Couple of Newb questions

[BigSur]

I have a 1980 Fj40 that i am working on right now. The previous owner painted it camo but there is about 3-4 layers of paint on it. The good part about that is there is not much rust at all on the truck with the exception of a few pin holes on the drivers and passengers side floorpans but nothing major. I have coated the interior of the rig with POR and i am very happy with it. I am not a budy guy and alot of what i am doing is new to me. But there are diamond plate rear qtr panels on there that i am going to remove and i plan on using some of the POR putty to fill in the holes left from the diamond plate.

Now here are the questions.

I bought some Rustoleum primer from the depot and i have started to prime some parts. I started with the valences and i plan on doing the front fenders this weekend. I took a fine grit foam sand paper and sanded down the valences before i primed but i noticed once it dried it show some minor imperfections from those layers of paint and some area's that have chipped away. Can i putty those small areas and then sand down again before priming again? Should i not be using that type of primer? Also, what tools do ya'll recommend that i get when i am working on the body? Any certain type of sand paper i should be using?

Thanks.

 

[Gus]

Get yourself a sanding board and blocks(available at any auto parts store), use wet & dry sand paper(3M is a common brand). For surfaces with tons of paint build up, ideally I'd strip them using aircraft stripper or media blast them. That may be more than you want to dive into, in that case start sanding each panel with 80 grit then step up to 180 followed by 220(this should take care of the chips and other minor imperfections in the old paint), thoroughly clean panel with wax & grease remover then seal/prime.

 

[okie]

heres another tip i have to add. never use more than 1/8'' thick of filler unless you want cracks in the future. if you don't care about the long term looks or anything than disregard what i just said. good luck w/ your project.