As I have ventured along in this 'project'... I have come across some additional thoughts that I have not seen specifically mentioned.

Basically I have found that in order to do a 'good job' you really have to take your time and not try to rush the project. To get the best results you really do have to take your time and toss in a few additional steps that I haven't seen posted here yet.

What I have found is that

a ) lay down one thin coat. Let it dry !
b ) lay down second thin coat. Let it dry !
c ) I am wet sanding with 600 grit.
d ) wet sand one section at a time
e ) have a bucket of fresh warm water ( with a dash of dish detergent ) and a towel. Wipe down the freshly wet sanded section and try to remove as much of the 'mud' created by the wet sanding.

I found this better than attempting to wash down the panels after all the body is wet sanded. This eliminates the 'muds' chances of drying onto the freshly sanded surface.

Once the entire car has been wet sanded and each panel has received its initial 'wash down'... take the car out into the driveway and wash the entire car down again with a fresh bucket of warm water ( and a dash of liquid detergent ) and towel.

HOSE the entire car down and get everything well rinsed off.

Now put the car back in the garage and let it DRY OFF THOROUGHLY. You do not want any moisture left in the pores of the paint ( no matter how miniscule or microscopic ). Let it DRY !

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Unfortunately this extra bit of cleanliness makes for a bit of extra work on your part. But it pays big dividends when you proceed to add the next two layers of paint.

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When the car has finally dried you should prepare for the next painting session by :

a ) wipe the entire body down with a clean rag. This will hopefully loosen and remove any dust, bugs, or other airborne crap that landed on your body.

b ) now take a TACK CLOTH and go over the entire body AGAIN. Hopeully the tack cloth will pick up any loose particles or hair that the towel loosened.

Now... there may be a difference between how some people handle this part of the preparation prior to painting. Some folks may be doing a mineral spirit wipe down to clean their surfaces prior to the next layer of painting. But I have avoided that because I suspect that the mineral spirit wiped down may soften and weaken the top layer. So I am content to let the washing down of the body ( the bucket of water and dish detergent ) and thorough rinsing with water be my final prep prior to painting.

And after all... the next layer of paint is going to have sufficient mineral spirit in it - so there is the potential for orange peel if you wipe down with mineral spirit, weaken the top layer - and then paint with the mineral spirited paint - which further weakens the layer that you are painting on top of.

At this point the body is about as clean and free of contaminants as it is going to get. Now you proceed back to the painting sequence and repeat it again for three or four sequences.

As you get up to the third or fourth 'session' you should move from the 600 grit to the 1000 grit and maybe in your final sequence move to the 1500 grit level.

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So far my results are still pretty amazing. But I am really taking my time and not trying to rush this sequencing of the various stages.

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Now... one thing I can say after having completed two complete sequences of this process is that Tremclad does dry as hard as nails. The key being that you really do have to lay a sufficiently thin layer and permit it to fully dry before layering on another layer.

Prior to reading about this cutting of the Tremclad with mineral spirits to lay down super thin layers, I was familiar with how plain Tremclad on an object works. Straight uncut Tremclad really does take quite a long time to thoroughly cure on its own. But it seems that the ultra-thinning of the Tremclad with the mineral spirits appears to alter the Tremclad and the hardness that it dries at when cured.

Frankly, I have never seen 'straight' Tremclad dry to the level of hardness that this thinned out solution produces.

I am sorry if these random thoughts have blabbed on too long or put anyone to sleep. I just thought I would share my experiences so far and the steps that I have been taking to ensure that each layer of paint is placed on as clean a surface as I can achieve in my garage and driveway.

Hopefully it might give some folks some additional insights.

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