mo_dingo
20+ Year Stangneter 
I spent some time with one of the veteran painters at our body shop, and got some interesting information.
When you respray a car, the primer is rarely affected. So you don't need to go down to bare metal. Moreover, they don't even sand down to primer. They stop once the surface is smooth, and if it's still in the paint, so be it.
They use a putty filler to fill small holes instead of bondo. Apply thick, then once dry, sand it smooth, and inspect the area.
After sanding, they spray the area with compressed air to get all of the dust off. They then take a wax/grease remover on paper towels, and wipe the entire area down. Repeat as necessary. This ensures you get all of your old wax out of the paint.
Then spray your color in light coats. It only takes 4-5 minutes for the paint to dry. So a few light coats won't take very long. They usually keep the spray gun within 6 inches of the body. If you get runs, you need to sand the area down until smooth, clean off with the grease remover, then respray the area with color.
Once all of your color is shot, you need to move to clear. I would spray the car down with compressed air again before spraying clear. Again, make sure you have a dual respirator on at all times, including sanding. Shooting clear is 10x worse than color and sanding dust, so change filters often.
After clear is shot, go over the paint and look for defects. You will see some orange peel, and if it bothers you, you can wetsand with some 1500 until it's gone, and buff it with some compound.
That's all for now. I will add later as I learn more.
Scott
When you respray a car, the primer is rarely affected. So you don't need to go down to bare metal. Moreover, they don't even sand down to primer. They stop once the surface is smooth, and if it's still in the paint, so be it.
They use a putty filler to fill small holes instead of bondo. Apply thick, then once dry, sand it smooth, and inspect the area.
After sanding, they spray the area with compressed air to get all of the dust off. They then take a wax/grease remover on paper towels, and wipe the entire area down. Repeat as necessary. This ensures you get all of your old wax out of the paint.
Then spray your color in light coats. It only takes 4-5 minutes for the paint to dry. So a few light coats won't take very long. They usually keep the spray gun within 6 inches of the body. If you get runs, you need to sand the area down until smooth, clean off with the grease remover, then respray the area with color.
Once all of your color is shot, you need to move to clear. I would spray the car down with compressed air again before spraying clear. Again, make sure you have a dual respirator on at all times, including sanding. Shooting clear is 10x worse than color and sanding dust, so change filters often.
After clear is shot, go over the paint and look for defects. You will see some orange peel, and if it bothers you, you can wetsand with some 1500 until it's gone, and buff it with some compound.
That's all for now. I will add later as I learn more.
Scott
