paint and prep.

i want to finish the box i made and i/ve come to the point where sanding it to make it smooth and level across the entire enclosure is pretty good, but it's still not good enough for paint.

i used skim coat for all the little inperfections and high build after that, i think it's pretty good, but what do i do next? what grade of sand paper do i use? and in what stages?and at what stage do i wet sand? or do i? i want to color match the enclosure to my truck and have it just as shiny, so i guess clear coat is to be used? i don't know for sure.

thanks in advance.

unless you are using a spray gun i wouldnt recomend sanding rattle can clear coat...

if you were using a block sander and are happy with how the shapes and curves have panned out..it is a good time to give it a shot of high build to see if there are any other problems...use a high intesity light at an angle to check for dips and heavy scratches you didnt see...i would sant it down with 100-120 before going into final prep...

80 grit scratches are hard to fill with primer..evne high build..

once you priem the crap out of it...i put on one coat usually then a second after it is tackless...after the second coat dries i would use 220- 240 grit on a block sander...if you dont burn through the primer anywhere..(which would indicate a high spot) you can prime again, and then go 320 by hand....then i prime again and get out the 400 or 600 wet...and a hose/ pail of water..you may want to do this in the bath tub if your box will fit in..

tape off your MDF rings to protect them a little bit...and wet her up and sand away...i find the synthetic steel wool 000 works pretty good...or a foam block works nice too behind your sandpaper..after all you dont want to leave a finger mark in it..

Also wear gloves..lytex / vinyl ones..you dont want to be touching the surface with bare hands after your dont wet sanding drying a tack clothing it

thanks very much for the info guys!

i appreciate the walk through, but i have one question.......is it better to wet sand your color before you clear it or do you think that it's better to wet sand after the enclosure is cleared?

by the way you should see this thing! it's turned out better than i thought. thanks to the 12volt.com.......seriously there has been some great insight givin to me here, and i wouldn't have even tried this if it wasn't for the confidence that you guys propmote!

depends a lot on the paint...

dont wet sand single stage paints or metallic paints...

if your using rattle cans i would recomend avoiding wet sanding the basecoat (colour)

i would also recomend avoiding sanding the clear if it is rattle can paint as well..

it is not necessary to wet sand the final coats if the prep was done correctly....however a very fine wet sand on the clear will give you a brilliant finish after it is buffed back to gloss..