buying an '89 944 Turbo with 76K. Extensive mechanical service has been performed, but the car's paint is horrible. It's Guards Red and was resprayed about 10 years ago with a cheap one-stage job and lived in the Palm Springs desert sun. It is now severely faded, flaking and peeling away. My question is, how would I go about repainting this? I don't want to drop it off for a $15-$20K concourse job, I'm looking to prep as much as I can myself, buy the paint, and bring it to someone to spray for $3-5K or so. Do I need to sand this thing down to the original paint or primer or should I get it media blasted? Here are some pics to give you an idea...

Thanks for posting ...I am actually super interested on this topic...I am in the same boat with 912....I want a nice looking driver that someone else can restore in the future. How does this link to 996...well I want to paint my 912 speed yellow like my 996!

If you want to DIY the prep I'm afraid you'll have very well greased elbows by the time you're done. The paint place would media blast it for you but since you're looking to save the money in every area possible, you'll be grinding it off yourself. There are lots of videos out there on how to sand down to the metal. Put on a good podcast in your earbuds and get in the zone!

Hey op, I actually have some experience with what you're talking about. I once completely stripped and (mostly) restored a '71 Datsun 240Z. I know where you're headed and I can tell you honestly you have no idea of the work involved in stripping a car. Theres no easy way. I tried chemical strippers, media blasting, and in the end the only thing that actually works is elbow grease and nylon wheels on a drill. Chemical stripping is nasty and only bubbles your paint - you have to strip and clean and you end up having to scrape it all off in the end. Media blasting is just as bad. You really have to rent an industrial blaster, and then be very careful because media will 'work harden' the metal and it makes it more brittle. You will NEVER get all the media out. It will haunt you and your car and your garage forever. I made a blasting booth in my garage and it really takes a long time. You should really strip the car to a shell before you do this its messy. Nylon bristle drill attachments worked best but they are really slow. you'll be at it for weeks. I would recommend DA sanding with air tools - but you need a very large compressor to do this and some skill. Then when youre done and down to bare metal, you should etch the metal (i used POR-15 METAL-READY) for this. Then you need to clean and prime each area because metal and air dont mix well. I started with a very sincere "ill just give it a good sanding for the paint guy' but you'll hit bare metal and just keep going. Then you'll need to remove the trim, glass, panels and you just keep going down that rabbit hole. Youll find stuff you didnt want to like rust, dings, bondo maybe etc. In for a penny - in for a pound. Im not trying to convince you not to I had a great time, but its a long road. Have a look at my project thread and you'll see. https://www.ontariozcar.com/ozc/acti...k-s-z-progress Zak

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Seems media blasting can be had for about $1,000. But doesn't taking it down to bar metal involve a number of extra priming and sanding steps?

Having restored, literally, a bare-metal BMW 2002, I would recommend sanding it to original primer to 400 grit rotary sander, then sealer, primer, base coat, clear coat by a pro. Prep is 10 more important than paint. Final sanding to 600+ grit. All paint components must be compatible, research the web extensively before proceeding, there are tons of info online. What I learned: you will never duplicate a professional paint job. Best to sand down and let a pro spray. Chemical removal or media blast is for concourse cars.

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Thank you for the recommendation and instructions. This sounds like a plan. Do you have any thoughts on either PPG or Transtar paint? Can I get a quality Guards Red out of either mfg.?

There's some new dustless blasters out there that look to be the way to go. I'd talk to your painter and get his recommendation. Who knows what can of worm lay beneath the paint. Good luck and keep us posted.

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+1 on this - don't go any deeper than original primer on a galvanized steel car like this. In other words, don't go to bare metal, except in (the hopefully) rare and small places where chips and such have already done so, or on the plastic pieces. (On a much earlier Porsche with plain steel, I'd usually say the opposite). Speaking as the veteran (victim?) of a few restoration projects.... Love the 951 cars. Owned a bunch of them, wishing I had room for another. An '89 (same as 88 S) is an awesome drive. Once had an '86 with an '89 engine in it.

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Thank you. I found a local painter who proposes just this approach at a reasonable fee.