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"Got the doors sanded. Started with 500 then went to 1000, then 2000 grit. They feel really smooth. Vacuumed and washed then down. Ready for another coat of primer."
YEOW...sounds like you are prepping those panels for final color buffing rather than another coat of primer!
You are wasting a lot of time and elbow grease using that fine of sand paper at this stage. First coat of primer should be used to gauge the shape of the surface of the panel. When sanding the first coat you should find out where the high/low spots are and then correct them. This stage should be done using 100 grit paper. When the panel has be correctly "shaped" then a second coat of primer is added. Sanding this coat should be done with 180/220 grit and should verify that the panel is flat, that is, the high/low areas are corrected. A final coat of primer is then applied and sanded with 320/400 grit and is the "surface prep" stage...that is, preparing the surface for color. Hopefully you are using a good direct to metal (DTM) 2K primer. If so, then the primer only needs enough reducer to make it spray out of the gun. I use a primer gun with a 22mm tip and spray without reduction so that I get a good build with each coat. Good luck...
Agree Primer needs "tooth" to accept finish coats. Took mine to 400 grit before finish coats. Did the 1200, 1500, 2000 on clear coat. At that time, It was recommended not to sand base coat, unless you had a dust speck on it or something.
I have to ask, did you weld the lower pan to the front fender? Same for the running board to the front fender? The reason I ask is, if not, the bondo won't make the first ride to get gas. Typically even when panels are welded the bondo that is used to blend tend to crack near that area anyways
This was a great piece. I went to you tube a lot when i was doing my truck. If I ever did another one, I still have so much to learn. One of my take aways was just how expensive it is to do a truck properly.
Tack clothed the doors, and reprimed. Very happy with the results. I mixed the paint up a little ticker. Last time, directions said one to one. This time I mixed 1 to 0.5. Much nicer. I will now sand lightly before color coat maybe with 800 grit. Might try to paint Saturday. We are supposed to get a foot of snow on Saturday.
It depends on you paint, most have instructions as to when you can lay down the next overlaying coats and roughly the window of opportunity to do so without having to resand. 6-8 hours typically. For an overnite, you need to scuff or sand, clean and tack to get the tooth back in the surface for the next coat. Sanding between allows you to address any flaws or defects you were not happy with on previous coats.
