Shoddy Paint Prep?

[Dr.Anus]

OK, when the tax return comes in I'm painting my car. I'm going to go with the top notch services of Earl Scheib .

Now I know prep work is everything, and I know that's the one thing Earl will skip on, so I want to do it myself. I've heard sanding with 600grit will work, but I need some clarification.

-exactly what grit/grits?
-wet/dry sand?
-sand by hand, random orbital sander?
-technique (example: sand horizontally only?)

I know I should clean it and degrease it, and then tack cloth it afterward, but any other advice?

 

[FRODO]

Well....you will need varies grits ranging from 320 down to 30 grit. I would start by hand sanding the whole car with 80 grit. Then go back and scuff the dent with 30 or 40 and proceed with the bondoing. get your bondo all smooth and level making sure that it is well feather edged. Then you will have to remove all the 80 grit sand sratchs with 180 grit. that should be all unless you have rust or major dents then you willl have to do more work. just make sure you leave no clear coat the car must look dull no shiny. and if while sanding the paint chips off feather edge it smooth.

 

[FRODO]

-wet/dry sand? Dry
-sand by hand, random orbital sander? Hand or Dual Action Sander on the bigger spots like hood and doors.
-technique (example: sand horizontally only?) use a diagnal pattern.

I know I should clean it and degrease it, and then tack cloth it afterward, but any other advice?nope thats it.

 

[Dr.Anus]

Awesome, so sand the panals that are not dented with 80grit, then go back over with 180grit and I'm done(with sanding)?

 

[habitat307]

your going to be doing more work than you need to if you sand with f**kin 80 grit. thats waaaay too coarse. on everything that is not dented, just scuff it up (get all the clearcoat off) with some 300-400. but if you have some really bad areas that need some work, sand with 150 with an electric sander. after your all done electro-sanding, go over everything with a wetsand with 300-400. if you dry sand, your paper will become clogged almost instantly. wetsanding lets you feel for imperfections a lot better than dry sanding too.

 

[douggiefresh]

If your not doing any bodywork on the panel and your just painting over top of it you need to just scuff it down with a gray scuff pad and thats it. If you want to get it flat to paint over it then sand it down with some 600wet until it is nice and flat. I would never use an air tool or anything like that if you want a flat surface, over the bodywork you should block it out with a long block (12inchs or a little less) hit the plastic with 80, 180, 320....then prime. block out the prime with 180 light, then 320 until its smooth. I would then seal over the bodywork.