Hello my name is Mark, I have been working on bodywork and paint prep on my 66 Malibu for a few months now, and I was wondering if you could spare a little advice. I chemically striped the paint to metal, ground down affected bodywork areas with 60 grit grinder, applied 1 coat of 2 part epoxy primer (Transtar). Completed all bodywork and finished off with 180 grit longboard, reprimed entire car with 2 coats of 2K urethane primer/surfacer (Transtar). I believe the chevelle is ready for a guide coat, I am not sure what grit paper to start using, Would 220 be correct? Do I use foam or hard rubber block? Wet or dry? Or would I have to prime again after the 220 and then start with 400 or 500? The paint will be ChromaPremier/ Premier Clear not sure which clear yet. Please Help. P.S. I would love to have the car turn out the best it can be. Thank You

Mark

alrighty i'm doing the exact same thing to my 66 now...i threw on 4 thick coats of the primer i used (PPG K38) and went to town with 220. i sanded down until i hit some bad high spots then shot it with another coat of high build primer. and so on till i got out all the waves and whatnot. when you think you got the car straight, sand with 400 then 600 and wipe it off with a dry towel..park the car in the garage and open up a door and sight down the car towards the outdoors to check for waves and worps. (use the relection of like another house or whatever and see if the panel waves at ya.) all the sanding you want to do is dry sanding unless you clear coated the car, then wetsand with a higher grit like 1000 or 1500 then buff i. as for sanding pads i used a 15" wooden spine block, it had about 1/8" of foam and i used some 10" hard rubber blocks. i noticed that if you push too hard with foam pads they tend not to sand worps out well i used the longer block for long areas like the doors and smaller ones for like the tops of the fenders. its pretty much a thing that you have to do and find out what works and what doesnt. this is the first car ive block sanded so im trying to give you a auto body for dummies look at it. hope thatll steer you right good luck!! http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Who makes or what brand is Transtar? The name is familiar, I believe its a Valspar brand. If it is indeed a Valspar brand I would recommend you stick with Valspar undercoats, then switch to your topcoat of choice. The valspar primer I recommend is Sunfil 92, good product.

Alittle leason on primers-the longer you let them sit and fully cure the straighter the car. Primer likes to shrink as it cures, so if you spray the primer one day and the next you block it smooth, the primer will shrink down after you have sanded it making it all wavy again. So let it sit and cure for around a week, then sand it. Continue to use that 180 0r 220 and long board to block the primer. Dont just use that 18 board use anything that matches the contour of the car. If it has a concave surface use something like a raditor hose or PVC pipe. That longboard will dig into the concave surface resulting in a wavy surface. Ive used everything from radiator hose to 3ft longboard. Everycoat should be guidecoated thats how you tell if the car is straight. If you want to see how it looks take some wax and grease remover wet a rag and wipe it over the surface, that will give it some gloss so you can see what it looks like. You can use water but often it can be deciving as it can leave ripples in the water, not allowing you to see the surface properly.

Continue to block the car with 220 til you are happy with the straightness. Then apply one more round of primer but this time block it with 500 wet. The coarser the grit the faster you cut the primer and also the straighter the car.

Never use a foam pad to block sand a car it will never make a car straight only use them in small areas where nothing else will fit.

Also never ever block in straight lines, only blcok in a X pattern...Eric

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1970 chevelle
1970 chevelle SS455 not a typo its a buick baby
1949 and 1972 chevy trucks
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