Looks like you're getting it done... It's hard to say just how well the primer will fill the imperfections...You could spray just the areas that need attention to build up the primer and hit it again with the 220...Then coat the whole part.. You'll need to go with the finer paper once the primer is on there..
I sanded everything up to 600, filled the dings with putty, sanded back up to 600 then coated with 2 dashes of high-build primer. Next step is to wet sand with 800 then go to color and clear coat. Question is...how do I go about sanding the curved parts? Basically, each piece has 6 curved plane surfaces to sand...
1 is 1/2 to 1 1/2" wide
2 & 3 are both about 2"
4 is 1/8" wide
5 & 6 are 1/2" wide
This might be illustrated better by my original pictures but surfaces 1 and 2 are flat enough they could probably be block sanded, but 3 is mostly an all bulbous curved surface. 5 and 6 are probably flat enough to be block sanded, and 4 is so thin I won't be doing anything there but knocking off the edge between it and 5. Don't want to risk getting too close to 3 and scratch it with the edge of the paper. It's thin enough I don't think remaining unsanded will matter that much, but let me know if I'm wrong here.
2 questions are...
How do I go about sanding that curved 3 surface?
Before coating with primer, my previous sanding got down to the plastic in a few places. If I sand through the primer (to plastic or paint) and wet sand up to 800, will the paint layer stick to that? Or do I need to re-coat with primer if I sand through?
Use a sponge or foam block wrapped in sandpaper to conform to the contours, and use a light touch in those areas, once lightly sanded avoid edges and high spots.
Quote: I don't have any pictures handy, but what I did when I had the same issue was grind what was left of each stud flat with the bracket, drill it out, and tap it with the same size as as the original stud. Then I got some stainless pan-head machine screws (the pan head ones have pretty low profile heads), threaded them in from the back
That's basically what I did too.
The other guys are right. Wetsand with fine sandpaper (a little soap in the wet sanding water to reduce the chance of fisheyes). Then spray a light coat of primer (real light) to give the paint something to 'hang onto' ...and it'll help fill the sand scratches a little (giving you a smoother finish). Then spray at least 2 coats of basecoat, then 2-3 clearcoat. You could also scuff with a really fine scuff pad. Not that difficult, but it does take some work and effort. But the results are worthwhile and will last for decades if you do it right. If you cut corners ...or go super-cheap, it might be a 2-5 year job that you'll later look back upon and say, "Man, I wish i'd done a better job, or used the 'right' stuff". But there's some good advice here from the other guys.
Good luck. They'll look great when you get them finished!
