Help me get out some wetsand hazing

K

ka1srs

New member
I wetsanded s(1500 grit) some small touched-up rockchip areas and of course the clearcoat hazed. The clearcoat is not broken, this was some seriously quick/light sanding.



I've used an orbital buffer with multiple passes of AIO and topped w/Blitz.



The haze is greatly reduced, but I'd like to further improve it.



I was thinking some PerfectIT and/or FinesseIT by 3M may help.



Any other ideas? Thanks all.
 
There is no way AIO will remove 1500 scratches.



If you have it, you should probably wet sand with some 2000 until the 1500 scratches are out. Then, FI-II will do the job. If yo don't, you could go directly after the 1500 scratches with fine cut rubbing compound. Remember to work the FCRC and/or FI-II until the abrasives diminish to nothing or it will leave its own, even finer haze.
 
All I sanded for was to "level" some touched-up rockchips.



So there are no more scratches. And the 1500 did not cut the clearcoat at a visible level/you can't feel cuts in the finish.



It's just "foggy" around the sanded area.



So should I skip the 2000 grit and go to FI-II?
 
I spent a tense week trying to get just such a haze out of my clearcoat.



Fine cut 3m on a spinning wool bonnet got it out instantly, followed by smr on the puff, then imperial hand glaze then wax. Only problem- I had to smr and hand glaze the whole car cause the sanded spot then looked better than the rest of the car.



One thing tho- you better let the touch up sit for at least 48 hours before compounding, or it will be softer than the surrounding paint and the touched-up spot will dish in some. first hand experience here.



The spinning wool puff is key, with the fine cut compound. As I mentioned on another thread- a 5" wool bonnet on a pad on a electric drill is fine.
 
and maybe 2500 then FI-II. I used that method on the entire hood of a 2001 red honda civic hood, except instead of the FI-II, I used Groit's Machine Polishes #2 and #3 with the orange pad for the PC. Turned out great. Remember, use plenty of H20 with the 2000 and 2500. Soak you paper for about half hour in H20 before using. I also add a few drops of car wash shampoo to the H20.
 
The "haze" you see is scratches made by 1500. All abrasives scratch. You choose successively finer abrasives which polish out the previous grade's scratches and replace them with finer ones until they are so fine they can't be seen. if you wet sanded with 10,000 you would STILL see haze. This is why you stop sanding at some point and transition to a diminishing abrasive compound.



Because you have an orbital and not a rotary I'll respectfully disagree with clint. You do NOT need a wool bonnet - they really only work well with rotary polishers. use a foam "cutting" pad with FI-II or FCRC on your orbital, as I said above - I promise it can do the job.
 
I don't need (or deserve) no respect!:D



I didnt have an orbital, only had a drill,(that detail I neglected) and a foam pad covered by a wool bonnet; and it worked-because a drill with a wool bonnet is in effect a rotary polisher- albiet a clumsy, small slow one.. but I agree that the wool can be dangerous in it's agression.. gotta be careful like you do with a real polisher.



I'll try an orbital next time, now that I got my air compressor back.



One thing that will make it worse that I wish I had known about before I ever tried the stuff-

the red rubbing compound is evil! Never use the red (usually turtle wax) compound!







the 3m fine cut is fine cut rubbing compound-fcrc, 3m seems to have a few different names for it- also sold as 3m scratch remover..the back of the bottle always says the same thing tho- removes scratches from 1500 sand paper, and has hand and machine directions.
 
Because you have an orbital and not a rotary I'll respectfully disagree with clint. You do NOT need a wool bonnet - they really only work well with rotary polishers. use a foam "cutting" pad with FI-II or FCRC on your orbital, as I said above - I promise it can do the job.
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Greg, now I will have to respectfully disagree with you. A couple weeks ago, prior to waxing my car I went after some clear coat scratches on the hood, none deep enough to catch with a finger nail, but of the type I would call more IN the paint rather than the ligher ones Id call ON the paint...After hitting them with the PC on speed 6, leaning into it with a Polishing pad and 3M FCRC, not much if anything was happening to them...Nothing, until, that is, I got wise and put on my velcro backed Wool pad...Bingo, it did a nice job in substantiall reducing them, WITHOUT putting any hazing into the surrounding surface. I just followed up with wax, and most people will never see them any more...Next time, I'll hit them quickly with the rotary, or, go at them a little longer with the wool and FCRC, but my point is, the Wool pad can work Well with the PC, not just with rotaries. Moreover, in Davids polishing Video, he too uses the wool pad with the PC!
 
