sanding base for clear?

Ok, so i'm doing a two tone and obviously you have to let one half dry before you can tape/shoot the other half. At that point i'll have one half the car wet and the other half dry, so do you need to sand the base coat down for the clear to stick well or? if so what grit should i use? thanks

Every paint company has their own recommendations. However, when using PPG, shoot the first color and let it dry at least an hour, but no longer than 24 hours. If you shoot your second color within the 24 hour window, you will not have to sand base. If you wait longer than 24 hours, you can lightly scuff with gray 3M scuff pad.

awesome thanks, i should have included this originally, but is it ok to tape off/over paint that isn't fully cured? just set up?

---edit----
Well, here are my thoughts, i'm trying to do all of this to minimize the tape line, and i want to clear coat both halves at the same time to try and minimize the visibility of the line. I'll probably do the bottom portion first, wait until its no longer tacky and tape an inconspicious spot to see how the paint reacts. If all goes well, i'll tape everything off and do the top half and then clear the car. However, if i get problems and the tape messed up the paint, i'll just let the bottom portion cure over night and tape everything off, like you suggested use a scuff pad and clear everything. I figure if i shoot the top portion second it will also minimize the line rather than bottom last. I'll report back when everything is all set, thanks for the help.

Ok, hoping i can figure out here... because after all my searching i have yet to find an answer. I have bottom portion done and i put on first coat of paint an realized a few spots on the body aren't as smooth as i thought they were. SO, the top half isn't even going to be an issue, going to have to sand it all down again anyways and finish coats so the clear will go on that wet.

BUT question i have not been able to find, specifically about what Learnautobody said, first, do i wet sand with the scotch pad and can i shoot the clear right over top of the scuffed surface? the swirls won't show up from the scotch pad?

That is a good one. I can say this here the base should not be sanded before clearing.The finish job will only look as good as the base. Clear hides nothing so any problems in the base must be corrected first.

The only time you need to wet sand between clear coats is if you wait longer than 24 hours. Ideally it should be re-coated as soon as the the last coat has tacked. The final clear coat can be wet sanded and buffed if needed to get rid of any bugs, dirt or orange peel.

Swanson
I am in the same boat as you ,but a body man told me that if you run your masking tape over to pants it will knock of alot of stickiyness and still stick to fresh paint and not pull off
try a inconspicious point

Clear will fill! If you use a gray 3m scuff pad or 1200 grit sandpaper. For example, when blending, you sand the surface to be cleared with a gray scuff pad or 1200 grit sandpaper. When you clear the area it will fill the scratches and produce a nice quality finish.

The problem with sanding base: is that you can discolor the metallic or sand through easy. That is why I would suggest using a mid-coat clear after spraying your base. This is just a base coat that is clear. The PPG number is 500. Therefore, the clear will fill the scratches, but will not cover sand through or discolored areas. If it is a solid color you should be fine.

What color are you shooting? Is it a metallic or pearl? That will help.

Thanks, Donnie

After looking over the posts again, I see that you are probably doing some art work or stripes. In this case, I highly recommend using mid-coat on top of each color you spray. This will prevent a lot of headaches. If you have to sand a little overspary off, you will not sand through the metallic or pearl. What brand of paint are you using?