1st time for body work!

I recently stripped my monte to bare metal, so the best thing to use is one of those stripper attachemts for your grinder. i used the da but it took for ever then i tried the pad for the grinder and huge difference in the amount of time to strip a panel. i would buy 4 of those pads and that would easily strip the entire car down

Think long and hard before stripping a whole car to bare metal. I stripped about 4 panels in my body work, and it is not fun! You have to be prepared to put them in a water proof primer right away, not the cheap lacquer primer they sell in spray cans. I have been using the spray can etching primer as my base, then sanding it with 400 or a red scotchbrite, then top coating it with urethane primer. The urethane primer surfacer I used is $95 a gallon with hardener, and must be sprayed from a gun. I use a $10 gun I got from Harbor Freight to spray it (in case it hardens in it, I don't ruin my good top coat gun), but remember to wear at least a dual cartridge respirator while spraying it! It is not good for your lungs, and don't get it on your skin! It is poisonous and can be absorbed through the skin. Wear rubber kitchen gloves at minimum while mixing, spraying, and cleaning the gun. Use the respirator at this time as well to keep from breathing it.

I would strip the panels only in the sections you need to by using a flapper disc on an angle grinder. It is gentle on metal, but rough on paint if you use it right. It also does not build heat quickly, so warpage is kept down. I use them to cut down welds slowly, and also used one to partially strip a fender with 4 paint jobs, but stopped short of bare metal. I used Aircraft Remover for that. Again, if you use it, KEEP IT OFF YOUR SKIN!!! Keep a garden hose nearby for when it does touch your skin. It will start to give you chemical burns and you will definitely feel it. Water neutralizes it, so spraying it off will minimize any damage to your skin. Again, I would not chemically strip the car as it opens up a Pandora's box of problems. I did it only to panels I had removed from the car in order to localize where the stripper went. It will damage any seals, rubber, or plastic it touches, so use with extreme caution or you could do more harm than good.

To remove the studs for the trim, try this: Clamp on them with some vise grips and twist them off by rotating them parallel to the metal. Don't buckle the metal though, or you risk more work to straighten it back out. Then, any remaining metal can be ground smooth with the flapper disc. Finish the area with a skim coat of filler, then level it using a air file with a 80 grit sheet, followed by hand sanding with 220 grit wet or dry. Then, you are ready for primer.

BTW, I am about 400 hours into my body work with another 100-200 left to go before I am ready for paint. This is with a car that is off the road. If you want to look, my Myspace has about 100 pics of the progress. I also have a build thread chronicling my progress. Links to both are in my sig.

Here's a flapper disc strip job before chem strip.

Fiberglass filler is a very butch way to do it, and it won't last. You will want to replace the rusted metal with metal. After securely attaching it, and grinding the welds flush, then use the Fiberglass bondo to seal it against rust on the top side, and some sort of sealer on the back side to keep out moisture. After that, the sanding will help you feather in the old paint and the filler to make a smooth repair. It will take more than one application to get it right. Also, when working with anything fiberglass, wear at a minimum a dust mask. Breathing in fiberglass sanding dust can damage your lungs. I usually top coat my fiberglass filler with standard bondo as my second stage. Standard filler does not seal out moisture, but it is safer to work with. Also, if you lack welding equipment, you can make lap joints and put it all together with Panel Bond. Get yourself an Air File too. It is much more useful on a G body than a DA as it allows you to get straight body lines right. They are under $40 at Harbor Freight. Anyhow, I gotta get back outside and spray some primer!

Well, you want to get rid of all the rust before putting Bondo on the pits. I use Naval Jelly, after first grinding it down with a flapper disc and a wire wheel. Sand blasting works well too. Usually, I get it to gray metal before I put filler on it. If you need to do a hole without welding, you can use JB Weld to hold the patch in place.

Oh, and I have new pics of the finished primer job in my build thread...

For first time paint and body work, don't expect it to come out too good. So, a single stage straight white would be my choice. No pearls, etc. That will also keep costs down, and should you decide to have a do-over, it won't hurt too bad. Also, white hides flaws better than any other "color", which is why I use it on my beaters when I want them to look OK for a long time. Dark colors are a no-no until you know how to do body work damn near perfect, since black, etc. will show every single minor imperfection.

My first experience with paint prepping was BAD. It really took me 2 or 3 times before I had a car that looked acceptable. Now, my stuff is show quality when I spend the time, but it takes A LOT of time. And Money. I should post a pic of all the different tools I have used to do this car, probably 10-15 of them in all. Many are borrowed from my neighbor that I help from time to time. I do better body work than he does, but he has more tools than me. We disagree on many things, but help each other out when needed.

The truth. All my imperfects are freakin easy as hell to spot with the dark color i went with.