Well, after a bit of soul searching and taking a deep breath I've decided to get the body shell of my baby blasted back to bare metal.

I inherited my machine in bits and there's been a previous attempt (or attempts?) at panel repairs that I wasn't sure I trusted. The greater part of the body is primed and also filled in places, but rust is coming through here and there. It’s been sitting in a good shed / garage for almost a decade but the damp must have got to it. Someone told me that primers are porous??? Some exploration by hand sanding has confirmed my suspicions by uncovering some dodgy work and rust spots under the primer.

I figure the only thing to do is to bite the bullet and go the whole hog! Blast that baby! It’s a bigger job than I was planning, but that’s the way it goes. I’d hate to paint it as it is and then have it go pear-shaped on me later.

So does anyone know a good auto blasting mob in Perth? I live north of the river but I can travel south if required, I guess. About what $$$ will I be up for: body / doors / bonnet / boot?

Another questions from a genuine noob:

Should I fix the few actual metal repairs I know about now (like the very crook aerial hole in the front fender) or should I wait until I get the body back to see what else there is to do? I can almost guarantee the abrasive will find a few holes here and there (not too many I hope!)

My concern is that I'm going to get the body blasted and primed, but then I’m going to muck up the nice priming job in places with whatever metal and panel repairs that comes up.

Maybe I’m over analysing it. Maybe I should roll up the sleeves and just do it.

Any advice from someone who’s started with a unknown quantity would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Jamie