Final Sanding Grit?

JimKueneman

Mopar Nut
What do you guys use for your final block sanding before the sealer epoxy and base coat go on? I am currently using 320 expecting I needed to shoot a few more coats of primer but I have gotten good enough at the rough body work that the 2 coat of high build are all I need! I impressed myself on my second paint job... :)

Jim
 
it depends on a few things. solid color then 320-400 is fine. if a metallic then 600 is a must.
 
It's according to whether you seal or not and according to whether you use intercoat or not. If sealing, 320. On non-show quality I 320 solids, and 400 metallics with a coat of SPI intercoat clear down first so metallic and pearl does not settle in those 400 grit scratches. Show stuff is an entirely different routine.
 
Never had the guts to stop at 320 or 400. With my luck I'd have issues. I don't like re-doing stuff so I take everything out to 600 wet even when sealing. On something I won't seal I take it to 800 wet. That's usually just collision work where I have a primed area on a blend panel.
 
It also depends on base. Heavier urethane bases like ppg show less scratches than a polyester base like diamont.
 
So I am recalling a conversation with Barry when I painted my Coronet. When I shot the SPI Orange base I was freaking out because I saw sand marks in the base. Barry told me to do something and now that I think about it I think it was something to make me feel better and did not really do anything about the scratches because he knew the UC would fill 400 grit scratches in the solid base.
 
So I am recalling a conversation with Barry when I painted my Coronet. When I shot the SPI Orange base I was freaking out because I saw sand marks in the base. Barry told me to do something and now that I think about it I think it was something to make me feel better and did not really do anything about the scratches because he knew the UC would fill 400 grit scratches in the solid base.

Yes. It is hard to give advice without looking in person. But you will always see some sandscratches in a solid color base. Most bases don't build enough mils to fill them. I sometimes even see 600 grit scratches but they will not be visible once you spray clear.
 
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