How many hours to block sand?

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Woods74

Woods74

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Gonna be here sooner than later, and I'd like to get a time frame from those that have done it steady. Going to use 2k primer.

I am going to do the whole car outside, engine bay, and jambs included, no inside work. I figure on a couple passes.

I plan to work 6-8 hours a day, and I need to figure out time frames.


A bonus would be to know how many hours a good cut and buff would take as well.

Thanks!
 
LOL crap I wrote that and thought you were clearing the car. You were speaking of Primer. You just want to knock down the orange peel. I actually just used a green brillo pad and did it to my car. You basically just want to knock out the over spray and then any really rough spots. I think I spent about 2 hours doing my car.

For the clear read below

For the Clear Coat I literally just did this, this past week. I spent a full 2 days and those were good 8-10 hour days. I could have spent at least another full day on it. It all depends on how well you want it to look. I still have some very minor orange peel in mine. After the 1st round of 3 buffings I can make out definitions of lights, although a tiny bit wavy. Im not going for show quality. I want nice a nice driver and being the fact that I did everything myself and didnt spend 10k on a paint job Im ok with the way its turning out.

Again its all how well you want the car to look but plan on spending at least a good 2 days.
 
I would like to know both, really. I'm going to be using BC/CC. I'm happy to hear about the cut n' buff not taking forever.
 
I like my body panels slick as possible before the primer goes on so it takes time. I don't limit my time and just do the best job I can to save problems later.

The color is going to make a difference on how much time it will take. Block sanding varies by each car and how slick you want it so this would be something that is hard to give an answer on. I had cars that I have worked on cars for a solid week to get them where I wanted them. Black will show every imperfection and white will show the least imperfections.
 
A week? I was thinking it would take a month or more.

I'm going to be using a FK5 type color, I'd like it to be smooth enough to make it worth doing in first place. Enough for a good job.

I learned a long time ago perfect is the enemy of the good on these cars.
 
If you block and level it right, you'll have upwards of 40 hours in sanding alone. I primed my car 4-5 times before the low spots all went away and the primer laid down right for the final sand before the paint went down.
 
PoisonDart74 said:
A week? I was thinking it would take a month or more.

I'm going to be using a FK5 type color, I'd like it to be smooth enough to make it worth doing it in the first place.
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A week is with a pretty slick car to start with and that is just sanding time. I started with air and finished by hand. It all depends on what you have to start with. I highly reccomend Hutchins air tools.

rnaz said:
If you block and level it right, you'll have upwards of 40 hours in sanding alone. I primed my car 4-5 times before the low spots all went away and the primer laid down right for the final sand before the paint went down.
Click to expand...

That is what it takes.
 
Overall it took me MONTHS to get all the panels the way I wanted them. I just took one at a time and worked it until I was satisfied.
 
I used a lot of guide coat too. That helps get the ripples out.
 
This news is making my pants get tighter! :blob: I thought it might be as time consuming as all the metal work I've done to it, month after month after month.
 
To block sand a car correctly it all depends on how straight it is(or how straight you want it) to estimate how much time it will take. Same thing with color sanding. It all depends on how well the clear lays out or if there are runs, sags or dirt in it etc.
Expect to day a few days to get it done right. probably 2x as long as you think it will.
 
Just finished spraying last coat today, prep work took me about a month of working on it about 4 hours a day after work. All that is left is to buff it now overall time for prep was about 150 hours.
 
How much metal work did you have to do? The more oanel replacements or patch panels you have will add time to the process. I have seen some cars that the metal work was crappy on that there was no way to ever make them look right. A good clean (as possible) slate is what you need before you are ready to start getting ready to prep for primer. Luickily most of the Oklahoma cars have mostly rust free bodies unless they have the dreaded cancer under the vinyl top.
 
lol at 40 hrs...

how nice do you want it?

cheap paint job goes like this:

wash and scrub entire car with degreaser, we use a splash of car wash soap and powder laundry soap

go around and circle all your dents or things you want to fix with tape or sharpie

