Same with me too! My instructor said that 400 grit is high enough and that "the clear coat will cover it up" In certain lightings, if you look at it real good, you can still see the cross-hatch patterns from all the sanding :doh:
My never ending project: New paint on my 5.0
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Same with me too! My instructor said that 400 grit is high enough and that "the clear coat will cover it up" In certain lightings, if you look at it real good, you can still see the cross-hatch patterns from all the sanding :doh:
Vortech5.0
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I think that definitely stands true with the 2003-2004 SVT Cobras (aka--The Terminators). Those are still one of the most popular mustangs to date and they can make insane horsepower. I'm part of a local mustang club and there are a few of those pushing 800-900 horsepower. The most powerful one (also a terminator) is just over 1000 HP, totally streetable. Insane.
Vortech5.0
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We'll know better for "next" time won't we lol.
Looking pretty good. I like to see people step out of their comfort zone and just go for it.
As far as your instructor, I may be off, but he sounds like a jerk. Almost like he just shows up for the pay check.
I have been in the automotive refinishing business painting/prepping cars for almost 10 years now and seems to me like theres not enough base coat on the car. I don't know what type of paint or what system you are using but you shouldn't be able to see through the color to the sealer/primer underneath. Also the 400 grit is acceptable depending on the process used. Same as in detailing, the type of sanding process used will yield different results with the "same" grit. 400 grit on a random orbital sander (DA) is going to be finer then if you hand sand wet or dry. Sealer is more then likely going to be required if you only prepped the car out into 400 grit with a DA. Some painters will skip the sealer step if they know the primer was prepped well enough (finer grit). The sealer basically fills the minor scratches helping to create a smoother finish for the base coat (color) and makes the entire car one uniform color to start your painting process. Not having the car prepped to a fine enough grit sand scratch is definitely one reason why may see the cross hatched sanding marks under your base still.
And I'm sure you have realized this now but anything that is under the clear cannot be "buffed" afterwards. your base should look exactly how you want it to be when its finished only it will be dull. No dirt, fisheyes, runs, sags, scratches or any other imperfections. The fish eyes are a small spot or some times large areas with many small spots. They are small craters that have some form of contamination on the surface that won't let the paint onto it. If the fish eye is in the clear its pretty much like having a hole in your clear coat that goes straight to the contamination and can be a pain to fix and possibly require a repaint. The contamination could have come from anywhere. You mentioned water in the air lines, the guy in the picture painting is not wearing any sort of paint suit to protect the paint job from gunk. I also worry about the health of the guy painting because the chemicals are nothing to mess around with and proper precautions should like paint suits and respirators should always be warn. The chemicals can and will kill you given enough time and exposer.
Well that ended up longer then I thought it was going be. But seriously it looks good, especially for the first time. The first time I painted it was like a horror movie plastered to the side of car.
Jeremy
As far as your instructor, I may be off, but he sounds like a jerk. Almost like he just shows up for the pay check.
I have been in the automotive refinishing business painting/prepping cars for almost 10 years now and seems to me like theres not enough base coat on the car. I don't know what type of paint or what system you are using but you shouldn't be able to see through the color to the sealer/primer underneath. Also the 400 grit is acceptable depending on the process used. Same as in detailing, the type of sanding process used will yield different results with the "same" grit. 400 grit on a random orbital sander (DA) is going to be finer then if you hand sand wet or dry. Sealer is more then likely going to be required if you only prepped the car out into 400 grit with a DA. Some painters will skip the sealer step if they know the primer was prepped well enough (finer grit). The sealer basically fills the minor scratches helping to create a smoother finish for the base coat (color) and makes the entire car one uniform color to start your painting process. Not having the car prepped to a fine enough grit sand scratch is definitely one reason why may see the cross hatched sanding marks under your base still.
And I'm sure you have realized this now but anything that is under the clear cannot be "buffed" afterwards. your base should look exactly how you want it to be when its finished only it will be dull. No dirt, fisheyes, runs, sags, scratches or any other imperfections. The fish eyes are a small spot or some times large areas with many small spots. They are small craters that have some form of contamination on the surface that won't let the paint onto it. If the fish eye is in the clear its pretty much like having a hole in your clear coat that goes straight to the contamination and can be a pain to fix and possibly require a repaint. The contamination could have come from anywhere. You mentioned water in the air lines, the guy in the picture painting is not wearing any sort of paint suit to protect the paint job from gunk. I also worry about the health of the guy painting because the chemicals are nothing to mess around with and proper precautions should like paint suits and respirators should always be warn. The chemicals can and will kill you given enough time and exposer.
Well that ended up longer then I thought it was going be. But seriously it looks good, especially for the first time. The first time I painted it was like a horror movie plastered to the side of car.
Jeremy
Vortech5.0
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Ha Ha thanks man. And you nailed it with the instructor. I asked him multiple times if we needed respirators or to wear suits or anything and he just shook it off. If wearing a suit would've caused one less dust spot, fish eye or whatever, of course I would've been all over that. But he was the master so we didn't. Also just recently during the buffing stages while getting up close and personal with the car, I noticed that he missed a couple spots on my front bumper.
Not full on missed but the paint is very light and in the right light its noticeable. Darn. We did seal the car before painting so maybe I just didn't sand the car very well or something. Still wish I would've gone with at least 600. Oh well, whats done is done.
And I'll post up what I did with the fish eyes. Turned out pretty well.
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Here's what I did to attempt to make the fish eyes less noticeable, I guess I'm somewhat impressed with the results as my other options were to live with it or to re-paint.
First I started by scuffing up the inside of the eye as best I could. Then with a fine tipped paint brush (Yeah I had to buy the wifey a new one when I was done) I dabbed a little bit of clear in. Let them cure. Then sanded them down flat with some 3000 grit paper. I kept waiting for the blob to pop out or something but they stayed in there. You can still see the dust or contamination point in the middle that originally caused the fish eye but all in all its way better.
This was what they originally looked like before filling.
Dabbing in some clear
This is after sanding them down smooth. You can barely see them just above the arrows.
This is after buffing, polishing and waxing. They are still there but were very hard to capture in a picture. I could really only make it visible when I got it on the edge of the sheet rock line to show some distortion.
This pic is a little closer. You can really only see the dust spec in the middle of it (which kind of blends in with all the other dust on the car lol) Other than that not too shabby
First I started by scuffing up the inside of the eye as best I could. Then with a fine tipped paint brush (Yeah I had to buy the wifey a new one when I was done) I dabbed a little bit of clear in. Let them cure. Then sanded them down flat with some 3000 grit paper. I kept waiting for the blob to pop out or something but they stayed in there. You can still see the dust or contamination point in the middle that originally caused the fish eye but all in all its way better.
This was what they originally looked like before filling.
Dabbing in some clear
This is after sanding them down smooth. You can barely see them just above the arrows.
This is after buffing, polishing and waxing. They are still there but were very hard to capture in a picture. I could really only make it visible when I got it on the edge of the sheet rock line to show some distortion.
This pic is a little closer. You can really only see the dust spec in the middle of it (which kind of blends in with all the other dust on the car lol) Other than that not too shabby