Slick Sand Questions and a Paint Color Question

Getting closer to Slick Sand Phase and have a few questions: What grit sandpaper should be used on the slick sand (between coats and on final coat). 2nd...should a 2k primer or sealer be used over the slick sand prior to laying down base coat?

And on color ....Should the door, trunk and hood hinges be painted the same color as the car or black. The door hinges on my MK III are powder coated gloss black and I kind of hate to sand them and repaint them, but I think all the hinges should be the same color. Any thoughts??

Thanks
Paul

I personally didn’t use slick sand, just rage gold filler, epoxy, 2k primer and glazing puddy. Now I learned from some old school guys long ago and prefer spreading my filler with a spreader instead of a gun. Probably not as efficient but it makes me happy. Now 220 is fine for primer (slick sand 120 or 220 should be fine) work which should be for correcting only minor highs and lows. How many sanded primer coats depends on when I get no break throughs or lows when guide coating. Some times this is 2 sanded coats some time 4-5 depends on the car and how good of a job the previous steps where. Just remember primer doest fill dents, filler does. The final primer coat I take to to 400,600, or 1000 depending on sealer and if metallic is being used (typically 600 is good but look at the sealer spec sheet) I also spray a reduced sealer over the final sanded primer so it lays very flat then I let it flash and go to town with the base and clear. This has always produced excellent results with no picturing and very good adhesion. Now your base filler I typically feel out where to put it then with a nice 80 to 120 grit scuffed up surface I spread the filler with broad long strokes. For the first layer I shape it with 80 grit followed up with another coat and 110 grit and more coats as needed until it feels good. Some times I use a prep rag under my hand to feel our highs and lows. Then I finish the filler with what ever grit the sealer needs and seal it. Then I go to 220 and glaze as needed for lows. Once that’s good I prime and do as I described above. I do it a bit old school but the basics are the same. If in doubt look at the spec sheet as it says what surface each product needs for proper adhesion but also so that it fills and bridges the scratches. Bridges scratches tend show up months after the paint is done and makes metallics look like garbage.

I left my hinges black and they look good on my car. I also powder coated all my brackets and installed them after paint. Some install them before paint and paint them with the panels. It’s a personal preference and as long as at the end of the day there coated your good to go.

3 full coats of Slick Sand, Block with 150-180 gr. Option "A" 3 more coats of SS ,block with 320 then wet sand 500-600 (seal or don't seal) shoot base. Option "B" 3 full coats of Slick Sand, block 150-180. 3 full coats of urethane 2K, block 320 then 500-600 (seal or don't) shoot base. ..I always do Option "B" W/sealer. "B" costs more but for me,,,,I'm not painting "MY" car. I'm painting "customers cars and they all get the long way around. 18 years doing nothing but FFR's....I don't short cut.....and it shows...da Bat

Jeff,

What do you mean by (Seal or don't)

I was of the impression that the urethane 2k was a primer and sealer, am I off base? After the 2k is there a sealer product applied before base?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WarDamnEagle

Jeff,

What do you mean by (Seal or don't)

I was of the impression that the urethane 2k was a primer and sealer, am I off base? After the 2k is there a sealer product applied before base?

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You can shoot a non-sanding sealer.....or not ! Sealers do a few things. 1. If you are shooting a silver it is a good idea to use a sealer. Sealers are like a primer. They are fairly heavy bodied and by giving one full coat it helps bury most of the 600 scratches so the silver doesn't stand up in the grooves. 2. Sealer isn't as touchy as base coat so if you have hade a little fish eye problem when priming the sealer will give you a fresh surface to paint on. 3. If you have burn throughs down to gelcoat, fiberglass or body filler you can use a coat of sealer rather then spot priming and sanding again. 4. For the most part I shoot water base and water base can be a bit touchy about light contamination from hands, dried water spots, soap residue etc. Sealing gives me a barrier coat.....4 kinnda goes along with 2

Thank you all for your input.

Paul

I'm going to be using a PPS type disposable cup system when spraying slick sand. The pps system has a built in strainer screen that is 125 microns. Will the slick sand flow thru a 125 mic. screen or should I just remove the filter screen?

The FFR bodies/gelcoat come out of the mold pretty good and (in my opinion) - don't really need a heavy filler if you focus on good bodywork. If you do coat it heavy though (eg-slicksand) - you can get away with more bodywork imperfections because its going to help fill in minor scratches/nicks you may have missed

Google Evercoat polyester primers / there's a spec sheet out there that tells you intended use/recommend air cap size / etc. I chose to shoot feather fill and does shoot different than paint (as will slick sand) - you basically are blowing this stuff out. I think once my pattern was set, i was at 30-35psi with a 2.3mm cap - wide fan / shooting close and fast

Big picture though- your goal should be to distribute evenly all over the car because you are going to follow up with sanding / additional coats / etc. anyway

Yes, pull the filter out of the disposable. You still need to strain the product when you put it in in the bag. The cheap-o-deluxe strainers the paint store gives should be course enough. HF has some strainers rated at 80 mesh I use for poli primer. You are going to want to reduce your SS with 10% acetone ...you can push up tp 15% if you make sure it flashes between coats. You also want minimum 70* for at least 4 hrs for kick cycle. If you warm your primer to 70-80* it will lower the viscosity and flow better. Rinse your gun between (not clean/just rinse) coats with acetone and mix a 40-50 oz of material at a time in a two quart bucket. I say this so you don't have two much sitting between coats (starts going off in the bucket). When you need to mix more just take a paper towel with some acetone and wipe the inside of the bucket so you can see the measurements...da Bat

Has anyone discussed on here how to prep the plastic hood scoop for paint?
Simply shoot it with 2k Primer then treat it like everything else? or does it need one of those adhesion promoters etc??

You need to give it a bit of a surface for bite plus the mould lines on the edge need a little rounding. Adhesion promoter and and a flex agent are a good idea to keep the paint from cracking and peeling. I shot mine like a bumper cover and used both with excellent results.

First scuff it with a red Scotch Brite pad then follow that with a good sanding with 320gr dry. Tac it off and give it 2 light coats of Bulldog adhesion promotor (a little more then a mist coat. Do NOT spray it like you are painting with a spray can). 2 coats of 2k and away ya go...da Bat