2stockrocketz

my friend wants to get a cheap painjob (probly macco) but everyone knows they just spray the paint (no prep work done at all).....well the car has a pretty clean body(as far as i can see) but i know theres always dents that you woudnt notice till its painted.

well plan on doing light bodywork, and a lil primer....but we wont do the painting


so i have a few question's:
1) can i use spray can primer?
2)and if so is it safe to use with "shop" paint?(such as macco)
3) can anyone tell me about wet-sanding?

FooK

spray primer works

i think when you wet sand minimum is 1000-1200 grit and make sure you keep it wet.

2stockrocketz

do i just soak the sand paper in water, then sand? or do i wet the car 1st and then sand with dry paper?

buk9tp

u have to make sure its wet/dry sand paper..

dip sand paper in water and sand.. as ur sanding the sand paper will get clogged.. just dip it in a bucket of water and keep going..

wrap the sand paper arround a rubber block.. or whatever.. but thats fine grade after primer..

2stockrocketz

where can i get wet/dry sand paper?(can i get it at autozone or home depot?)
about what grit should i get for wet sanding?



and this is the order of work(right?)

1)wet sand
2)bondo(do i sand again after bondo drys? if so do i still wet sand?)
3) primer (do i sand after that?)

BLUEHATCH

OK... the only time you need to use primer is if you have any exposed bondo on your car, or any bare metal, if not don't even bother with it (waist of time and money). Use 400-600 grit sand paper for wet sanding (the only time you use any paper over 1000 grit is when you're wetsending your clear coat to remove orange peal before buffing). So if the car is being painted anything other then real dark color like Black you'll be fine with just 400 grit paper. And keep the area you're sanding as wet as possible, it'll just be much easyer, sand paper will glide better, and when your sanding area will start drying up, paper will start sticking to the serface therefore making it very difficult to sand. If I were you i'd just take a hose and open a water up just a tiny bit and hold the hose right over the area that you're working on. and that's it. you don't sand that ---- down to bare metal because then you would need to primer or seal that ---- up. So your goal is just to doll up the clear coat and remove all the imprefections on the serface. That should cover it. And the reason i know what i'm talking about is that I use to work at a body shop where for some time i was a painter, so I know my ----

2stockrocketz

wow thanks for the info blue hatch. but if i have lil dents (im sure are some) dont i wet sand till the area around the dent is bare (so i can fill the dent with bondo?) are your steps just for prep and no bodywork? and the clearcoat looks(which is all im tryin to remove?) like an orange peal??

88dx

U can get wet sanding paper at auto zone and napa, all the stuff ive used it black.

and ur 3 step thing is way off. U dont need to wet sand ur car before u paint it. I used 220 grip right before i painted mine.

heres a pic of how it turns out

2stockrocketz

how would you change the order of doing the work? and if i dont wet sand before i paint(the car gets painted...not by me) what method do i use to remove dings and dents?

88dx

for takeing out small dents get some 180ish grit and a sanding block sand over the dent. U will be able to see the dent better now because its the only spot that didnt get sanded go over the dent that didnt get sanded just to scuff it up a little with the 180 grit. after that ur ready to fill it. And if its a small dent dont use bondo they use some type of finishing glaze.

steps:

1: block/scuff
2:fill
3: finish blocking filler down
4rimer filler
5:block down again

Yeah its a lot of work/time