Hello everyone, I'm going to be painting my Maverick soon and I would like to know what grit sandpaper I will need. I know that I'll need various gris but not sure which ones are the best. I'm not taking her to bare metal and It does have the original paint on it. I also want a mirror finish and I know that I'll need to wet sand, what grit will I need to do that? Thanks for all your help
220 will strip in a hurry. 320 is good to spray primer on. I like to use 600 before applying paint to primer. If you are going to try for a mirror finish you will need 1200 or more. I am sure there are some paint and body guys that could be more accurate than this though.
Love the username! Wish I had a Cometmomma. I'm happy enough just to call her Cometallowance. lol Will you be spraying the car yourself?.. or are you just prepping it for the bodyshop to paint in the booth? 1 or 2 stage paint system being used? 320 grit to dull the paint completely to get sufficient"tooth" for the primer.. preferably with a D/A sander. It sounds silly but be sure to wash the car very well and use a grease and wax remover(naptha works well here and is cheap) before sanding the paint down for primer. Otherwise you may "spread and push" these contaminants into the paint as you sand the existing surfaces and the paper loads up with them.. which can lead to adhesion or fisheye issues with the primer application. Stay off the edges with machines and do them by hand(flexible rubber backer pad works well here) when the big areas are done or its pretty easy to burn right through the paint. If that happens you will either need to feather it out further from those cut through areas.. or use more primer to fill those newly created low spots back in. The smoother the final finish the more exacting you'll need to be. As for the primer sanding.. it depends on the paint system being used. Basecoat/clearcoat systems will end up being thicker overall compared to a higher solid single stage system(thinner MIL thickness per coat but generally needing more coats overall) and unless you're a real pro with a spraygun?.. it will need to be wetsanded in the end anyways. IOW, there will be some sacrifice of coating thickness to get that glassy wet showcar look. In general, the ones who sand primers with 1,000 grit or finer are generally doing show car finishes that will never see the street and sanding between most coats which adds HUGE amounts of time to the entire process. You'll also need to factor in some additional MIL thickness/material losses with each round of sanding too. Also keep in mind that it's kinda tough to color sand 2 stage systems when metallic metalflake is present..causes color variations, "tiger striping" or "mottling". It's also extremely important to get the correct reducer for the ambient air temps or you will have wasted tons of time getting that primer to shine as you attempt to smooth it out so well. Next coat will just add all kinds of newfound texture or even run on you since smoother surfaces don;t allow heavier coats to "hang" as well. This is when you need to learn about tack coating to allow the heavier coats to "hang" on the surface without running or sagging. I usually write longer posts.. sorry I don't have more time to go into greater detail. You might be better off to spend some additional time up front to describe your goals, tool availability, and experience level so people can give better advice. Otherwise we're just stabbing in the dark and you'll likely get 10 different opinions based on some things that may not even be relevant to your paintjob. Good luck with it all.
"what grit sandpaper" 320-1200 is about all there is to it... I'm sure someone will tell him how to build a watch...
Yeah.. its so simple that even a caveman.. or cavewoman.. can do it. And it's that simple task which helps painters and body's shops make tens of thousands per year to do it for others. Profit margins are nearing 100%. Not really much skill involved.. just fold the sandpaper up and start sanding, right? Maybe more people would have painted and finished cars if they watched someone tell him how to build that "watch"?
he asked..."what grit sandpaper"...not...how to use sandpaper? said he is going to paint his car, I gave him credit he new how to use sandpaper... then all the painting advice...
I final wet sand with 1600 and the very last time with 2000. That is all done by hand and lots of water to keep the paper clean. After painting, the power buffing is an art form that escapes me, so I let a pro do it. I do use a clay bar after buffing. The wait time on when to use the buffer and clay bar depends on the paint. Ask your paint guy.
sheesh.. all this back and forth nonsense and you actually added no relevant help to the posters original question. And then.. you're giving me crap about giving too much info? I'll see your slap.. and raise you a facepalm. And FYI.. "he".. is a she. Not to mention deductive reasoning and basic logic should point towards an unskilled painter when very basic questions like this "what grit" are being asked in the first place. No offense intended to maverickmomma at all. Being that I've painted professionally most of my life.. my only intention was in trying to help.
Eric.. next time maybe try Meguiars Diamond Cut 2.0. Easy to use, saves tons of elbow grease and makes you look like a pro.
Don't forget to use a good quality sandpaper, I like 3m gold. When I did my comet I bought a role of 80, 120, 220, 320 and 500. Then a couple sheets of wet/dry 600 and 800. I also bought a paste in a tube that contained a fine grit that was used to wash the car before final paint. I've used the cheaper sandpaper but that stuff just wore out a lot sooner and clogged up a lot quicker than the 3m gold. I bought my stuff from Amazon for a decent price. You should purchase a good filler as well. I've had really good results with "evercoat, rage gold". A good filler will sand a lot easier than a cheaper filler saving you many hours at the end. Different size sanding blocks as well (again I went on Amazon to order), dura-block sells an assortment kit. I know you just asked for sandpaper grits but a lot goes into preparing a car for paint, it's a ton of work and one can spend a good amount of money without even laying a coat of paint down. A good hammer and dolley set will help with straightening the metal. Most importantly you need to protect yourself with a good mask. Keep those lungs clean and healthy.
