Prepping body panels

[e30Matt]

I'm acquiring a hood and drivers side fender soon, and I'd like to know how to go about stripping the paint on the pane and, assuming there aren't any dents or blemishes to take care of, how to prepare the panel for paint (prime, etc.)? This panel may be in primer for a month or two, so what do I need to do to protect it from the elements, or will primer be sufficient for the time being? I know I'll catch hell for driving around w/primer on it, but it's better than a crumpled fender/hood.

Also, what works better, sanding the paint off, chemical strippers, what? What types of primer should I use?

And for those who want to tell me to take it to a professional, rest easy, if I didn't think I could do it I wouldn't be asking. I want to make this part a little DIY project.

[JamesD]

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The factory primer is the best primer you will ever get. So I would not recommend using a chemical stripper as that will take it down to bare metal. If the clear coat is peeling then you should use a DA sander and take it down to the base coat or primer coat, but not all the way throught to metal. If the the clear coat is strong and not flaking or peeling then all you need to do it scuff up the clear coat.This is really all the prepartion you could do. you could sovent wipe the panel but that should really be done right before you primer it. As for the driving with primer, you can do this as it will protect the metal, but you should probably just drive around with the different color hood and fender and then just prime it right before you paint. For the primer i would go with a good epoxy primer like PPG DP90.

[e30Matt]

Alright, thanks. I was just hoping I wouldn't have to drive around w/different colored body parts but I guess it makes sense to wait until I paint them. Thanks for the help... any other advice?

[Avus_325is]

Don't EVER use chemical strippers. I was going to use it to strip my car down to bare metal before it was painted, but my painter showed me an example of a car in town that used that method and the results were terrible. Some chemicals will go into the metal, then after it's painted, the chemicals will come back through, literally eating the paint job from the inside.

[kco325]

I'd like to add a couple of things here...
1) Chemical strippers are GREAT, especially if you are doing your whole car, it takes a LOT of effort away. I would use Aircraft Sheet Metal Remover, you can put it on a rag, run it over all the paint, and then alot of people cover it with something, paper or something...
come back half an hour later and peel off your paint, pretty much.
However, Avus makes a good point, if you do a shitty job cleaning (with a proper wax/grease remover) and drying it, it WILL creep out from cracks etc down the road. But it would take some real laziness to miss that sort of thing.
2)DON'T EVER PAINT PRIMER ON BARE METAL. Number ONE thing is etching primer, it gives the primer something to bond to. Then apply whatever primer you want, get something nice & heavy I would say, so you can wetsand it comfortably.
DP40 is an exception, you don't need etching primer for that (plus it's waterproof), but it's lots more $$$ and every time you sand through to the DP40 you have to spray it again.
Just food for thought when getting into it.