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The stuff you are using in the spray cans will be acrylic lacquer. It contains a high level of thinners/reducer. If you spray it too soon after the the previous coat it can react with and wrinkle up the paint. Also wait until the warmest and driest day possible to do the job, really hard at this time of year I know.
You need to wait for each coat to 'flash off' before painting the next one, which is the solvents evaporating from it. Usually this is in the range of 5 to 10 minutes, depending on temperature etc. This time of year, in an unheated garage, you may need to allow longer. Your paint may have recommendations, or ask your paint shop if buying from a specialist. Generally the paint will look hazy and go dull once it has flashed off.
With metallic base coats you shouldn't sand them for reasons I mentioned in the post above, not even before you putting the clear on. The only time you sand are when preparing the surface, the primer before base coating and if necessary after the clear has dried for a couple of days you can flat sand & buff any orange peel out.
There is one exception though - you can sand your last base coat with 800 grit if you have done a particularly crappy job and want to smooth it out BUT you will need to put another mist of base coat over it to fix up all the metallic flecks that you have now sanded the tops off! The problem with this is that you may also risk damaging the nice blend you just did.
When you move on to do the clear, you should let your final base coat flash off and dry for a bit longer. Acrylic should be dry enough after 1 hour on a warm day. If you wait too long then there is more chance for dust, bugs and crap to get on the base coat surface - which will be a major issue with your white car. If you do get junk in the paint along the way, resist the temptation to get it out. Most imperfections can sanded out once the clear has fully dried in a couple of days time. Acrylic paint is very forgiving.
You will be aiming to lay your clear down a little bit wetter than the base coat to help smooth it out. The higher concentration of thinners could react with the previous base coats if painted too soon - so don't drench it on, but don't just mist it either. You want solid, even coverage of the clear over the main area of repair.
Also, if you are having trouble finding prepsol it's commonly sold as wax & grease remover in paint shops. It's the same stuff, just that prepsol is actually a brand name.
You need to wait for each coat to 'flash off' before painting the next one, which is the solvents evaporating from it. Usually this is in the range of 5 to 10 minutes, depending on temperature etc. This time of year, in an unheated garage, you may need to allow longer. Your paint may have recommendations, or ask your paint shop if buying from a specialist. Generally the paint will look hazy and go dull once it has flashed off.
With metallic base coats you shouldn't sand them for reasons I mentioned in the post above, not even before you putting the clear on. The only time you sand are when preparing the surface, the primer before base coating and if necessary after the clear has dried for a couple of days you can flat sand & buff any orange peel out.
There is one exception though - you can sand your last base coat with 800 grit if you have done a particularly crappy job and want to smooth it out BUT you will need to put another mist of base coat over it to fix up all the metallic flecks that you have now sanded the tops off! The problem with this is that you may also risk damaging the nice blend you just did.
When you move on to do the clear, you should let your final base coat flash off and dry for a bit longer. Acrylic should be dry enough after 1 hour on a warm day. If you wait too long then there is more chance for dust, bugs and crap to get on the base coat surface - which will be a major issue with your white car. If you do get junk in the paint along the way, resist the temptation to get it out. Most imperfections can sanded out once the clear has fully dried in a couple of days time. Acrylic paint is very forgiving.
You will be aiming to lay your clear down a little bit wetter than the base coat to help smooth it out. The higher concentration of thinners could react with the previous base coats if painted too soon - so don't drench it on, but don't just mist it either. You want solid, even coverage of the clear over the main area of repair.
Also, if you are having trouble finding prepsol it's commonly sold as wax & grease remover in paint shops. It's the same stuff, just that prepsol is actually a brand name.
