front hood waves, ripples....how to get them out??

[wigg]

just curious whats the best way to smooth out waves and ripples in the hood?...any special tools, ect?....

my hood is down to metal and i noticed some light waves and ripples...should i skim coat bondo over it and smooth it out?..or apply building primer and put it on thick and then smooth it out??


do i need a certain tool?..rubber block sander?..anything...thanks

[Jowlz]

Skim coat it with filler. Bondo isnt the greatest..Use a lightweight polyester filler. Skim the surface then sand it with a long board sander (get a manual board even if you have air). Slide the board at an angle across the surface. Then go the other way so you are making a V shape with the sanding marks. When you think you have it somewhat smooth prime it. Sand again in the same way. When you think that you have it smooth.. Spray a fine mist of a different color primer over the hood. Dont cover. Just a mist. Use the long board again lightly. You will see your highs and lows. High spots will have no primer. Low spots will have the second color primer still in them. Repeat the process the filling and sanding until you have no highs or lows. Look with your hands not your eyes for smoothness. Move your hand slowly over the surface with your eyes closed. Eyes lie when doing body work. When you have the whole surface smooth, give it a few coats of filler primer (i prefer tint prime matched to the cars color(it hides chips)) and long board it again. When you think you have it perfect. Prime it again and sand it again. Prep work is 90% of how your paint job is going to look.

If you are painting your whole car. I recommend skimming the whole car and long boarding it. Sure its alot of work. Next time you go to a car show look down the sides of the cars at different angles. If the side of the car is perfectly smooth and glossy no ripples its been skimmed. If it looks great head on but a little dryish and rippled from an angle its not been skimmed. There is nothing wrong with skimming a car. Bondo/filler has a bad rep from people using it to fill deep dents or holes. Hope this helps
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The honey-do list put my project on hold.......

[wigg]

cool...sounds great!!!....ive tried doing a few bondo areas..kinda a nightmare...seams like theres no end...haha

is the filler ur recommending easier to sand/work with?...im gonna go get some tomorrow...

can i make my own long board?..how ling should it be?...material?...or should i just buy one?....thanks...

oh..what should i start with on sandpaper for the filler?...180 grit??

[TedzBug]

Not to highjack the thread......What do you do if someone painted the car? (not a bad job either) but i can still see a medium amount of sandpaper scratches and some high/low spots......

[happy hoppy]

you can get a long board at any auto paint supply store, you'll need the long sand paper too.

Jowlz has it right, do what he sayz!

TedzBug, your screwed!, ( sorry ) if you can see the sanding marks in the paint, there is no getting them out without sanding the area and re-spraying .
same goes for the high or low spots.

this is why you need to "guide coat" the panle. a dark mist of primer over light primer, sand, prime, sand, ect. doing this you build up the low spots with primer and find the high spots, you must tap the high spots down with your auto body pick hammer, and re-prime, it might now be a low spot, but thats OK, you fill it with more primer, block sand, guide coat, sand some more, and look for more high and low spots.

your done when you can sand all the "dark primer" off the "light primer" without hitting metal ( high spots) or leaving any dark primer ( low spots )
anywhere.
I guide coat and sand the whole car 4-6 times, its a bitch, but its worth it.

good luck and lets see some paint!
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cut, hammer, weld, drive.
not necessarily in that order.

[Jowlz]

happy answered most of the questions....180 would be a good starting place. dont apply too much pressure with the board and move it with the contour you are trying to create. once you have the shape you want you can move to a good rubber block with 240...then 320. and what happy hoppy and I are trying to stress is...when you think you have it perfect...do it again....you dont want sandmarks. once I have done all the sanding and have it in a final prime coat (i always use a final primer coat (color matched to the car..the color isnt perfect match but will really help hide chips and dings))....I will hand (block) sand with 400 then wet sand with 400. Always use a rubber block or even a piece of wood to sand. Do NOT use your hands. Your fingers apply pressure on the tips and will make high and low spots.If you must use your hands use the palm but still try to avoid it. This is a good practice for any activity that involves sanding. If there is a tight spot you want to sand wrap sand paper around a paint stick or a pencil or anything... As for the long board...buy it where you buy your filler and they arent much money.It is a step lots of people over look..its so much faster to D/A the car then spray..but looks like crap...the filler mixes like bondo but is usually white and much much easier to sand. It sticks much better also. Good luck. Post some pictures of your progress!

Oh yeah...and when you are sanding a non flat surface with a long board...always sand at an angle to the contour you are sanding. Let me try to explain it this way.

If you were standing square on to your hood from the side. You would slide the board towards about 2 oclock. straight back and forth. then move to your right. and sand towards 10 oclock. back and forth straight line.remember you are shaping the panel so angle try to keep the board at a 90 degree angle to the panel at all times(would be the same as saying keep the paper level with the surface)...do it a few times and you will see what I mean.

Body work has a serious learning curve. Sanding is like welding...Practice practice practice..its the only way to learn.

Another suggestion I have for anyone wanting to learn is: Get a part time job at a body shop. Its what I did after school when I was a teen. If you get with the right shop like I did..I ended up never paying for paint jobs on my cars growing up
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The honey-do list put my project on hold.......