Some details of the paint process. I used Spies Hecker 8000 series clear on the truck. Every panel was wetsanded with 1000 grit to flatten the orange peel, then guide coated with over-reduced black base coat. Then the panels were wetsanded with Meguiar's Unigrit 2000, then 3000 grade sand paper to refine the wetsanding scratches before buffing. I buffed out the paint with Norton's Liquid Ice extra cut compound using a wool pad, then polished the swirl marks out with 3M Machine Polish on a 3M waffle pad. The final step was to polish the truck with my 6" Porter Cable random orbital buffer using Griot's Garage Machine Polish 3 and finishing with Griot's Best of Show Wax.
Doors after spraying the outside.
Cowl panel:
Front clip paint process. I first sprayed a coat of tinted sealer over the panels. Then they were sprayed with Spies Hecker 257 series single stage. I let the panels dry, then nibbed any trash, scuffed them with a grey 3M pad, and cleared them with Spies 8000 series clear. The grill shell and fenders were masked, the white and black detailing was sprayed with Spies basecoat, then unmasked and cleared.
Tinted sealer:
Single Stage:
Once the single stage had dried, I mocked up the fender and grill opening to mark where the black and white needed to be masked so that the edges would match from panel to panel.
Masked and white base coat applied.
Fine line tape used to get precise, clean tape egdes.
White masked out, ready to spray the black base coat.
White and black sprayed and unmasked, ready to spray the clear coats.
After spraying three coats of clear.
Door after sanding with 1000 grit and guide coating applied.
Close up of guide coat.
Sanded with 2000 grit. You can see that the guide coat shows where the 1000 grit scratches havn't been fully sanded out around the edges of the sanded spot.
Incredible clarity of reflection in the paint after sanding with 3000 grit and buffing.
I hung the hood up to wetsand it to let the sanding grit and any stray dust/grit that might stick to the wet surface wash off easier.
Also used a Whirlpool water filter to catch any grit in the water lines.
Grit caught in filter that would have made scratches when wetsanding.
Hood after wetsanding and buffing.
