can someone tell me what the fastest and easiest way to sand my car cuz i have been sanding my car for just about all summer and i havent gotten any more than the roof and one rear quater panel done and those arent all the way done either and i want it at least ready for priming so i can drive it in the rain and what not so if someone could please help me that would be great

Let me tell you my experience. I started out sanding by hand with 80 grit on a hard block. I was only going to take down the old finish to the original primer and start from there. Well, other than a way to throw away $ on paper and build arm strength, it was a waste of time.

Then I decided to go all the way down to bare metal (to really see what was under all those layers). I got a DA Sander 'cause that's what everyone says to have. Well, even though the spec sheet said my air compressor could handle it, it was slower than I was!

Guess what, I broke out Dad's 40 year old Craftsman electric drill, mounted a 6" pad on it, got some self-adhesive discs and went to work. You'll be amazed at how quickly the paint flies off! Start with a finer grit like 120 to see what it does and work to the finest grit that does what you want. I used 60 to take most of all the layers off, then went to 80 and/or 120. 40 will get any heavy surface rust off if need be.

After you do this, there will be swirl marks. I used my hard block with 80 and 120 to get them smooth. I then cleaned and degreased the bare metal and primed with self-etching primer. Of course if you have bodywork to do, that throws an extra step in there.

If it all seems too much, pick a different section of the car each day to do, that way at the end of the day, you feel like you accomplished something.

I hope this gets you started on the right track.
Good luck,
Dan

Yea, similar story here too. Had the d.a. that the compresser won't keep up with, went to sears and bought a 6" disc sander and lifes alot better. 80 grit works well, 40 being too corse, unless your doing rust removal. The sander was about $70.00 and worth every peny.