Thread: wet sanding?? painting ??

Tweet

We all do things differently, so here are few differences that I would do from what Pat outlined.

The only time that I “wet sand” is before rubbing and/or polishing; then this is dependant on what type of paint you are applying. There are a lot of people that wet sand before paint, but I never did.

When I worked in a body shop, we finished all of our plastic (bondo) with 80 grit, then it was primed. So initially, the plastic was sanded with 36 or 40 grit and the final sand was with 80 grit. You could take it down with another sand (higher grit), if you wanted, but it mostly depends on what kind of top coat you are planning. It is easier to smooth the metal with plastic, than it is with primer. The name of the game is, get it as smooth as possible before priming. If the edge on your plastic into the metal is abupt, and not gradual, then you probably have a high spot, which would show on the metal as being shiny or the plastic is high.

I haven’t painted much in the last 10-15years, so I haven’t had a lot of experience with the newer paints/systems. But fundamentally the processes should be the same.

Guide coats that I use: I usually just use a different color of primer, so the sand paper doesn’t get clogged up with paint. I got used to using a light colored primer (grey) and a dark (red oxide) for the guide coat. Just throw some other color primer, thinned way down, in a cheap or extra gun and then mist coat over your primer.