What Grit Prior to Base Coat

G

Guitarzan

Promoted Users
I also posted this in CORVETTE forum but it's not too active there so looking for any comments here.

Took flares off the front of my C2 and blocked with Featherfilll then urethane primer. Body work came out great. A friend owns a reputable body shop and he offered his booth and painter on the weekend to do the BC/CC. Owner recommend wet sand 500 which I did. Painter now tells me to wet sand to 800. I don't want to question him as he is a pro, but this is PPG Deltron and even if you look at their tech sheet is says wet sand 400-600. I have heard of adhesion problems going that fine. It is metallic paint FWIW.

Any advice appreciated!
Brian
 
I used to spend quite a bit of time on the Corvette Forum. Paint and body help there is limited for a number of reasons, primarily because IMHO, most posters there do not do that specialized work.

So, you certainly came to the right place, this forum is full of the very best knowledgeable people some of whom do this for a living and are happy to help.

I did the body work and paint on a 68 and 72 Corvette last year and got super help and advice here. I used VPA (Vette Panel Adhesive) as the filler, then SPI epoxy, then SPI 2K primer, then more SPI epoxy reduced this time, then BASF Diamont bc and SPI Euro clear.

Both of mine were a metallic and I finished with 600 grit, then reduced SPI epoxy as a sealer (spray like the first coat of base) then base and then clear. My understanding is 400 grit is for color only and 600 is needed for metallics. Never heard of 800, but there is a lot I never heard of as a newbie. I do know there is LOTS of ways to do this successfully and there are LOTS and even more LOTS of beliefs by painters of how do this. The biggest quandry you have, IMHO, is if your painter wants to do it his way and you say do it my way, and the paint does not come out good, the painter is gonna say woulda, shoulda coulda.

In any event, I would always go with what the folks here tell you to do. My 2 cents. I also suggest you read the Tech Manual here and the "Perfect Paint Job" paper at the end which is full of great info.

Hope this helps.
 
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Him telling you to take it to 800 sounds like he doesn't want to seal it. Painter is having to give up part of his weekend and is trying to minimize the time spent on it. Red flag IMO. Only reason to do that with something other than a collision blend is to get away without sealing it.
 
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