How to sand for super smooth finish?

[Big Dee 10+ year member]

I've seen it said on here many times to sand the paint before applying clear, but I read an article on car painting that said that you should only sand the primer and the clearcoat and not the basecoat color.

What the dealy yo?

Click to read more...

 

[DeuceLee 10+ year member]

i'd like to know as well...

 

[Mitch86 5,000+ posts]

If you're using a solid color, you can simply sand the base color to smooth out any runs and make everything nice and smooth.

 

[frkkevin 10+ year member]

when I do small parts with spray paint I sand the base coat.. simply just use wet sand paper and when your done you have to buff it. not always the easiest thing.. very time consuming

 

[Big Dee 10+ year member]

If you're using a solid color, you can simply sand the base color to smooth out any runs and make everything nice and smooth.

I'm using clear over the base though.

 

[thatkidbob 10+ year member]

then just spray smooth to begin with, spray your clear on as thick as you want, then wetsand it smooth & glossy with 1000, 2000 & (if you wanna) 4000 grit...

 

[xtremekustomz 10+ year member]

No you are NOT supposed to sand the actual paint. You are only supposed to sand the primer and clear. You can sand single stage paint that basically has the clear mixed in. If you run the paint, sand it back down and put another coat on. You clear is what give you that "orange peel" look. Personally I would put 2 coats of clear over the base, sand down with 1000 and make sure that you get all the glossy spots on it. Basically it works like color sanding. Use lots of water and a squeege to wipe the paint dry so you can see if you have sanded enough. After doing that put 2 more coats of clear on and sand down with 1500. After that take a buffer and use 3M Perfect-It with a wool pad. You will have to be careful not to burn through the clear though. After that change out with a foam pad and go back over it again. It will polish any scratches out. Then just put a glaze or something like that on it. You really don't need to wax for a month or you will sometimes have a haze in the clear. You have to give it time to cure.

 

[Big Dee 10+ year member]

Great tips xtremekustomz. Thanks a bunch.