On Tuesday 18 October 2005 06:29 pm, Randall wrote:
> I've no idea what is 'typical', but I paid extra to have the paint on my
> Stag buffed between the color coat and the clear coat. Was only done on
> smooth exterior surfaces, not around corners and such.
>
> Apparently the "one step" color + clear paints are no longer allowed, so
> we're back to having a separate color coat and clear coat.
>
> Randall
The term for this process is often called "color sanding". After the final
spraying of the base, or color, coat, there will always be minor surface
imperfections that keep the surface or the paint from being perfectly flat. A
flat surface will reflect more light than an irregular surface. Note that
we're not talking about looking at the paint from a few feet away (and most
all paint looks good from 20 feet away <grin>), but within inches of the
surface.
The color sanding process seems more art than mechanics, uses very fine grit
sandpaper (600 and finer) and also involves polishing with a very fine grit
polish. While not hard to do with practice, color sanding can be hazardous to
the paint job if you apply too much pressure on edges or the crowns of curves
surfaces and "burn through" the color coat to the primer. That will ruin your
day.
When the clear coat is applied to a color sanded surface, the paint job
acquires an amazing depth and shine. A great place to see this kind of finish
taken to an obscene level is at custom car shows. That's also a great place
to see what a difference the fitment of body panel alignment can have on a
car, where the body lines flow and the panel gaps are all equal.
Fit and finish at this level are expensive; lots of $$ if you pay someone or
lots of time of you do it yourself. It doesn't, however, affect how the
vehicle drives ad is not mandatory for a daily driver. It is a mark of high
levels of skill (amateur and professional skill).
Here are some interesting links:
Car Craft Magazine: How to Color-Sand a New Paint Job
http://www.carcraft.com/howto/926/index.html
Auto Paint FAQ
http://www.xs11.com/faq/paintfaq.shtml
THE ABSOLUTE BASICS FOR PAINTING A CAR
http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/Painting.html
--
Hoyt
1954 TR2 TS561L
1959 TR3A TS33111L
1960 TR3A T543923L (note DMV error)
1960 TR3A TS74076L
1961 TR3A TS63304L
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