I have a 96 talon tsi I’m about to start building and need advice on what to do with the body work. The roof is by far the worst as the rest is just more so oxidation. I don’t have access to a compressor large enough for pneumatic DA and was wondering what I could do as a temporary fix till the motor was back in and I could take it to be painted. I was thinking maybe a variable speed electric DA with 80grit disc, then go back over with 120, clean and prime? Any help is appreciated.

Since you don't access to ar I would say what you said ... use an electric DA. I'm thinking 80 might be too rough to begin with. Without feeling the rust and rough it is it's hard to know. Either way though, I would go smoother than 120. I'd go up to like 400 and make it decently smooth. Clean, Prime and just spray boom it with something that will protect it until you have the car painted for real. I decent shape is going to go back over it anyway so it doesn't have to be super pretty.

Love the solid roof car, great find!

techboy said:

Since you don't access to ar I would say what you said ... use an electric DA. I'm thinking 80 might be too rough to begin with. Without feeling the rust and rough it is it's hard to know. Either way though, I would go smoother than 120. I'd go up to like 400 and make it decently smooth. Clean, Prime and just spray boom it with something that will protect it until you have the car painted for real. I decent shape is going to go back over it anyway so it doesn't have to be super pretty.

Love the solid roof car, great find!

Click to expand...

Yea that’s kind of what I was thinking. It wouldn’t have to be perfect for now just want to keep it from getting worse than it is. The body is actually in great shape as far as no major dents. I am planning on painting it the tropical frost lime that my first car was, a 95 tsi just like this one. I kinda didn’t like the color when I had the 95 but kinda miss it now. I’ll update any progress when I get to working on it. Thank you all for the replies.

80

180

320

Urethane primer

You really need to come up with a compressor that can keep up with a Dynabrade DA if you wish to attack those rusty panals on your own.

Electric will have to do if that all you have though. By all means though, start with 80. Zero question. Ive been doing this lousy work for a long time.

80- 180- 320

Spend some time with the 80 bringing it to about the same point my hood was in the photo I enclosed.

Then spend some time with the 180, one quadrant at a time to help keep track of where youve been.

Finish it with the 320 the same way and your ready to prime.

You might want to pull the roof drip moldings off each side so you dont beat them up more than the ways of the earth already have.

EVLGSX said:

80

180

320

Urethane primer

You really need to come up with a compressor that can keep up with a Dynabrade DA if you wish to attack those rusty panals on your own.

Electric will have to do if that all you have though. By all means though, start with 80. Zero question. Ive been doing this lousy work for a long time.

80- 180- 320

Spend some time with the 80 bringing it to about the same point my hood was in the photo I enclosed.

Then spend some time with the 180, one quadrant at a time to help keep track of where youve been.

Finish it with the 320 the same way and your ready to prime.

You might want to pull the roof drip moldings off each side so you dont beat them up more than the ways of the earth already have.

Click to expand...

Thank you! Was hoping I could go that route. I appreciate the pic as reference. Think I should go ahead and try to sand and prime the rest of the car or just the problem spot on the top? Looks like just oxidation on the rest no rust yet.

Your car is like alot of them. It sat in the sun somewhere for a long time. You can see where the sun was most intense, it beat the clear right off the paint over time. Without clear, water can penetrate and generate the rust process. This can be seen on the roof. The process is not as far along up high on the rear quarters, and on top of the deck lid, but the clear is gone in large areas on those panels. You can see where the line of clear is and from there down is in much better condition with solid clear over paint.

I think you are calling the areas where the clear has failed and broken down oxidation. Those areas are just bare paint with no clear.The white stuff that has formed where you see the transition from the dull areas to the better looking shiny areas is lifted clear that can likely be scratched off with your finger nail. Im not sure if that could be technically referred to as oxidation, maybe, the paint that was once protected by clear is now subjected to oxygen.....is that oxidized? Not sure, Im not a chemist. I always just called it peeling/failing clear.

In any event, just make sure if you put in the time, do it right. It is going to be a ton of work and there will be some cost involved. Dont go guessing on anything if you dont know the answer. Look into the things you dont know the answers to so you dont waste your time/money and end up with something that your not happy with.

One last bit of advice, one panel at a time. Pick the panel you want to attack first. Give it the 80-180-320 regimen then get it in primer. Then move on to the next. Im only advising you to do it this way because from the sound of things, you dont have a proper shop to do this in. There is alot more to know but this is the absolute minimum basics.

Good Luck with it.