How should I proceed??? Should I have the body media blasted first or do you replace the sheetmetal that you find is bad and then blast the body?? I want to start in the trunk and rear taillight panel area because there is a rust problem there that I think will be easier to fix if I have it blasted first. Whats is the general order to do these repairs adn replacements? I jsut dont want to be surprised when a panel gets replaced only to find that a few inches away was a rusty area hidden by a previous repaint....

When you say media blasting, I assume that your'e talking about plastic beads, nutshell or similar. In the few cases I have had body panels blasted, I repaired before blasting. Sand blasting tends to stretch the metal, so you don't want to do it twice. Once is enough for some people to warp the parts beyond repair, I know that from experience :( I don't think media blasting is that bad, but I wouldn't risk it anyway.

You can have it 'soda' blasted. Be sure you use someone that knows what they're doing. After soda blasting you need to neutralized the soda, then get after the metal work.

Ok...I have a place right near the house that does an excellent job of Plastic media blasting...what I want to get straight is whether to get him to blast it first, etch prime, then bring it home to do the metal replacing, or do the metal work and then get the remainder of the thing blasted...sorry if I was not clear...

As long as they know what they're doing, that would be a good way to go. Check their references, preferably with other car owners if possible. You may also want to ask them if plastic media really removes heavy rust around the areas you need to weld. If you need sand blasting, it shouldn't hurt around stiffer parts of the sheet metal, like around windows, door jambs, wheel wells etc. If I were to do it, I'd probably sand the larger areas, and let someone blast only the areas you can't sand. But again, if they have good references, you could let them media blast the whole thing. It can be done safely if you know how to do it.

Chief,
From all the stuff I've read, the best way seems to be blast everything first. This way you know exactly where you stand. Then make all your body repairs. Finally, etch prime.

This is if you are doing everything rather quickly. If the body will sit for more than a week or two, you need to coat it to prevent re-rusting. Then you would just sand off the primer where you need to make your repairs, then recoat that area with etch prime after the repairs are done.

By the way, are you talking about Strip-It, down there on Groesbeck?

If I'm wrong here, PLEASE someone correct me! :D

Crankshaft

Yup...Crankshaft....that is who is going to get the work. They are about a half mile from my house. In fact, my son and I are planning on pushing the body there while it is on the rotiserrie. If not I do not know how I am going to get it there...might have to have a rollback towing company take it over for me. But, anyhoooo...I think I am just going to sandblast the trunk seam areas that appear to be rotting to get a better feel for what is coming out, cause I am thinking I might need to replace the rear taillight panel along with everything else...whew...the hits just keep on comin'...hits to the pocket book, anyway. Straightening out the garage this week to get things started over the weekend or next week...depends on work schedule and pocket book..
Later
Mike