slammed 57

[Advanced Design]

Holy cow I’ve been missing out….wow! Looks great!

[Jason 56]

Question… when you’re sanding are you cutting to 1500 or 2000 grit before buffing and are you doing your final polish with foam or wool?

[slammed57]

Thanks fellas I appreciate it

[slammed57]

Originally Posted by Jason 56

Question… when you’re sanding are you cutting to 1500 or 2000 grit before buffing and are you doing your final polish with foam or wool?

800,1000,1500,2000,2500,3000 grits all by hand with ridged and soft blocks. I use a lambs wool pad from 3D ( highly recommend) little pricey for that pad $40 but sooo worth it and then a lake county white foam pad for polish.... I been using 3d compound and 3d polish ( i really their compounds) 2500 grit is not a must but does help a little more

[Jason 56]

Thanks for the info.

Can’t wait to see the whole body complete. I agree… lots of work, but SOOO worth it!

[slammed57]

using a ton of guide coat between each grit except when doing the final step of 3000 grit. Also Iam really happy where the patched in of the cowl vent, came out pretty slick. all that left with the cab is the cut and polish of the door jambs....

[oldman3]

Looks beautiful...Jim

[duramax55]

slamed 57 you said you guide coat when colour sanding. Never thought of that , dose that give good indication of when you have removed all the marks from previous grit. Doesn't the water from sanding just wash the guide coat off?? Very nice looking truck and paint is awesome.

[slammed57]

Yes, it tells you exactly when all scratches are gone and move on to the next grit. you can not use the guide coat on the first cut ( there are no scratches for the powder to fill) only after 600-800 or what ever grit you prefer start with.The key is to use a lot of light. a flood lamp on a stand works great, a led that straps to your head (like what the mechanics) use works decent to. when first applied and sprayed with water only a slight amount comes off but plenty stays on for the sanding process. As your are sanding you will see the scratches slowly disappearing, when they are gone I will sand 2-3 more swipes after just to be sure. it produces a consistent and even result. 3000 grit does not need guide coat applied. I also only buff and polish at 1000 rpm with a high quality pad,almost impossible to burn the clear or burn through.

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by slammed57

Yes, it tells you exactly when all scratches are gone and move on to the next grit. you can not use the guide coat on the first cut ( there are no scratches for the powder to fill) only after 600-800 or what ever grit you prefer start with.The key is to use a lot of light. a flood lamp on a stand works great, a led that straps to your head (like what the mechanics) use works decent to. when first applied and sprayed with water only a slight amount comes off but plenty stays on for the sanding process. As your are sanding you will see the scratches slowly disappearing, when they are gone I will sand 2-3 more swipes after just to be sure. it produces a consistent and even result. 3000 grit does not need guide coat applied. I also only buff and polish at 1000 rpm with a high quality pad,almost impossible to burn the clear or burn through.

great job Mike, as always. She's "IS" a show stopper.

[duramax55]

slammed 57 thanks for the reply. Will have to try that, alsohow do you prevent getting deeper scratches when sanding. For some reason i get scratches fromdirt or whatever in the paint when sanding. I try to use a lot of soapy water when sanding but still get them don't know what I'm doing wrong. Also soak paper in bucket often

[dsraven]

Use clean water
Wash the part to be sanded first before sanding
Change water between grits
Dont stir up the water when dipping sander into bucket
Use a large bucket
Use a bucket to rinse of the sander before dipping into the "good" bucket
Use a soaking wet rag to wipe the surface often and especially between grits
Use a pump sprayer

[dsraven]

I have used a garden hose with a slow stream to flood the surface when wet sanding.

[62 Barnfind]

What guide coat are you using?

[slammed57]

Originally Posted by duramax55

slammed 57 thanks for the reply. Will have to try that, alsohow do you prevent getting deeper scratches when sanding. For some reason i get scratches fromdirt or whatever in the paint when sanding. I try to use a lot of soapy water when sanding but still get them don't know what I'm doing wrong. Also soak paper in bucket often

dsraven has some excellent advise. I would also add what i do is i get a clean towel and lay it on the work bench or cart on rollers so when you put your sand paper down or sanding block, you put it on the towel. so it wont pick up dirt. I change paper pretty frequently especially when you go up in grits , the finer it is the faster you'll burn through the paper. I personally dont use soapy water. It is acceptable, but with straight water you can feel the paper cutting the clear better and lets me know when to switch at add new paper. the soap just glides over instead of cutting ( at least to me it does). I use a normal squirt bottle from home depot and constantly spray the area as iam sanding. the hose is nice but in my garage it would become a swimming pool.

[slammed57]

Originally Posted by 62 Barnfind

What guide coat are you using?

I use mirka dry coat with the 3m guide coat pad only, the mirka pad works , but the 3m has a little more spongy and softer feel to it. I wouldnt run out and buy 3m just for the pad, I just had it laying around from prior use

[slammed57]

still chugging along, got a few more parts painted and assembled

[slammed57]

Hope y'all have a Merry Christmas

[Rickysnickers]

That looks great!!!

[57FleetsideC4]

Fantastic looking build!! Steve

[Advanced Design]

Wow! Beautiful! MerryChristmas!

[nvrsatisfied]

nice build! that meat on the back gonna look �� ��

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by slammed57

Hope y'all have a Merry Christmas

you do great work Mike. What size gas tank are you using?? Merry Christmas my friend.

[Jason 56]

I like it!

[slammed57]

Little progress here!