1st Wetsanding/Rotary Experience w/o supervision

Ace Of Spades said:
Looks great Nick. Just a question though (because I've never wet sanded). Why would you sand the whole trunk lid instead of just the trouble area? I've got an Aurora (Black) in my garage that is real rough and I'm considering wetsanding prior to SSR3 etc. Any tips would be appreciated.
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I am not Nick, but one reason to wet sand the entire panel is to maintain a uniform finish on the paint. If you only wetsanded the scratch then it would have less orange peel then the rest of the panel ... that would really show up on a darker color. On light colors you can get away with not sanding the entire panel.
A HINT ... when wet sanding stay away from the panel edge about an inch. that way you won't risk buffing through the paint on the edges as you try to restore the shine.
GREAT WORK NICK !!! (AS ALWAYS)
 
Now comes the hard part Nick. As you get more comfortable wetsanding you run the risk of slowing taking it further and further until.... Fear stopped you before, now only diligence will keep you from getting through the clearcoat. Great job!
 
Oh yeah, to echo Kim's comments: Stay away from edges however I have heard of folks having good success with 4000, 8000, and 10k grit wet/dry sandpaper followed by a lighter polish and a PC. Something similar to DACP or SSR2. You may want to look into this, and folks who do not own a rotory or are gunshy about learning it may wish to look into this as well.
 
Kim hit that one on the head. It is a small panel to start, and there were 2 areas of scratches. The main key scratch was a bit long, so I dedided it would probably look best to do the rest. As Kim said, it is best to keep 1" away from the edges, as paint tends to be thinner there (I got a bit too close on some areas, as the picture of the wetsanding stage shows). Also, avoid areas around the long light/reflector and the tailgate.

rhillstr
Thanks for the advice. I made the mistake on my first car at the bodyshop of using 1500 first :nono. I fortunately did not create "much" damage, but it just took longer to buff out. This is great advice, do not practice on a car you enjoy or one the owner enjoys. Scrap metal can come easy.
 
rhill-

That's an even better idea. I haven't even heard of papers above 3000. Meg's suggests 2500-3000 for general orange peel, so I couldn't even image what 10,000 would be like.

I'd also like to say that the Meguiar's Professional Paint video is really a detailers tool. I bought the video back in December for $10, knowing it was free online. This way I can pop it in whenever I deem necessary, and I get a bigger and clearer picture. They go over rotary and PC work as well in depth.
 
So just out of curiosity - you are basically sanding by hand right? with a fine (very fine I am assuing) grit sand paper - I am guessing here (so if I am wrong feel free to correct :) ) - you basically "roughing" up the entire layer of clear over the color to help hide the scratch?? (one would guess no amount of sanding would remove a down to the metal scratch!)..then you use the rotary to smooth back down the clear coat and get a uniform shine right? Sooo question (if I am close on the above) if you DO have a deep scratch, would you fill it with a matching color then sand down the panel to uniform height and work out the shine??
 
Your on the right track Groebuck. Basically with wetsanding you are leveling the area around the scratch to make the appearance less. If the scratch is only Clearcoat deep, it can be removed. I wouldn't suggest, per se, that you are "hiding" the scratch. When it comes to bare metal, it is recommended applying touch up paint, and then wetsanding it down to conform with the rest of the surrounding area.

The main thing about a scratch is that is has sharp edges, which light refracts off of. This is why we see it so much, so dulling the edges is a good start (PC and sometimes by hand), and then leveling off (Rotary and sometimes wetsanding)

The Rotary comes into play to get rid of the marring left behind from the wetsanding, and thus, brings back that shine. I used the PC after the rotary just because it was easier (at this point in time) and lighter to work with to get around all the obstacles.

Hope this puts you on the right track!
 
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Also, and this is a key of importance, I tried to take the same angle picture of the key scratch. My basis was were the house showed up in the reflection of the photo.
 
Nick, one quick question. I just finished sanding the rear deck of my wifes black 2003 Impala. You know how black seems to get those unwanted clearcoat scratches? Well now since I have sanded the truck it is worse. I used the same paper you did and I was able to remove the initial "graying" you get when finished sanding but the scratches in the clearcoat are still there from the sanding. I have used SSR2 with an Edge 2000 yellow on the rotary and also IP and UP with the same (but different) pad but no results. My next step I would guess was to go with a wool on the rotary. Did you have this problem?
 
gentletouch said:
Nick, one quick question. I just finished sanding the rear deck of my wifes black 2003 Impala. You know how black seems to get those unwanted clearcoat scratches? Well now since I have sanded the truck it is worse. I used the same paper you did and I was able to remove the initial "graying" you get when finished sanding but the scratches in the clearcoat are still there from the sanding. I have used SSR2 with an Edge 2000 yellow on the rotary and also IP and UP with the same (but different) pad but no results. My next step I would guess was to go with a wool on the rotary. Did you have this problem?
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Scott if you need some help, I'm free tomorrow... I just sanded out some keys marks on my Jeep today. What grit paper are you using? I started with 1500, then went to 2500 and finished with PC/yellow pad and DACP... came out great...
 
Charles whats up? I will be in your area tomorrow. I'll give you a call when I am done. I used 2000 grit. I think the problem is with the black color. Sonnydaze stopped by this afternoon and looked at it with me and said the same thing I did about probably having to go the wool pad route. Its like millions of fine scratches that are imbedded in the clearcoat from the sanding.
 
gentletouch ...
Did you soak the paper in water for 30 minutes or more? ... that helps reduce some of the scratches
When ever you wetsand you need to use light pressure.
You might want to step up to a more aggressive polish because you might just be rounding over the sanding marks instead of leveling them off.
I would try SSR 2.5 and maybe even use a cutting pad.
Good luck and take your time!
 
I have used SSR 2, IP, UP, Ardex compound, all with cutting pads. I did let the paper soak, but only for a few minutes. I'll keep trying.
 
humm Scott, I also seem to have to vary my results on black. I did a Black 96' Lexus a couple months ago and found out then that wool with make it go by faster. Also, soaking the papers for AT LEAST 15 minutes according to Meguiar's should help too. IF not the wool pad, I would suggest a stronger compound instead of a polish. I personally haven't used Ardex, but I don't think SSR2, or for that matter 2.5 or IP is strong enough to remove the marring from the wetsanding. I would like to use SSR3 or Menzerna Power Gloss the next time to see the results. All of this, of course, can vary with the speed you are running at. Best of luck to you at it, and let us know how it pans out for you.
 
Well, the sanding marks are gone. I used a wool pad on the rotary with IP...The wool pad left horrendous swirl marks, but SSR2 and a green Edge DA pad took care of that. Thanks for the responses with ideas. Look forward to my next sanding experience. Luckily this was on my wifes car and not a customers.
 
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