This may have come up before, but i am having trouble discerning when and if i should color sand before a clearcoat. I have color sanded a previous job with slight orange peel and been quite happy with the results. My next project i want to paint a color and clear. Assuming i have the same slight orange peel problem, can i color sand the color before the clear? even if i finish with 2000 grit i can envision scratches or cloudyness from not using a polishing compound. if i use a polishing compound, will it contaminate the clear? Will the clearcoat still bond with the color? What time window do i have to do this in?
Or will i get acceptable results just sanding the final clearcoat?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Just color sand the clear. Base is not color sanded.

HEY HORSEPOWER.

What if the base had a dry patch in it. ya know where he pulled the gun back a little fast & its now a dry sorta rough patch there on the base.

Shouldnt this be color sanded out somewhat? what kinda gritt would i use and at what steps.? Id assume using a 2000.....you think or whats possible>

You can sand the dry spot out BUT you must reshoot the base before you clear. I have used 600 grit to sand the dry spot and worked fine.

Joe

Can someone define 'color sanding' please?

I thought it was sanding the base color but it seems that Im finding out that most manufacturers do not recommend sanding the base color. So like stated above, if u do, the base must be resprayed before clearing it.

More knowledge please NEED more info!

"color sanding" is basically just a term used in the automotive painting industry for wet sanding the finished paint job with a very fine paper (1500 grit or higher).

Basically, with a base coat/clear coat, if you were to sand the color coat without reshooting it, you would be clearing over all the sanding scratches in the base coat.