Paint Prep - Sanding

[dallas_]

Originally Posted by avdcav

Block car by hand Follow these steps
Block Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block block
Block. Block. Keep blocking. Block block. Block .

You left out a few. That's a good start, but it won't be enough.

Oh wait... I just saw this:

Okay your half way done . Call or hire body real body guy. Pay him for his time to feel your car and make comments .
Drink yourself silly because real body guy just found 200 imperfections .

[DanEC]

I will add to the chorus - no DA sanders. Use sanding blocks and get as many of different length, width and contour as you can justify. I painted this myself and a mechanical sander never touched the body.

[marco454v8]

Hi Red Eye,
same advice as above-no D/A! I used the 3M dry guide coat-great product, and much quicker than spraying a guide coat; 3M 05861 Dry Guide Coat Cartridge and Applicator Kit - 50 g : Amazon.com : Automotive

Here's mine in the booth using dry guide coat, and end result.

good luck, Mark

[DanEC]

A few other sanding aids to consider: A swimming pool float can be cut to various lengths and works well for sanding inside corners like at the top where the fenders sweep into the main body. I have what I remember to be a 17 inch board sander but for the doors and the front fender sides I wanted something a little longer. I bought the straightest piece of 2x2 by 4 ft poplar at Lowes I could find. I used one of their levels to check it by. I cut it to the length I wanted (about the length of the door) and marked the absolute straightest and flattest side on it for fastening self-adhesive sandpaper to. Using it in a criss-cross fashion really straightened out the sides. A few replica bodies (FFR anyway) do not have flat sides, instead having a gental curve, so they would not need such a long board for sanding. A variety of short pieces of rubber hoses in various sizes work for tight inside corners such as where the fender flares meet the body. For sculpting the rolled cockpit edges I experimented with several self-made contraptions. The one that worked best was to use a whole saw of proper radius to drill a hole in a piece of 2x4 which I then cut in half to end up with a half circle. I used it to both screed my filler on the rolled edge and then I used it to hold SA sandpaper and sand the radius uniform.