DA or 120 on a stick all the areas that need fixing and then bag out and mud

stick or long black flat

wet sand area's for paint with 360 on long block (paint stick at least), and soft pad (grey on one side and black on the other) till there is no shine or orange peel

(Your Choice) either spot prime fixed spots or prime whole car and guide coat over primed spots

360 all guide coated places

wash again and your ready to mask

Good Paint Job: 200+ Hrs

Full strip down to bare metal

acid wash or blast all rust areas (cut out and fix thru holes)

bang out and spot mud area's

epoxy immediatly! (protects from rust and seals bare metal)(We have NO luck with primers sticking to bare metal and had lots of lifting!)

within a day come back with a high build primer and apply 4 almost running coats, allow at least 15 minutes between coats

allow to dry at least 24 hrs

for long flat areas use a long block with all rods in, for slight radiuses use a paint stick(always at a 45* or you'll put grooves!), rest if soft pad.

first is block with 80 grit dry till you hit metal and mud as necessary

re prime with 4 coats again

again 80 and mud as needed

reprime

now you should be able to block with 80 for color change (you'll see once you start)

guide coat and then 120

now one last prime and guide coat

congrats you ready to start wet sanding!

now start with 360 and just cut the guide coat

your ready to paint unless going metallic, if it is you need to re guide coat and 400 wet with a soft pad and stick.

the difference is a car that is a 10 footer or appraises at 137,000 dollars...

and so you know it was me and the boss who built all those cars and more... currently were doing a 69 M-Code 440ci Cuda, was wet sanding on saturday
 

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Oklacarcollecto said:
How much metal work did you have to do? The more oanel replacements or patch panels you have will add time to the process. I have seen some cars that the metal work was crappy on that there was no way to ever make them look right. A good clean (as possible) slate is what you need before you are ready to start getting ready to prep for primer. Luickily most of the Oklahoma cars have mostly rust free bodies unless they have the dreaded cancer under the vinyl top.
Click to expand...

Thanks 805, love your slant!

The only outside panel that didn't come with the car is the quarter panels which are after market, and have a little wave to them, I'll take some time and get the worst ripples/ dents out, they are small though. If you've seem my build, I've taken the time to get the metal as straight as possible. Everything is/will be stripped and cleaned, I'm starting from scratch. I'm thinking that primer should go on, and block straight without much of a fight.
 
PoisonDart74 said:
Thanks 805, love your slant!

The only outside panel that didn't come with the car is the quarter panels which are after market, and have a little wave to them, I'll take some time and get the worst ripples/ dents out, they are small though. If you've seem my build, I've taken the time to get the metal as straight as possible. Everything is/will be stripped and cleaned, I'm starting from scratch. I'm thinking that primer should go on, and block straight without much of a fight.
Click to expand...

lol
 
805moparkid said:
lol
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:) I guess my scope has been pretty deep, this doesn't seem like a big deal to me. I didn't say it wouldn't take time, seeing as I've spent a year full time stripping and metal work. This is a drop in the bucket.

Thanks for the replies!
 
PoisonDart74 said:
:) I didn't say it wouldn't take time, I'm not afraid to spend time here, seeing as I've spent a year full time stripping and metal work.
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I haven't followed your build thread. Are you going to drive it or have a trailer queen show car? There aren't many A-Bodies that are worth the price of bringing it up to the trailer queen show car.
 
MY car was straight and took 2-3 days to do it, but dents were fixed by someone else before we primered and blocked. IF you do it alone, you will be there a long time. I had two others. Wet sanding sucked because we had a lot of orange peel in the primer.
 
rnaz said:
If you block and level it right, you'll have upwards of 40 hours in sanding alone. I primed my car 4-5 times before the low spots all went away and the primer laid down right for the final sand before the paint went down.
Click to expand...
x2 about 40 hours,about 24 in the cut and rub....
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
I was talking a week of sanding time only, not cutting out bad spots, fixing rust, fixing dents or running body filler.
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So was I. Block sanding alone takes a long time, and you can't rush it because it will look like **** when you're done.
 
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