Color sanding

[imported_Dude]

I'm thinking of color sanding my Jeep, and a portion of my wife's Mercedes. The Jeep suffers from terrible orange peel; the Mercedes has pretty flawless paint, but there are some scratches on the trunk lid that need to be sanded out.



My main concern is the Jeep. I have heard that orange peel can be both in the clearcoat AND in the layers of paint beneath the clear. This does not make much sense to me -- I would think that the successive layers of paint would fill in the peaks and valleys of the layers below as they are applied -- but it is what I have heard.



I am willing to remove a little clearcoat to fix the orange peel, but if the peel is also in the layers beneath the clearcoat, then the whole idea of wetsanding seems pointless.



Does anyone know whether orange peel can occur beneath the clearcoat? Or will sanding the clearcoat take care of it?

 

[imported_Intel486]

Yes, it can occur on the base coat. Sucessive layers of paint are so thin that they won't fill in the rough paint of orange peel. Plus, Clearcoat is... well, clear. It will get into those peaks and valleys but it'll be clear so the orange peel will still be there.



I wouldn't colorsand unless you really know what you are doing, especially on the newer cars you have (a 99 and 01). Take it to a Professional if you want colorsanding.



Also, I wouldn't worry about orange peel. It is common on ALL new vehicles.

 

[BradE]

I would also add color sanding on daily drivers isn't really a good idea, especially in a high sun (UV) area like SoCal.

 

[TCL]

Has anyone on the board successfully wet sanded a late model factory clear coat finish to reduce the orange peel effect? If so, what grit did you start with?

 

[Ktulu]

This might help:xyxthumbs



http://www.goodspeedmotoring.com/?page=color_sanding

 

[Poorboy]

Yes I've done it many times but it is not always the answer...

1500 or 2000 is a good place to start, but as previously stated, (I haven't figured the quote thing yet) ..it's not really for the ametuer or daily drivers. The UV protection in the clearcoat can be compromised, especially in hot climates. Almost every new vehicle from Honda to Ferrari will probably have some orange peel...

 

[TCL]

Thanks to all for the information. I have some Meguiars 2000 and 2500 unigrit finishing paper and was planning to experiment on one spot first using extra caution. I dont plan to do the entire car, just two sections where the peel really seems obvious.

My main concern is how thick the factory clear coat is and how to determine when I've gone far enough. A rep from the factory saw the condition and the manufacturer and gave me some funds to have it done, but I dont know of any place in my area that would do the work.

 

[imported_jgv]

... the Mercedes has pretty flawless paint, but there are some scratches on the trunk lid that need to be sanded out.

This week I'll have a silver MB with some scratches. How safe is it to wet sand those scratches? Any recomendations?

 

[jimmybuffit]

Because the consequences of wetsanding are irreversible, I strongly recommend that one experiment with a 'junk' panel from the same mfg/vintage. This may help one realize the difficulty level involved in wetsanding small areas.



Go slow...



Jim

 

[Tim Lingor]

This week I'll have a silver MB with some scratches. How safe is it to wet sand those scratches? Any recomendations?

Hi jgv,



I would be very very careful. Colour sanding is an art! I guess it would depend on how many years of experience you have had at body work and or detailing. I know that I would NOT do a colour sanding unless the car was scheduled to be painted anyway. You will also need to know the thickness of the paint/clear before hand so that you do not go through the clear; therefore an expensive electronic Paint Thickness Gauge is required. But that is still not a 100% as it is impossible to know how thick the original paint was and how thick the clear coat is.



Meguiar's has in their Body Shop series video: How to Remove Paint Defects, a complete section on colour sanding. They take you step by step. But I would still be very leary on an expensive MB!!