I think we overdo the sanding between primer coats

I see it all the time in this community, guys sanding every single primer coat with 400 grit before moving on. On my last job, a 2015 Ford F-150 rear quarter panel, I tried something different. I laid down two coats of high build primer, let it cure overnight, then only block sanded the final coat with 320 grit before paint. The finish came out just as smooth as my usual three sanding sessions. I've been doing this for about 6 months now on about 15 different jobs, from bumpers to doors, and I haven't seen any reduction in paint adhesion or orange peel. We're adding an extra hour of labor per panel for no real gain. Has anyone else tested skipping the middle sanding step on repair work?

3 comments

3 Comments

kelly_west742mo ago

Honestly, I wonder if the guys sanding between every coat are just chasing that perfect gloss out of habit. Maybe the real test is how it holds up after a year in the sun, not just how it looks wet.

brian_rivera592mo ago

Sand that much and you're just burning through clear coat for no good reason. Watched a buddy spend days wet sanding a garage queen only to have it fade unevenly after two summers because he went too thin. Meanwhile I did a quick two coat job with no sanding between and its still holding up fine three years later. Gloss wet is just vanity, real win is durability.

kaid592mo ago

That buddy of yours who wet sanded his garage queen, was he using a legit paint job or one of those cheap resprays from Maaco? lol. Because I feel like you can get away with skipping sanding on a solid factory clear, but on a budget job where the clear is already thin from the start, sanding it down is just asking for trouble. Not saying your method is wrong, plenty of guys do it the quick way and get years out of it. But the real question is how thick was that clear coat on your car versus your buddy's car? Feels like that makes all the difference.