I have started to sand down the body on my 66 mustang. I am going right down to bare metal. Found several layers of paint from the original white, yellow primer, darker yellow, toupe green, white, red oxide primer and even found blue on one part.

But my questions is. What grade of sand paper do I finish with once I hit bare metal before I prime. 180 or 220?

Then after I prime I sand that out with 320?

 

holy lotsa colours, yikes. Good luck and lots of pics when done

 

I'm no body man, but done my fare share of painting with car stuff, and like you, i've used 220 for final sanding before i put down primer, and paint.
Don't want too coarse of a paper as it will leave lines no matter what, and you want the paper to be coarse enough so the paint will have bite, and 220 to me is a good choice.

 

Thats what I thought.

After I prime sand with 320 or 400?

 

400 if your painting it with urethane 600-800 if your going with base clear. This new paint is thin as water doesnt fill sand scratches worth beans.

 

Thank you

 

I also thought you might need a fine paper but eh what do I know

 

Forgot about this water base paint we have now. Gonna keep that one in mind!!

 

Just some advice about painting. Go over the vehicle, then again and then again. Get close to it and look at different angles with plenty of light. If there is one mistake made when painting a vehicle, it's the prep. Not enough time is spent on it. Anything and I mean anything that is on the surface, will be magnified and it's better ( easier too) to do it right the first time than to have to repair it later. Blow any dust off first ( use an oil-less air compressor, it'll travel through the line) and then use lots of tack rags. But again, take your time. We used to use something called "diamond dust" sand paper ( with di-ionized water) on the clear coat. It's small, extremely fine sandpaper discs abut the size of a Toonie. Then the polish. I think you've already been steered in the right direction concerning the sandpaper. Good luck with it. You only want to do it once.

 

^^^ x 2. Prep is KEY. Dont rush it.