Need help

[Brianu]

Have a question I'm doing a repaint and trying to do very little sanding . The car doesn't need and body work the car was repainted once before and did a horrible job. I'm curious to see what would be easier I started off with 320grit than gonna go back over it with 600. My question is can I just wet sand it with 600? Will the paint stick I'm a rookie here and don't need no f ups thanks

[old car fan]

Good luck on very little sanding, prep is king. I

[Rusty_OToole]

A lot depends on the quality of the paint used on the previous job. Cheap paint may react with the new paint. When I was painting cars years ago, on a job like that I would go over the car with an orbital sander and 320 then give it 2 thin wet coats of lacquer primer surfacer. Sand the primer by hand with 120 give it 2 more coats and sand with 320 then paint with enamel. Got some very presentable jobs that way on some fairly rough cars. But the paint business has changed a lot since then.

As to whether the paint will stick it should stick fine on a 320 sanded surface.

[JFranklin]

I like to final sand primer with 400 grit, otherwise I can see sanding scratches. If you are not sure of the base paint you can use a coat of sealer first.

[Andy J]

I final sanded my primer with 320 grit. I should have used 400 grit as you can see some faint scratches in the paint.Live and learn.

 

The very little sanding method isn't what you want.As stated by others,preparation is everything.If you want a quality job,don't short cut anything. Paint is much too expensive to have a second rate paint job because you wanted to get out of some work.

[joe_padavano]

You are going to be there a loooooong time if you start with 600

[JFranklin]

If the paint is not lifting and just a poor job visually, you might just need to sand it smooth and use a sealer before top coat.

[Frank DuVal]

If the surface is perfect, you can wet sand with 600 and repaint. But I do mean PERFECT. And wet sanding a whole perfect car does not take that long. We used to wet sand a whole car with 600 and re-clear to make a show car shine.

 

If the surface is almost perfect, then gray Scotchbrite pad (sort of green, but I'm speaking of the finer than maroon stuff!) with Comet or similar scouring powder. No kidding, it was a Sikkens repaint method back in the 90s.

 

Most cars need something more than the two methods above due to chips at least. Those need to be sanded out and spot primed.

 

Take extreme care to sand very close around anything you do not remove, say emblems, door handles, trim, locks etc etc  etc. And unsanded area will be the first to peel. This is what the Comet method was to try to avoid.

Edited June 10 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

I am by no means a pro painter, but have done a few successful jobs. Being a 'rookie' and not wanting to mess stuff up, taking any short cut is a sure recipe for disaster! 

I would have to agree with all of the above posts. IF I were doing this job, the first thing I would do is figure out what paint I would be using. THEN use the manufacturers directions to a T. You said the car has a 'horrible' paint job. What is horrible about it? runs, drips and fish eyes? Any bad spot needs to be addressed and there may be multiple areas and conditions. I would not think a one step fix would work on all areas. If you want a good job, take your time and do it correctly. I approach painting a car with one area at a time. I will start at one corner and work my way around, not moving on until I am satisfied with that part.

[60FlatTop]

Judging from the short attention span topic title you should be fine trying your plan on one body panel to see how it works. If you are doing the work yourself you can get a lot from a little money and some sweat.

 

I have been watching auto painters work for over 60 years. There are a lot of nice looking cars out there that have been painted three or four times to get them right. That includes some painter's cars. After the first paint job they sand as lightly as possible and lay on a coat to cover their mistake. I would say there is a precedent.

[Rusty_OToole]

If the old paint is good but a little rough it may be possible to wet sand with 600, then 1000, then polish and wax and have a nice finish. Or as Frank said wet sand with 600 then clear.

[Frank DuVal]

Note, if the paint is metallic, then sanding the color coat and clearing will not work, it does work on solid colors and already cleared paints (BC/CC). Sanding metallic paint exposes the aluminum flake which when cleared will show mottling, typically.