I hit the shop early and got started wet-sanding the fender with 600-grit. Man, I'm amazed at how quickly that sandpaper wears out! I was using 3"x6" (?) sheets and ended up using four sheets of this just for wet-sanding this down one time. I'm obviously going to have to stock up on some 600-grit sandpaper.
Anyway, here's a shot of the fender after it got wet-sanded down:
Yeah, I know...
Yikes! As you can see, some of the paint got sanded down to bare metal. That was mainly due to this being the very beginning of the needed learning curve....it was the first time I'd ever wet-sanded anything, plus I had the first two coats a little thin in spots, plus I was trying to figure out the best method for wet-sanding. I started off wrapping the sandpaper around one of those foam sanding blocks, but the grit from the foam block kept coming off and getting into where I was sanding, so I just tossed it and finished up by hand. Therefore, my sanding technique left a little to be desired, since it wasn't very even. As I was sanding it though, I kept trying different things, and just about the time I was finishing up I found that I was getting the best results by wrapping the sandpaper around a rolled-up Scotchbrite pad....which made it stiff but just flexible enough to work well.Anyway, I went ahead and dried the fender off and then put it out in the sun for about 20 minutes to fully dry, and then laid down the third coat. I ended up making the same basic mistakes that I made with the first two coats. First, I didn't have the paint thinned out enough. I DID add more mineral spirits and it WAS thinner...but still not enough.
I was getting some good bubbles but was able to pop them by gently blowing on them. However, the paint was still just thick enough that it really didn't have time to smooth out before it set up. Second, because the paint was still mixed fairly thick, it was piling up on the roller which translates to a thicker layer being applied again. I was just trying different things, and they didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. It was a little better than the first two coats, but still not good enough. Well, I let it set for about 6 hours, and then got the fourth coat on. This time I really thinned it out, and because it was so much thinner, it not only didn't pile up on the rollers as much meaning I could lay down thinner coats, but once it was applied it smoothed out pretty quickly....and I have to say I was very pleased with how this coat layed down. I finally was getting the hang of how thin to mix it and how thin to apply it. Here's a shot after the fourth coat:
Like I said, I'm finally getting the hang of how to do this....I'm just wondering if I should re-strip the fender and do it correctly from the start, or just keep going. I think I'll continue and see how it turns out, and make a decision then. However, although I'm not fully committed to going this route, I have to admit that I'm getting more confident that it'll turn out OK now. We'll see how it looks after I wet-sand these two layers and get a couple more applied.
And it did appear as if the paint was getting a little darker as more coats are applied, so I think I'll just keep going with it and see how it turns out.
