Sanding body parts prior to painting

[maineidyl]

I am getting ready to paint my FJ40. The paint is decent in spots and some panels are not rusty. Do I have to sand to bare metal where there is no rust? Can I sand and then spot prime areas. I am going to try and do the $50.00 paint methods. Not looking for a pro job.
Thanks
Tom

 

[The Red Camel]

Sanding

If you don't think there is rust then just sand it out. Also you said your doing a $50.00 job, if you take your time and do it right $50 bucks will go along ways.

Cheers

Jamie
1984 BJ42,,,,,,,,,,

 

[5280Hawk]

IMO you don't need to sand everything to bare metal. That would be a Sh*t ton of work! Sand the old paint so its dull. Im using 220 grit and sanding any chips or scratches all the way to bare metal, you want the have a good inch of bare primer all the way around the metal area to ensure it's feathered smooth. you can see what im talking about in the first few pics of my hood in my paint thread.

 

[brew8]

If you leave some of the old paint I would iuse a coupla of coats of heavy primer and block it after to get rid of lines and depressions from the paint.

 

[gray]

I have recently asked a few body shop painters what to do prior to painting for small job I am into; the answer; use ETCHING PRIMER whenever you get to bare metal, not the regular primer you find at Advance Auto. Then, they tell me, use regular primer over that, etc,etc. The Etching primer is a professional level primer that usually you can only find a stores that cater to body shops. SEM and 3M have it in aerosol cans; it goes for something like $18-25 per can. Again, I'm not the expert, just the information I was told recently.