I spent the entire day inside behind a computer working, but took an hour out to go outside and grind some paint off the bed of the Scout. I’m using a Norton wheel on my 4.5″ angle grinder, and the paint just seems to fly off with little or no effort. In about 45 minutes I got a good patch of the bed cleared off, including all of the hard-to-reach channels between floor ribs. Now I have to figure out how I’m going to prep it for eventual bedliner; the current plan is to wash it down with etching cleaner and then POR-15 the whole surface. Before that happens, I have to figure out what I’m going to do with the areas that are pinholing–there are several spots in front of and behind the wheel wells that I can see daylight through. Maybe I just fill them with weld and sand things smooth?
One thing is for sure: this is not a clean job. I was wearing a high-quality dust mask, eye and ear protection, and I still came away covered in particles. I think a big box fan will be the order of the day for my next attack.
I ordered a quart of POR-15 and a supplemental bottle of Prep & Ready (cleaner/degreaser) this morning while I had a free shipping coupon. Now, to make more time to sand…