My first wet sanding Experience

[angryfx45]

Congrats on taking this project on without any experience !

What would have made the sanding easier,uniform, and flatter, would have been to use a 3M black rubber sanding block and water constantly running on the panel being sanded, or a bucket of clean water with a few drops of soap and a big sponge, to make the water more slippery..

Assume the paint shop sanded the areas flat to begin with and that will help you get a better result after all the compounding you have to do..

Is that black paint a jet black or a metallic black ? It looks like a jet black from here so far...

Audi factory paint is pretty hard as are most German car paint so if they used the Factory Pack paint, then it will still act almost the same..

Assume you waited long enough for the paint to dry and cure before you started this, right ?

When I painted in shops, the only way you would get orange peel would be if you applied the paint too dry...

You have to paint it so it is wet enough that it will self level and come out pretty darn smooth and glossy..
Then, there is less work to do at the compounding stage in the process..

You are doing a great job !
Good luck !
Dan F

Thank you for the spirit!!!! And the wisdom.

Yup it was sanded at the shop previously once, i know this bcuz when i went to check out how they were doing, they had just sanded it.

This paint is Jet Black, non metallic.
Pain in the ass cuz it shows everything..... i mean everything!!

I had waited about 3 4 wks prior to tackling the job.

I am actually friends with the owner of the body shop however the worst part is hes in charge of the mechanical repairs and does not know any bodywork nor detailing or finishing. He just hires ppl to do all the bodywork for him. So even if i took em back im sure he/ his workers arent able to do a nice job.

I think i learned alot about wet sanding from this exp. Will not say that im confident but i understand more now. Just watching videos or reading about it isnt enough until you lay your hands on it i think.

Thank you all

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[Accumulator]

Just FWIW, the current (water-based) paints that Audi shops in my area use tend to "die back"/shrink over time, often exposing prep marks/sanding scratches that absolutely were *NOT* visible for the first weeks/etc. after painting. Could certainly just be a user-error situation unique to my guy`s shop, but I thought I`d mention it.

 

[JustJesus]

Accumulator - Die-back, that`s something I began to research last week. Still don`t know much. By chance, do you know if that`s more inherent in waterborne paint systems?

 

[Stokdgs]

Just FWIW, the current (water-based) paints that Audi shops in my area use tend to "die back"/shrink over time, often exposing prep marks/sanding scratches that absolutely were *NOT* visible for the first weeks/etc. after painting. Could certainly just be a user-error situation unique to my guy`s shop, but I thought I`d mention it.

This is really too bad...

The body guys that fix the metal always scratch it up with grinders, files, 40-grit sandpaper.. They even finish sand (for them) the bondo with 40-grit paper...

What I always did was take the time to remove all sanding/grinding, etc., defects in the bare bodywork, bondo, before any primer was painted on the surface.. I always thought everybody did it this way...
An air powered D/A sander is the most perfect tool to use for this clean up part..

Then, when it`s all smooth, you apply several coats of good primer followed with a guide-coat and wet block sanding to insure its really straight, flat, and perfect to begin the paint process....

Guess the people out there today just don`t get it or something?
Dan F

 

[angryfx45]

Not to mention general bodyshops cutting corners and just drilling holes everywhere to push n pull.

On the othere hand i do understand the overhead costs and jobs constantly waiting to be handled.

I am almost done with m105/ 100 step and thought to give you guys a quik shot.

Night n day difference so far evnthough im not done buffin n polishing yet

Some cloud shots

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[JustJesus]

That looks good! ! !

 

[Accumulator]

Stokdgs- Yeah, I`ve had that "use finer paper and just charge me for the additional time/materials" talk with them, one of these times perhaps it`ll stick. Sigh...another case of my having to tell Professionals how to do their jobs.

Accumulator - Die-back, that`s something I began to research last week. Still don`t know much. By chance, do you know if that`s more inherent in waterborne paint systems?

Actually, I expect it more with single stage lacquer (it`s happened on the Jag in a few redone spots). But yeah, it seems to be more of an issue *at the shop that does most of my work* since they switched to the water-based stuff. Frustrates me, but at least those guys *never* mess up the rest of the vehicle.