So I am thinking next year maybe a respray. I'm sick of my dad giving me sh** for the small dents and dings.

My car has been resprayed at least twice, both times the factory color.

When I'm prepping for the respray, should I sand down the previous layers to bare metal or the original layer? My thought is to leave the layers...they add a little weight but protect from rust.

Thoughts?

It's going to cost more, but with two re-sprays, I'd say strip it to bare metal and do it right. Once you get a certain level of paint film, adding more is only going to give problems.

Be warned that taking all the paint off the car will no doubtably reveal more work that needs to be done. Rust removal, previous repairs and so on. I will beginning my restoration project very soon and have already revealed plenty of things I didn't see when I bought the car. Likewise with my Austin Healey, when I started stripping that car I found more than I knew about.

I agree that you can probably just block sand a car with the original paint, and respray it. But with two coats, I'd recommend to strip the car as well.

Another recommendation would be to have the car soda blasted. This will be gentle on the sheet metal first, and not damage the previous repairs like body filler. Then you can decide if you want to re-fix it, or leave it. Also stripping all the paint off the car is a pain in the A**. It takes a long time and is just really difficult it times. After you add up the cost of all the things you're going to try, all the materials and special tools plus your time you're only a short step away from having it soda blasted. Some times blasters will even include a little bit of rotisserie time for you after the job is done so you can get it in primer and protected from the elements again.

I'm going to be looking for such a service over here in the near future, but I'll be building my own rotisserie. I'll be able to use it in the future, but don't tell my wife!

I never paint over a respray.

One coat of primer sealer protects from rust.... If you have the time and funds, strip to metal. The reason people DONT is because its more expensive.

Here's your answer Rich. I re-painted over a re-spray and have regretted it.

In the bodyshop we alway's said: "there's alway time to do it right the second time" The problem is once you spend the coin on the shortcut the cost multiple in three's.

hm....

my car is running too well to strip it and paint it. Guess I'll just endure the from the old man!!

Thanks for the input everyone

How bad are the dents? Maybe call a paintless dent guy and get an opinion.

Whats a paintless dent Rick?

I know you asked Rick for the answer, I have seen pictures before and after...pretty amazing. They pock and prod the metal at the exact dent location with just enough pressure to eliminate the dent. From Wikipedia -

'The most common methods of paintless dent repair utilize metal rods and body picks to push the dents out from the under side of the body panel. Additionally, glue and a specially designed tab may be used from the outside of the panel to pull the dents out.

Paintless dent removal takes years to learn; it is more of an art than a specific set of skills...'

Dave

mine has been re-sprayed 4 times. looks like Sh*t. but its like a ok 10 ft paint job. got it like that. i keep thinking, somday a paint job. but for now. i like that when it gets scratched in the parking lot. 3 times now... im ok with it...

That's interesting Dave. My ex US 75, 2.0 is getting a new paint job. I have been stripping the fittings and trim and also stripping the paint and it's amazing what you find in the way of old dings and crash damage.
I'm finding it a bit of a forensic exercise digging back into the car's past.
But on my right side fender I have rippling along the top curve of the panel so I suspect it has been front ended(in fact I know it has) and the whole fender has been crushed backwards and it has then be beaten back into rough shape and bogged up. Now I have stripped it all off and it has left this undulating mess. So it sounds like this technique might help. Or maybe just a good old fashioned panelbeater.

Paintless dent repair is only for those small non creased parking lot dents or small hail damage. Anything involving a collision will require a good old fashioned panel beater.

You'll be sorry if you don't strip it to bare metal. I've taken all the paint off of my cars using Zip strip. Problem is--you're going to find all kinds of surprises under all that old paint and repairing it all will take a lot more time then you think. The end result it worth it if you do it the right way!

I talked to a PDR guy, he took out a few small dents but there were a few he wouldn't touch.

Truthfully: having a car that looks pretty good but not perfect is liberating. When I get a new stone chip or a small scratch, my head doesn't explode...I'm not afraid to drive the car.

I think I'll leave it alone!

thanks for the replies
Rich