Thread: Sand Paper

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What type of sand paper should I use to sand my truck down with? How far should I take it to? should I go down to the medal or just smooth it out? What is best?

Originally posted by mikeg
What type of sand paper should I use to sand my truck down with? How far should I take it to? should I go down to the medal or just smooth it out? What is best?

Best place to start would be to buy a book or better yet take a body shop class. There's more to it than buying sand paper and rubbing the paint off. Not to be a smart..#$%, but if you've never attempted this before, there really is way more to it than asking a general question on a forum. First step would be to do a search on the net and read the articles that come up. There will be way more info. there than can be typed in a post here.

The short answer is ................. there is no short answer.

If you have no rust, I would by no means recommend sanding down to bare metal. You will have to start with a sealer and build up from there and it's a pain in the boot if you don't want to completely disassemble the car. The paint you use will recommend a grit paper to use, usually 320-400 grit wet/dry with lots of water. Sand it just enough to remove the gloss and any roughness there might be if the previous coat wasn't color sanded. If you look at some paint jobs, they will have a texture like an orange peel if they weren't color sanded. Be very carful around edges as they will sand through very quickly.

Definitly do your homework Mike. Lots of good steel was ruined because it got stripped and not sealed again. The tree huggers have made the price of materials sky hi, and u might be breaking someones law by doing any of this kind of work in your own garage on private property. I got started by going to work at a production shop doing all the grunt work, untill I could learn the "easy" stuff like spraying paint. Dont give up find a way.

No disrespect intended, but if you need to ask what grade of sandpaper to use to start the paint process, you really need to do some homework first. There is no way to explain it adequately on a forum such as this one.

Hot Rod, Car Craft and other magazines usuallly publish a how-to-do-it on painting. Hot Rod's Paint and Body special issue was published in the winter of 2004. Check a well-stocked magazine rack like Barnes & Noble or Borders.

Search the car magazine web sites for articles like this.

http://www.carcraft.com/howto/24820/index.html

A word of caution. If you start sanding before you figure it out, you will regret it for a long, long time.

Best bet is to go to your local community college or such and take night classes in an auto body class. That is one of the good ways to teach you and get hands on learning and experience. Then start practicing on junk hoods, doors, etc. The class itself will tech you tons.