Everything is primed except the roof. Starting on one corner with 400 grit wet/dry paper, the paint still looks good. Few chips, no rust. I'm ready to spray but without a primer coat. From other parts that I sanded I expected a lot more paint to come off. Both hoods sanded down to original primer coat easily. With the roof that hasn't happened. Should I got to 200 grit paper then work up to 400 and 600 grit?
Sand to pretty flat with coarse paper. I use 220/320. Then spray with multiple coats of "high build primer". This will fill all the scratch marks, holes and low spots. Spray on a spotty "guide coat" with cheap spray can paint in a contrasting color - like the measles. Then wrap a piece of 600 wet/dry (use wet) around a flat paint stick and sand everything until all the measles are gone. Now you should be flat and straight.
You can spot spray any remaining low spots with high build that you didn't catch on the first pass. And tap down any high spots where you sand through, then re-prime just those spots.
By far, this is the biggest, hardest, longest and most important part of any paint job. At the end of your 600 grit with paint stick sand job, it should be perfect. If you can see the flaw in the primer, you will see it in the final paint. The guide coat and paint stick will keep you honest.
The guy who taught me to paint told me that 90% of all paint jobs do 95% of the prep work and skip the last 5%. The last 5% is the difference between ok and stunning. You're already doing a lot of work. Don't cheap out on the last 5%!!
Thanks for the note. I found a patch of small rust holes and am patching them with fiber-bondo. While waiting for that to cure I found the front hood release tube. I see where an old weld had broken off near the handle. I assume it clamps at the latch but should there be keepers of a sort holding it against the bulkhead?
crvc wrote:Thanks for the note. I found a patch of small rust holes and am patching them with fiber-bondo. While waiting for that to cure I found the front hood release tube. I see where an old weld had broken off near the handle. I assume it clamps at the latch but should there be keepers of a sort holding it against the bulkhead?
kevin
My aplogies for the delay- there should be some bend over tabs to retain the tube.
