I want some input regarding finishing a 95 civic coupe, the car is granada black metallic. I am going to be painting it the same color. I am going to be stripping the whole car, interior removal, bumper removal, glass removal, wet sanding, and cleaning. Then I was going to tow the car to the body shop for body work and paint.

Can I leave the dash in the vehicle and tape it up?

When sanding do I wet sand the whole car with 400 grit? that seems to be what I have read, please confirm.

I am going to use house of colors KC10 product to remove the wax, silicone, armorall before sanding, then KC20 after sanding to make sure there isn't any loose debris. Does that sound right, or is that overkill? Also, if the body shop is going to do the body work should i bother with the surface prep after sanding, or just ask the body shop to do it?

Does this sound like an effective way to get the job done, or is there something I'm missing.

Thanks H-T... Im not sensitive, do go ahead and give an education if Im way off.

 

If I understood what you said, I think you have it going backwards. You need to do the r&i's, then do the bodywork before any prep work. It's hard to sight a straight panel when its sanded and not glossy. After body work its going to need primer on the repaired areas. Then the entire car needs to be prepped. 400 wet is too course unless you are sealing the whole car...which I wouldn't if the old paint isn't horrible. I prep for base with either 600 on a da or 600-800 wet. With waterborn base you definitely need to use the finer grit.

 

So strip it, and send to body shop for all the rest? Let them fixx all the body work, then sand the vehicle.

 

I disagree with the statement u made about easier to see dents on a glossy surface. Once sanded low spots appear darker bc they are low and aren't getting sanded yet when blocking a car. Same when using bondo or body filler low spots appear dark and highs are lighter in color. I would suggest doing the work urself and I personally do not wetsand with anything under 1k grit. If u are going to let the body shop do bondo work or any of that no need to prep the surface since they will be doing more sanding

 

Thats ok, I disagree with everything you stated because its all wrong.

To the OP don't use finer than 1000grit...unless you like your paint coming off in sheets 2 years from now. And prep the car after the body work is done.

 

Lol are u serious? Im not gonna argue with someone on the subject but four of my friends went to school for autobody at nadc, and every body-man will tell you that u will find imperfections u didn see before after sanding. And the only time u really wet sand is after u spray the car. Its also called color sanding. Know y? Cuz once u spray the base u wet sand to get debri out before clear thats y its called color sanding. And u don't use anything below 1k y? Becuz if u do it will leave deep scratches after the clear is applied which will be visible. Same goes for wet sanding the clear coat. U wet sand with 2k then buff y? Becuz if u use 600 u will be buffing for 2 years. Body work takes time. That's y they get paid so much. If they just took concrete and ran across ur car to get the paint off it wouldn take long thus getting paid less. And he said if he left the body work up to the shop should he prep it. No, what for if they have to do bondo work they will have to sand again anyway and re prep the car. The more u do the less it will cost. And the more time u take the better it will look trust me. If u use 600 on the base or anything and don't go any higher in grit be prepared for it to look like caca.