Body Paint prep help

Refrain from going to bare metal if possible. If you do you will need to treat it as the old steel has 0 corrosion protect. Todays sheetmetal contains a good amount of Zinc!

If your not doing a show/resto I would just take it down to the original finish and work from there. If you break through just get some sealer on it quickly. If you can get to the back side of the dings use a shrinking hammer and a flat dollie to work them out. A shrink hammer has a cut face with spiral teeth kinda. It twists the metal as you are hammering. They work well and can be found at HF.

You can use a D.A. sander for most of the finish removal. ORiellys carries a line of sandpapers that are as good as Mirka. Actually better at not clogging up! I start with 80 to remove the last coat of paint. You will see it start to feather out and will be able to count the layers. This method will also highlight all the dings and dents. Once down to the original finish change your paper to 180 grit and sand over the 80 areas. This is the time you can shoot 2 coats of a catylized sealer over the areas you are working on. This will seal the previous substrate and won't allow anything below to cause any issues with the new paint. Just be sure to stick with the same brands, do not intermix products!!

Allow the sealer to cure before you start any bodywork! Remove whatever damage you can and use the said Evercoat to fill the small imperfections. You must resand the areas before you use the Evercoat. I always use 180 then spread the glaze. The glaze is really viscous and easy to spread with the correct spreaders. Don't waste your cash on those cheap auto parts store spreaders! Get the stiffer ones from the paint supply.

Once you get your work done shoot two to three coats of catylized filler primer for the final wetsanding. That my friend is a whole other story :)

There is a Body Work tutorial stickied at the top of the forum index. That is a pretty detailed thread to help you along that route.

This is a conservative approach to a good paint job.

Going to bare metal is a lengthy process and requires epoxy sealers with etching properties or you have to do acid wash. Lots of work for a driver/street meet ride.