Long story short. My clear turned out real rough ( thank you cheap gun and fast clear. won't EVER do that again. leeson learned ) and I want to sand it down and reshoot it. I have access to a much better gun now. I have a big roll of 400 grit left and was wondering if sanding it down wit that and reshooting was OK? Or would I need a finer grit? Thanks in advance.
The roughest I like to use is 500. 600 is my choice most of the time. 400 would probably work, but I'd be REAL careful you don't cut through the clear with it...it does cut it fast!
You'd probably have to use more clear to even it all out. But the scratches should fill in if you're careful when you sand the old clear off.
PPG recommends 800 when sanding for a reclear and I have used it with great results. You will not see any of the scratches through it. PPG used to say 1000, but changed to 800 a couple years or so back because of possible delamination with the prior surface. Make sure your finish has completely cured before sanding and make sure it sits after sanding for a couple days prior to reclearing or the shine will die back.
Yup. It's a pretty common practice when blending into an adjoining panel. Even if it is fully cured wait at least 24 hours after sanding. You are opening up the surface and it may not be fully cured under the surface....dry, yes, but not cured.
Painter had an air hose break inside the booth painting my El camino on the last coat of clear and the whole car was full of dirt. I sanded the entire car with 600 wet and dry being careful not to go through into the base. Second time it turned out great!!
I've been doing collision work for over 17 years. Every car we prep for paint in blend panels or just reclear we use 800 grit. We use 3m hook it 2 pads on a DA sander. You can do it wet or dry and just sand until the orange peel is gone. Be carful you don't sand through an edge or you will have to spot that in with the base color.
Heres my .02 800 grit scratches will cover with a new coat of clear. What you didn't say was what type of clear you had used. enamel clear or urathene clear or water base urathene. ppg 3000,4000,2002,2020,2042. 5 star clear, zoloutone clear,Dupont. Wet sand then dry with a rubber squiggie as you go till smooth. try not to break thru clear. Next time you may want to use a slower activator or slower reducer to give you more time to spray. But watch out for runs.......... Charles
I am a 3M Rep. And this guy is right on the money!!. Go get a 5551 DA pad and interface pad and some 800 finishing film . The softer DA pad combined with the interface pad will cut like 800, but leave a 1000 grade scratch. The pad combination lets you sand over the curves and also helps from breaking through on the edges. If you are trying to really level the rough clear pull the interface pad off. God Luck, let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks guys! I appreciate the help. Can't be to careful you know? Just want this to be as close to perfect as possible.
Worked for me too....sanded it dry (after I shaved my clear runs with a razor blade)...saved lots of hours of wet sanding and came out great..just stay off the sharp edges so you don't sand through...soon as the clear turns opaque you're sanded enough
Sometimes if it's that bad, you will spend more money and time than it's worth trying to save an ass looking paintjob. Just grab the 320 or 400 and sand it all back down smooth. Seal it, base it and clear it. Get it all prepped out and go get a painter from a bodyshop and offer him some extra christmas money to come over to your garage and spray it. They usually will.
800 X2....for a re-clear, but I never DA anything until 3000 grit...just how I do it...what a difference 3000 grit makes and you hardly use any compound, too!
Blending repairs are way different form an entire car shoot. It's the adding on of multiple thin layers to get your blend that might necessitate using a much finer grit paper. Jon Kosmoski, of House of Kolor, recommends using 500 on overalls, to get a smoother clearcoat finish over custom paint jobs. 3-4 coats to finish your paint, 500 it, and put another 2-3 "flow coats" or overreduced clear over that for a mirror finish (tho I've never achieved that, I still need to sand and buff!)
Im a fan of 600-800 depending. below that you into chances of sanding through to your base, over that you run the chances of delam / improper adhesion. its been said 15 times before. you just asked for more opinions..
Hey, If you're new to the painting business, and trying to save having to do a complete reshoot, I'd forego the use of a DA! You can use the 400, just kn0ock the ''tooth'' off of it by rubbing two pieces of it together until its' lost its' edge. The only thing worse than sanding through to the colour coat is not sanding enough so the clear gets a good bite into the job which equals a retutn job in about ninty days. ''..........is graffiti on the walls of history "
not a chance. I have done verything on this car. I mean everything. I am not going to pay someone else to spray it. I was using a shitty gun, with a fuct up regulator ( did not know that at the time ) and some shitty clear with quick hardener. I learned. Won't happen again. It has been a lot of time, but not that much money involved.
I did apply the clear REAL thick cuz I did not want to risk rubbing through. SO she has a few coats of clear on it already. Again, thanks for the replys. They help.
So what would be the longest length of time you could wait to apply a reclear, could it be say a year or more?
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