Kim72

I plan to have my 72 coupe painted this winter and I am hopefully going to do most of the prep work myself. I'm sure some of you have been there! The car has presently got it's first coat of epoxy primer on it.
Can anyone lead me to information regarding materials required, sanding tools to buy, and any techniques used to sand the car? I'm a little fuzzy on which grade sandpapers to start off with and the type of fillers required for fibreglass. Also, is any type of special mask required to work with epoxy primer when sanding it?
I will not be doing any of the spraying. A local corvette shop will probably be doing this for me.
Thanks in advance.

Mike Dyer

Hi Kim,
First you need to spay on a guide coat. Get a couple of spray cans of primer, a different color than what is on the car now. VERY lightly spray on the primer. You don't want to cover anything, just a splatter effect. Start out with 280 -320 grit wet-or-dry paper. You will need a foam sanding pad. Wet sand until the guide coat is gone. Any imperfections will show up as you sand.
Never use your fingertips when sanding, only your palm or the edge of your hand. Be careful around the wheelwell lips and anywhere there is a sharp edge. The edge will sand off very quickly.
You will need two buckets of water. Fill one up with water and a few squirts of dishsoap. The other is for rinsing what you just sanded with a washcloth. A small window squeegee comes in real handy for wiping down the car to check what you sanded. Urethane primer is hard to sand compared to laquer primer.
Take your time and you will be proud of the results.
Mike