I am new to restoreing trucks my truck is a 62 chevy and looks like the owner before me placed red primer over paint and i want to do some body work on the dent but before i do that i was thing about sanding the body to look for bondo areas. Is this a good idea.
Everyone I talk to has a different opion about sand blasting. One, it opens the metal requiring more paint. Two, it could distort the panels, but not likely one these older trucks. I had mine media blasted. They used a plastic bead instead of sand, this way it does not impregnated the metal with sand and will not distort the metal. There are several different media types used so you can call around and find one that works for you. The cost is higher for the media blasting, it was about $800 for my crew cab and bed only. One thing about blasting it shows you every thing from patch panels you never knew were there to rust areas that punch through from the blasting. If you choose this route, have the sealer and primer ready to go or have a body shop lined up to get it in paint, it will rust quickly depending on you enviorment.
For spot repair sanding with 3m scuffpad and paper is fine to get you into the repair area. For whole body work, use media blasting if it's practical, i.e. if you have access to large areas or with the cab off. For most people media blasting isn't practical for localized spot repairs.
