The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Best way to sand bletline to enusure smoothness.

Hey guys,
I am getting ready to spray a customers 50' 5 window this weekend or early next week and I am just wondering what type of sanding tool/block you use to sand the beltline on these AD trucks. the problem is that if you use any form or hard block or even a paint stick the center of the belt seems to get flattened due to the fact that you never really get to sand off center because of its size. The other problem is the top cowl to beltline transition: it seems to be very easy to san a low in the transition area as this is where your block hits from both directions. Just wondering what you guys used... Thanks Cole

You don't want to sand by hand in large flat areas because it can leave lines that show in the final finish, so a block is a must for a fine finish. But, in a small compound curved area like the belt line, I would just simply hand sand it with a fold of paper.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I HATED sanding that part!

Use a good, flat paint stick for everything except your final sanding before paint, but the trick is to sand in a diagonal "X" pattern from the top to the bottom of the beltline. That way you'll not leave any flat spots.

For your final sanding before paint I used a semi-hard rubber block with 400 wet. For the parts that curve around a corner you can just use your hand but always work in a diagonal "X" pattern.