Good Quality Sandpaper?

[renovate7]

I'm starting to sand my A3 in preperation for a repaint. I've been using 3M brand bought at the big box retailers but am not overly happy with it. The grit seems to come off fairly quickly. Are there any better/longer lasting brands of sandpaper out there?

 

[poppop]

Go to an auto paint supply store and get wet or dry paper. Some auto parts stores carry it also. It holds up a lot better and wet sanding keeps the paper clean so it sands better longer.

 

[jimmcld]

There are better products out there. Go to an automotive paint store. However, nothing is good at taking off the CARC. The best way I have found to remove it is with a needle scaler. A friend tried a diamond wheel meant to grind down concrete, and said that it worked pretty well. However, he did go through two 4 1/2 inch grinders because of the dust they ingested. He was also working on a flat surface.

 

[mikelee]

I used (80 grit closed coat) 6" on my DA from harbor freight (cheap)as I Cut in to the carc smoothed out with 3m closed coat till I had a smooth surface.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Your best bet is a sandblaster or needle scaler. After that I would say 30 grit paper then use maybe 80.

 

[zak]

Sandblast is the only way to go.

 

[renovate7]

Thanks for the replies. My last truck, a 1971, had many coats of paint. I stripped every part off it I could including the bed/tires wheels/everything out of the cab and sandblasted it. The truck ended up looking like new...This truck is a 1997 and has never been repainted. All I'm trying to do is give it a going over any place I can get a palm sander and then give it a coat of 34094. I'm not doing anything inside the cab, it's AOK. I did take the hood to the sandblaster as it had some rust on it. I took the hardtop off (try doing that with a cab reinforcing plate and seatbelt towers installed) and sanded it on sawhorses... I was talking to someone in Lowes yesterday and he took me from the paint dept. to the tool area where they also have sandpaper. I got some "Gator" paper which says it is for power sanders. I've already tried some and it stayed together much better than the 3M. The backing is much stronger and didn't tear on sharp corners etc.

 

[Srjeeper]

One tip about sandpaper, always “break” the bead of the sandpaper back over an edge of your workbench.

I actually do this by holding one of the corners and pulling the paper (back down, grit up) over the edge of the bench. Rotate the paper 90°, pull over the edge over the bench again and so forth until all four corners have been done.

By doing this, the paper will not fold and create a sharp edge but rather roll over the edge of the sanding block and create a soft edge so your paper does not cut into what material is being sanded.


Also masking tape on the back of the sandpaper will give cheaper papers extra life.

 

[bratpackdad]

I had mine sandblasted when it came back I used a needle scaler on the tight spots. Worked great even in corners.

 

[porkysplace]

There are better products out there. Go to an automotive paint store. However, nothing is good at taking off the CARC. The best way I have found to remove it is with a needle scaler. A friend tried a diamond wheel meant to grind down concrete, and said that it worked pretty well. However, he did go through two 4 1/2 inch grinders because of the dust they ingested. He was also working on a flat surface.

the diamond concrete wheels will eat right through a fender if your not carefull
they cut rebar as quick as they cut concrete