How far should I take it?, Removing paint layers and bondo Options

[balljoint]

How much should I take off? There are two layers of paint. On top is a crappy colour change to red, underneath the original orange, and in between there are bits of bondo filling in the odd hole. Once I am done with the chassis repairs (and replacing bondo with metal)I am going to POR what I can and then get her painted.

Whatever method I use, should I take it down to bare metal or just to the original primer and let the paint shop take it from there? What kind of surface should I put on the panels for the easiest paint job?

This car will never be concours, I just want to fix it right and get the best finish job that I can.

[balljoint]

I am doing all of the work myself. Up until the final smoothing out of panels with a filler and then primer and paint. I will take it down to bare metal in a number of places, just because I have to in order to correct the PO bondo repairs. And by bondo I am talking about "there is a rust hole here so lets fill it up with bondo and paint over it".

Once I have it down to bare metal or to just below the factory paint what is the final finish I should leave on the car before handing it off to a pro? Sand with what grade paper and with what mechanism, by hand? orbital sander? etc.

Thank you for the input so far.


This car will not be concours, as stated. But I am hoping for something a little better than a "beater". I already have a pickup truck for that.

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