Proper prep help

D

DC932

I'd like to strip the entire engine bay at once so I can apply epoxy to the entire area in one shot. The engine bay is a mix of factory paint and surface rust in some areas, so I plan on using a wire brush on an angle grinder to remove the paint and most of the rust.

Once the above wire brushing is done...

#1: Does it matter if I Opsho treat the metal before or after I sand the metal with 80 gritt? Either way, I will be neutralizing the Ospho as per Barry's instructions.

#2: The curves of the area don't allow for the DA sander to work very well. Is 80 gritt hand-sanding ok, or should I change the gritt level?
 
Consider sand blasting? Best way to strip complete and have a really good bonding surface, just wash it well with a good de greaser first so you dont force oil into surface.
 
How about sanding what you can get to and blasting the corners. You can get a pretty cheap suction feed blasting gun at alot of places. You use the smallest nozzle you can to keep the mess down and allow your compressor to keep up. Home centers like menards sell black blasting media that has metal shavings in it that works pretty fast if you dont have alot of pressure to blow thru thin metal. Its like 8.00 for a 50 pound bag. You throw a tarp down under the car to try to catch as much sand as you can, filter thru a collander to keep the big chunks out and reuse the same sand over and over. There are also nozzles you can buy to use baking soda in a pressure washer. That would handle more of the paint, doesnt do as much on rust and is technically environmentally safe.
 
Yes, a good idea for sure, but blasting is just not practical in my case.
 
All the work is being done in my 2-car garage that's attached to my house. Besides my 69 Charger that I'm working on, all of the other family stuff is in there (bikes, camping stuff, my tools, etc etc etc). I don't think I'd be able to sandblast the engine bay without creating a mess in the garage, regardless of what I do to try and prevent it. I also live in one of those neighborhoods where you can almost touch both houses if you stand in between them. So I'm also trying to minimize what comes flying out of my garage. Bringing the car to the blaster across town would cost a few hundred $ just for transport, and the blaster in town can't garantee the exact date it would be done, so I can't book off work in advance to get it primed asap. Finally, I have day job and two kids, so I only get about an hour per night and may a few hours on Saturdays to work on it.
 
I contacted Barry directly. He said that if the wire brush on the grinder looks like it removed all the rust, dont bother with the Ospho. I was worried about microscopic rust coming out eventually under the epoxy, but seems like i'm just worrying too much.
 
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