That looks phenomenal! Love the color!

My thanks!  I will surely see if this applies.   Go make a memory👏👏👏🏁🇺🇸

Nice work👏👏👏

I am amazed at your paint job, the blow by blow description was great to read. 

I painted a 55 Chevy once  "outside" and it was  sort of OK - I had no skills at 20 years old...... my Mom help paper mask it off LOL!!!!

It will be a lot more scary when I finally get to paint on Blu 72,  I think it was hit everywhere except on the doors, none my fault. Seems to be a 20 year project now....

100 degree days now have killed the enthusiasm to get the inside back together.😄

Bruce
72 Coupe L48 4sp
Custom Blue/Silver/Pearl

(Click for a larger pic)

Yes, the heat is a bummer for getting things done.  I have been wet sanding and buffing the clear coat.  It takes the starch out of me, but the the final result will be amazing.  The paint came out really good, but its amazing how much smoother the final clear is after this.  Lots of work, but worth it.  With a home style paint booth, there are always a few dirt nibs in the paint, so this takes care of it.  

Tony;  Just curious -- what type of paint is this, and can you tell us the progression of the paper grits you used?

I painted mine with urethane, and I tried finish sanding it and made a mess of things.  Ended up re-clear coating the rear deck. 

Bill,

Well, I am no pro at this, but I read a lot and did a bunch of research.  I have basic skills, so I was hoping to build on those.  After I did all of the body work, which was a complete strip, repair all I found, and then blend in the new fiberglass bumpers, I finished that up with 220 grit.  during the body work I went from 60, 80, 120, 180, then the 220.  I also did some block sanding with guide coat from the 180 to 220.  Technically, that step could have waited, but I was hoping to only need one round of high build primer (which worked out, only one round of high build needed).  I got lucky, the high build was a Upol brand and flowed out nicely.  Thats when all of the guide coat and blocking gets underway.  Each step in the guide coat/blocking stage moves up in grit.  I went from 320, to 400, to 600.  I went to 600 because I was going to spray a metallic, not a solid color.  I went with the recommendations of the paint system I was using for the final grit.  Apparently, metallics can sit in sanding scratches as fine as 400 grit.  In different lighting, the metallic will align in the scratch and be visible as a line or dull spot.  All of this sanding was done with dry paper.  Although, I did try out some 600 from a company called Eagle Abrasives.  It's more like a cloth and can be helpful in avoiding scratches that can form from too much sanding dust building up in a paper type of product, also the edges are soft, so no scratches there either.  I was a little worried about going to 600 and having good adhesion, but it was no problem at all.  

Its always best to use a paint system from one manufacturer.  I used House of Kolor Paints.  They are more pricey, but hey, we all sink money into our cars!  The paint was 4 different substrates.  First a silver sealer, 2 coats.  This goes on right after thoroughly cleaning the car multiple times, and tacking.  Follow the instructions for flash times, and reducer types.  After this flashed, 3 coats of Orion Silver Max.  Again, using the Data Sheets for mixing, and flash times.  I increased my flash times as my booth does not have as good as airflow that you would find in a real booth.  Temps were in the mid 70's in the booth, so great for painting.  Next was the Kandy Brandywine.  This product is not a true candy, it is more of a candy base coat, but mimics a candy.  Each coat makes it darker, but stays translucent enough to let the silver flake shine through.  Always tack in between all coats.  After this, the final product was House of Kolor Show Klear. This is a Urethane paint.  Three coats, with the final two being full wet and heavy.  The first coat gives it a bond, the subsequent coats flow out really well.  It actually continues to flow for up to 20 minutes from spraying.  With the clear, temps are very important to use the right reducer.  Many pros use a slow reducer even in mild weather as the longer drying time gives more flow out and less orange peel and rough spots.  But, it can run and cause drips faster.  

Letting the clear dry per the data sheets, I was then able to start the "color" sanding.  I am using 2000 grit, 2500, and 3000.  I am actually using a dry sanding system instead of wet.  I was anxious about this, but tested it out on some practice pieces and it's working well.  I am using the 3M buffing system, called Perfect IT.  It's 3 different polishes, and three different polishing pads.  I have found that wool works best for initial cutting, then the medium and fine foam pads.  

I haven't see any issues sanding the clear so far.  I let it set up for almost 2 weeks, although they say that it can be sanded within 48 hours.  I think as the clear is reduced and catalyzed, the mix ratio, booth temp, and humidity levels are super important for it to dry correctly.  Also, very important are the flash times between coats.  That can also be an issue if solvents are trapped and cant release.  You can get solvent pops and it can cause the outer coat to be softer longer.  I also read that airflow over the car is very important when clearing.  Apparently, the solvents leave the paint in a gaseous form but can hang in the air and drop back down onto the paint.  Keeping good airflow is important, even after the last coat.  I was told to let the airflow continue for a good 2-4 hours after the final coat, and even better to leave it for as long as you can.  I also increased my flash times to give the solvents more time to gas out in between coats.  

Ok, I might have droned on a bit here.  Hope I answered you somewhere in all of that!

Thanks for all the information! I probably messed up by starting the "color" sanding with, I believe, 320 grit.  In places there was quite a bit of orange peel in the clearcoat, and I wanted to remove that, maybe a bit too quickly. . .

When I did my two cars, I started wet sanded with 400 and used that until there were no shiny spots which denote low areas in the orange peel. From that point, I would go up a couple of hundred on the grit and I think I finished with either 1200 or 1600 grit. 

1973 L-82 4 spd

320 might have been a bit too aggressive. But, some of it depends on how much clear you have to work with.  If the thickness is there, it's just a matter of progressing to higher grits.  At the end, a finer scratch is easier to buff out, but not being too familiar with buffing, it just helped me.  Also, I am using a dry system with a different type of grit.  Even though I'm going to 3000, this system makes the 3000 cut like a 2500 p type grit. 

Yes, it really is telling as the high spots sand don leaving the shiny spots.  It's very much like all the guide coat blocking....except going too deep makes for a very bad day :)