I just had to sand a bump from my mirror housing and I used the fcrc by hand, and it got 2000 sandaper marks out just fine- But took alot more compound and effort than the spinning wool..



Fine cut rubbing compound will probably work no matter how what method you use to move the applicator.:)
 
But took alot more compound and effort than the spinning wool..
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Clint, I just placed an order with that sandmate site, for a 3" fixed shaft velcro plate, and some 3" velcro lambswool pads. I opted for the 3" instead of 5" because if I wanted to do large areas, Id use the rotary polisher...I find that the 3" and the drill is the ideal size to attack small scratch areas, prior to using the PC to apply SMR and wax over the whole car.
 
I ended up not using 3M FCRC, but did use 3M FI2 with a orbital polisher, then 3M Hand glaze, then AIO, then Blitz.



The haze was reduced bigtime, but I wasn't happy yet.



I laid into the hazed spots by hand w/more FI2 and got them out.



I'm very pleased w/these products.



I'm buying a PC though. The half-assed Craftsman polisher/buffer has got ta go!!



Thanks for the help all.
 
I'm buying a PC though. The half-assed Craftsman polisher/buffer has got ta go!!
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I know..Prior to my PC, I was using a Sears orbital for years...IT was pretty good at applying and removing wax...but didnt have enough guts to do any serious polishing. While youre at it, youll find that the PC is great for about 80% of your work...But, since you probably already have a drill, why not get a 3" velcro backing plate to fit into your drill chuck, and then some 3" wool velcro pads, to attack those stubborn clearcoat scratches that the PC wont remove, or will take 12 hrs to do so. Then, your future waxing sessions will start with the drill to remove any scratching youve picked up since the last time, followed by the pc and either a machine glaze or fine polish like #9 or SMR, followed by wax.
 
Hi all,



Next time you might consider finish sanding with some #2500 or #3000 grit papers. This will make buffing them out much easier. Meguiar's offers this paper, it's an "Electronics Grade" Finishing Paper, much higher quality and tighter control over grit particle size and distribution. (I'm not sure any competitors offer an equivalent).



They are, (more or less), specifically intended for use on factory clear coats. The idea being to remove a defect while removing as little film-build as possible.



I don't use 3M, but, if you want to know how to do it with Meguiar's I would be glad to share with you how I would remove a sand scratch pattern using their 80's series products.





(Here is a special invitation to Jman5000)



Jman5000, I'm hosting a "How-to" clinic here at Meguiar's Training Center tomorrow, (08/30/02) for the Southern California Mercedes Club. I don't know where your located, but if you're in the area and want to bring your car by I'll remove your sanding marks for you and show you how to do-it-yourself for the next time you try this.



(This "how-to" workshop is full, but if enough people on this forum would like to plan a "how-to" workshop for Autopian's in the future let me know, I would be glad to put one on)



Mike Phillips

Corporate Writer (and car crazy, paint polishing enthusiast)

Meguiar's Inc.

1-800-854-8073 ext. 189
 
paul e said:




Clint, I just placed an order with that sandmate site, for a 3" fixed shaft velcro plate, and some 3" velcro lambswool pads. I opted for the 3" instead of 5" because if I wanted to do large areas, Id use the rotary polisher...I find that the 3" and the drill is the ideal size to attack small scratch areas, prior to using the PC to apply SMR and wax over the whole car.
Click to expand...



I like the ideal of a 3" pad and plate. what do they cost and where did you buy? Oh yes will it fit on a PC?



Thanks
 
Sorry to hear that, I'm sure it wouldn't have been a problem to remove the haze and restore a high gloss finish.



If you like, I can still post how I would personally fix it with the Meguairs' system, but... I won't have time to post the step-by-step procedures until next Tuesday as I'm leaving the office in the next few seconds...



Mike Phillips
 
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