I am new to painting w/ base / clear paint. Do you sand between coats on the base coats and between the clear coats, and if you do what do you need to do? Thanks by the way I love the advice ya'll give it helps a bunch

Do not sand inbetween coats! Wait till the last coat of clear is dry and sand it and buff.

Thanks for the info, horsepower

Do you sand between coats of base, if so what grit paper is best. also what is the best grit paper for between base and the 1st coat of clear

Let me start over.
1 prep body (sand old paint / new primer)
2 spray seal coat
3 Spray base coat
4 spray clear coat
5 wet sand and buff.

No sanding to be done between step 1 and step 5.
Any sanding of base coat will ruin your new paint job.
This is not Lacquer, not even close.

Thanks, sorry but I am from the old school. I have never done a base coat - clear coat paint. Again thanks for the help, and this has got to be one of the best sites on the internet!!

HORSEPOWER wrote:Let me start over.
1 prep body (sand old paint / new primer)
2 spray seal coat
3 Spray base coat
4 spray clear coat
5 wet sand and buff.

No sanding to be done between step 1 and step 5.
Any sanding of base coat will ruin your new paint job.
This is not Lacquer, not even close.

After you do the body work should you use a sealer coat first before your (sanding) primer coat, then sand, then add another seal coat then base?

specimen: I dont really have an answer to ur question but I know where you cld definitely find it. Go to the manufacturers site of whatever brand primer/sealer/paint/cc and check out their spec sheet, its very informative! I was surprised on how much info they share with ya, I dont think you can go wrong goin that route. Ive dl'ed every sheet for each product I purchased.

Oh the hell with it, Ill try to answer ur question anyway.......from what Ive learned thru my research I do NOT believe sanding is recommended for sealers AND/OR epoxy primers.
- so if you need to sand these types, a recoat of same will be needed.
- also straight sealers go after fillers/surfacers/primers but b4 the BC.

Again I wldnt go with I just told ya w/out confirming it first and I HOPE someone will chime in if Im waaaay off before I get to work on my project! LOL

Ok, thanks for the info!

Knowing nothing about car painting, I have a dumb question. If paint dries with an orange peel finish, wouldn't you be able to see the basecoat orange peel underneath the clearcoats? Wouldn't you want to sand the orange peel off the final basecaoat, before applying the clearcoats? Of course, this would not apply to production body shop standards, but what about the really smooth high-end finishes? As I said, I am just getting started, and I know nothing about it. Can I get a perfect showcar finish without sanding anything but the top clearcoat? While we are on the subject, can I apply more (and more) clearcoats to really give the paint depth? How many coats would be too many? Also, is lacquer any better these days?