What are these layers?
Posted by realpsychofox@reddit | projectcar | View on Reddit | 22 comments
I’m wet-sanding this panel. Prepping it for paint. Just wondering how much more to sand. Does it go paint, primer, and bare metal?
pyrodragon09@reddit
Okay, what are you trying to sand down? Has the clear coat failed? Or are you just prepping it for new paint? If the paint was fine then you went tol far. The layers you see are different factory coatings. The very bottom is E coat. From there is sealer primer, and then base coat and clear on top of that. You dont need to go down to bare metal unless you are doing body work or fixing rust.
thejesterofdarkness@reddit
In the manufacturing side we dip the car bodies in a pool of e coat right as they proceed into the paint shop.
The fun times are when the body goes in but doesn’t come out the other end.
DrownItWithWater@reddit
How often does that happen?
illbeyourdrunkle@reddit
At the Honda plant i work at it happens every few months. We got to drain the tank and chop the car body into pieces small enough to pull out. Takes most of a day.
DrownItWithWater@reddit
Wow that sounds like a major pita 😬
alaskanarchy@reddit
Mmmm major pita
kleedog_millionaire@reddit
At the truck plant I worked at, it never happened in E-coat. Happened a few times a year in phosphate (E-Coat pre treatment).
realpsychofox@reddit (OP)
Thank you so much—the clear coat was crumbling and flaky.
pyrodragon09@reddit
Okay, yeah just a little too far. You would just want to remove the flakes and then feather out the good clear, and sand the basecoat thats exposed. Better off priming the exposed basecoat after sanding it too.
MCXL@reddit
Yeah then you've gone too far.
idk_but_Im_racist@reddit
Dont quote me on this, but im pretty sure you dont want to be wet sanding to prep for paint, that would likely be too fine of a grit, so there would be a lack of adhesion
akep@reddit
Clear color and probably primer sealer and primer filler or ecoat over the metal (not visible)
No need to wet sand a panel in prep for paint, just sand it with the recommended grit, which in this case I’m guessing you’re about to prime this car since you’ve sanded through the color and primer? In any case there’s no need to do that either unless you hate yourself. If you want to be down to metal, consider media blasting or chemical stripper instead of 1000 hours of sanding. If you’re still going to sand it just make sure not to press too hard on the panels because you will create dents along any ribbing or reinforcement.
Wet sanding is used when you’re going for a finer/shinier finish than what you can get, like at the 1000-3000 grit level, and a waste of time for anything less because finer paper exists. Also not needed on any other layer except clear coat.
The_Jaxophone@reddit
Man with hand on shoulder meme
ThatsWhatIGathered@reddit
Clear coat. Base. Primer. Sealer.
Offal_is_Awful@reddit
Elpo, primer, paint, clear.
GuineaPigsAreNotFood@reddit
And that kids is how your paint job ends with low spots
lucagiolu@reddit
Lesson learned. Only Go for high spots!
TotalmenteMati@reddit
I usually sand the whole piece to 400 grit before adding primer
Clegko@reddit
600 myself, but basically the same. Haven't had any problems yet.
idk_but_Im_racist@reddit
Dont quote me on this, but im pretty sure you dont want to be wet sanding to prep for paint, that would likely be too fine of a grit, so there would be a lack of adhesion
pyrodragon09@reddit
It depends on the grit of the sandpaper. Wetsand 1k sandpaper is still perfectly fine to use for paint. Anything finer than that will be too fine.
idk_but_Im_racist@reddit
Depends if the panel was replaced at some point. You'll run into clear, paint, possibly a basecoat, sometimes a sealer, primer, and if its a new panel theres a sealer there as well, then bare metal. It tends to vary depending on who did the work, best of luck tho