Unpopular opinion: burning through 400 grit to save a half hour cost me two days on a black bumper

Shane Fisher · 2026-10-21T18:10:04.405824+00:00

I had a black Toyota bumper last month and I figured I'd skip a step and start at 400 grit wet to knock the peel down faster. It looked fine under my shop lights, but once I rolled it outside in the sun every single scratch from that paper showed up like a map. I had to sand the whole thing back down and step through 800, 1500, then 3000, which ate up two extra days I didn't quote for. Now I don't touch anything under 800 on dark colors, period, no matter how much time it costs me up front. The lesson I keep relearning is that the shortcut in the booth always shows up in the sun. What grit do you guys actually start at on black, and does anyone get away with 600 without paying for it later?

Librear

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Unpopular opinion: burning through 400 grit to save a half hour cost me two days on a black bumper | Auto Body Repairers - Librear