# Painting your car.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-your-car/24208>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 30, 2000, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-your-car/24208 "2000-06-30T20:54:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Farmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@Farmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-your-car/24208/1 "2000-06-30T20:54:06Z")

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I want to take my car to one of those quicky paint job places. But i’d like to do my own prep work. I’m not sure which grade of sandpaper I’d should start with and end with. Anyone have any suggestions? Help would be appreciated, thanx.

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**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-your-car/24208/2 "2000-06-30T21:08:58Z")

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This might merit GQ, but I’d check with an auto body shop first anyway. Unless you have a POS car, then just rub it with a brick. 😉

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**Author:** ![Vestal\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5e9695/32.png) [@Vestal\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vestal_Blue)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-your-car/24208/3 "2000-06-30T22:39:21Z")

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Whatever you start with, you want to finish up by wet sanding with 600 grit, and all scratches etc, nicely feathered.

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**Author:** ![Myndephuquer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@Myndephuquer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myndephuquer)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-your-car/24208/4 "2000-06-30T22:51:03Z")

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Man, I’ve done that myself, and it is not worth your time or effort. Good luck, if you do try to pursue it. You may want to invest in an orbital sander. Don’t use a circular sander – using that on an auto body is like playing the violin - you can’t just pick it up and do worth a darn with it. Call around some car parts/paint places and get some advice from those guys. Don’t call a car parts supermarket, though. Look it up on the web. I bought a auto painting book that helped me out a lot (got it at a parts store).