Addressing door rust and other rust issues on these precious little babies...

[sandbeige911]

So, as some of you know, I need to kill some time until my car sells. After I address the Suspension Pan and Brakes, I am thinking of sanding down the doors as a start on some of the body rust, as that is where the most visible rust is. I have an oscillating sander, rotating sander, blocks, etc....lots of sanding metal and wood experience, but zero in the Vintage Porsche Department, most of it old metal motorcycle gas tanks, bases for sculptures both wood and metal, go-carts, and old BMW's. These cars seem very fragile compared to old American Muscle or older Mercedes, BMW's. You body guys out there....What grit if using a rotating sander or oscillating sander would you use to start on and what would you finish to the metal on? I don't want it to take too long, but also don't want to dig out more usable metal than I have to. Here are some pics of the rot.... Also, how long can I leave it "unfinished bare metal" if I live 2 miles as the crow fly's from the beach here in SoCAL? As far as having to worry about the new rust coming back left bare? The first picture is a dent, not rust, but the rest are rust..... I'm thinking 80 grit to start and finish with 120-200?

[Barwaut]

....lots of sanding metal and wood experience, but zero in the Vintage Porsche Department

You need a lot more than sanding experience with this kind of rust.
Your doorpanel will almost come of if you start sanding this down to bare metal.

These kind of bubbles on the outside means heavy damage underneath.

[76911S]

Tip of the iceberg I suspect.

Mark..

[sandbeige911]

Yeah I figured that but you need to start somwhere to get to bare metal eventualy there has to be some to reweld the sheet metal to right? Or, better to just buy rust free doors I suppose? I wanted to keep originals if possible. What would a premier restoration shop do in this case?

[Jrsully]

get the car, at least the bad areas, Media blasted to get a better picture of what you dealing with, faster and more efficient than sanding

[sandbeige911]

Good point, I could pull doors off easy enough and have that done. Any kind of material that is better than others that works fast, not too fine, not too gritty? Sand isn't really used anymore right? I just want to go in at least acting like I know what I'm talking about Anyone have any recommendations in SoCal, specifically South OC.

[Jrsully]

find somebody that does Plastic Media blasting (will not warp panels and will not hold moisture like sand, causing future rust problems) I had my whole 71 Targa done recently, came out excellent, had a couple of rust spots that had to be hit with a more aggressive media. Well worth the $$ if you plan on bringing the body back correctly and totally knowing what you are dealing with. You may cringe when you see what comes back, but you will know everything that is there

[fgmec]

High pressure water:
http://www.wwtsrl.it/perfect-restora...ve-gelcoat.php

[raspy2point2]

My body man uses chemical stripping for panels and for rust like your doors, cut it out and weld in new doors skins. takes skill to do it right. Chris

[62S-R-S]

As you can attest, the hardest part of a project is usually when considering to tear into something. With experience and using a compressor, you may find it easier..


http://www.hubindustrial.com/abrasiv...1-009-092.html