SANDPAPER

24 - 36 Grit - This is the absolute roughest paper I ever use. It is primarily used to roughen up sheet metal before the initial coat of body filler. Be careful as it chews up metal quickly. I use 8" round disks on my sander.

80 Grit - This is the most popular sandpaper you will ever use in body work. I use 6" disks on my DA (Dual Action) air sander and on my 2 3/4" X 17 1/2" long sanding board to flatten down filler. Buy sheets of it too for use on sanding small areas and block sanding.

180 Grit - A lot of people go from 80 to straight 220. I don't. I use 80 grit until the filler is real smooth and then I go straight to 180 then block sand it perfect with a 220 or 240 to finish it. If you use a primer - SURFACER instead of a regular primer it will hide 180 scratches so you don't need to finish it up with a 220 pad.

220/240 Grit - I only use this stuff for light sanding of paint chips and final sanding of body filler that I am going to prime.

320 Grit - I love this stuff. I use it for intital wet sanding of primers before I finish up with 400 grit. You can forget using 400 ofter this grit if you use enamel paint as it will hide the scratches. But I always suggest you use 400. This stuff can be used dry but clogs up after a while.

400 Grit - The final sandpaper before paint. You must use it wet as it will clog up immediately.

600 Grit - Good for fixing mistakes in paint before reshooting anoher coat.

1200/1500/2000 Grits - Used for final sanding of paint to remove orange peels and other mistakes. After these grits are used it is time for final compounding.

Home / Body Types / Brakes / Buy/Sell / Excel / Fender / How-to / Inner Fender / K-Member / Links / Philosophy / Pictures / Qtr Panel / Rear Axle / Suspension  / Tools / Tranny / Unibody / Wheels