Wet sand anyone?

I am just wondering if i am only only person who has bothered to wetsand their car .
I just spent the past week going over it from 1000 --> 1500 --> 2000 grit sand paper in stages . Usually at night between when i am at work on my lunch and breaks .
Then fine cut compund with a wool pad using a highspeed poilisher .
Then fine cut with a meguires red foam pad before finally using swirl remover and then waxing it it meguires NXT tech wax.
Total about 15 hours worth of work but the shine and the depth is astounding . The pearls and mettalic finally shine through and the relfection is good enough to see where i break parts and see them fall off.
 
So anyone else up to the challange yet or am i the only one with that much time?
 
I did have a few people ( expecially my wife) think i was crazy scratching the paint up in its transition stages when it looked like hell.

ill be down that road when the car comes back from the paint shop this week...

Had to wetsand and buff my whole car because i got the rear door and quarter panel re-painted due to nicks , small dents, etc... it was the only parts really really shiney lol but now all that time really paid off.

[IMG]http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj36/midatlantic240sxpics/IMG_8160.jpg?t=1243872817[/IMG]

so your saying doing this will take sqirls out and some scrathes? even on stock paint jobs?

i'd get some other input before i went at it. wetsanding is a pretty aggressive approach.

[QUOTE=beachbum-1;250152]so your saying doing this will take sqirls out and some scrathes? even on stock paint jobs?[/QUOTE]

yes, because even with factory paint, this was part of the finishing process.

i would not recommend this to most people, it doesnt take much to pass all layers of clear and into the base/mid, especially at corners.


be careful, goodluck, and godspeed!

I'm wetsanding right now but for different reasons.  Color change?  We will see
 
[U][COLOR=#800080][IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/aedprix/IMG_0067.jpg[/IMG][/COLOR][/U][URL="http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-res&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fminkara.carview.co.jp%2Fuserid%2F135902%2Fblog%2F13300020%2F%23cm&lp=ja_en&btnTrUrl=Translate"][/URL]

[QUOTE=vzuptnguyen;250158]yes, because even with factory paint, this was part of the finishing process.

i would not recommend this to most people, it doesnt take much to pass all layers of clear and into the base/mid, especially at corners.


be careful, goodluck, and godspeed![/QUOTE]

yes, what vzuptnguyen said is right. Also when you are high speed buffing, it would help to tape up the corners , edges, and curves with blue painters tape so you dont burn through.

This is definitely not for the faint of heart, and in my opinion should not be done on factory paint (if you care about clear coat longevity).

I agree this is not for beginners.
Before doing it you should use an elcometer to measure the paint thickness to check first.

i want to see some pics...need to see results

[QUOTE=Blitz;250273]i want to see some pics...need to see results[/QUOTE]
 
:thelaw:

use google for high res comparison pics.
SO Q did you finish , what products did you use ?
I ran out of compound after 2 passes , i need to find a nice medium to finish it off as it looks nice and milky now.

im scared!!!!!!
i want to but then i think about messing up

^ You can't really mess up with 1,000 grit.  Don't push too hard, work slow and steady, don't sand the same spot too much and use a sanding block and you'll be fine.  Tape off any chrome trim that you are scared of hitting with the sandpaper.

Why not just use compounds?

Even pretty major correction can be acheived with pads and compounds, wetsanding is a really extreme step, used for taking out runs and orange peel, not restoring shine.

example:
[url]http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-details-before-after/121987-carnival-carnage-starring-scaglietti-612-me.html[/url]

[QUOTE=firelizard;263023]Why not just use compounds?

Even pretty major correction can be acheived with pads and compounds, wetsanding is a really extreme step, used for taking out runs and orange peel, not restoring shine.

example:
[URL]http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-details-before-after/121987-carnival-carnage-starring-scaglietti-612-me.html[/URL][/QUOTE]
exactly what had me scratching my head. 

you could just use a lake country yellow cutting or wool pad with meguiars 105 ultracut or any other extra heavy compound and that would have been effective for about 1200 grit or so. i could see wetsanding problem areas but doing the whole car is unnecessary just to bring out a shine. you wetsanded it to 2000 then used the rotary to cut it back down to less than 2000 with the wool then had to polish it again.
next time for the final buffing dont use a meg's red [I]cutting [/I]pad use their yellow [I]polishing [/I]or black [I]finishing[/I] pad. you can use the fine cut or the swirl remover on that and burnish a nicer finish than what u had previously done.
lol also i must ask why u spent all that time wetsanding and polishing and finished it with techwax? i hope its at least the 2.0 version. i mean its one of the better over the counter waxes but if youre spending more than a couple hours on your car why not finish it off right? if youre lookin for a bargain easy to use wax id probably recommend collinite 845. 15 dollars well spent. 
but there are some other higher end waxes/sealants that would make your metallic paint pop more than 845 or nxt combined.

anyway post pics. and go read the link firelizard posted. autopia=:biggthumpup:

just tryin to save u time :yahoo_101: u coulda knocked out that polishing job in less than half the time if you only spot wetsanded and hit the rest with the rotary and good products

I could not spot sand as the whole car needed to be cut down orange peel at almost .80 mills back to .50 thickness.
I like tech wax for being able to apply it quick and it easily removed as it washes itself off in a few weeks. It allows me to spend time looking over the car with a shine coat for defects without much prep time . It still needs to be sealed but not until the paint is proper.

most factory paints are thin so be careful.

yeah im getting my local shop to wetsand my car closer to our summer(3 months away).
car was repainted at some stage and there is a few nicks and imperfections, aswell as some light scratching and all sorts of things:)
i detailed my car, came out very good, but still want a pro job done eh!
kinda cant be bothered with it anymore, keen to save up for ls430 at some stage

[QUOTE=GEE702;263297]most factory paints are thin so be careful.[/QUOTE]

I am guessing you were just mentioned it to be in the thread as i have an elcometer so i kind of already know where i am going on thickness as well as mentioned it is not an OEM finish.

[QUOTE=SKperformance;263477]I am guessing you were just mentioned it to be in the thread as i have an elcometer so i kind of already know where i am going on thickness as well as mentioned it is not an OEM finish.[/QUOTE]
 
I know you know what youre doing, I was just letting others know that wanted to try it

[QUOTE=SKperformance;250122]I am just wondering if i am only only person who has bothered to wetsand their car .
I just spent the past week going over it from 1000 --> 1500 --> 2000 grit sand paper in stages . Usually at night between when i am at work on my lunch and breaks .
Then fine cut compund with a wool pad using a highspeed poilisher .
Then fine cut with a meguires red foam pad before finally using swirl remover and then waxing it it meguires NXT tech wax.
Total about 15 hours worth of work but the shine and the depth is astounding . The pearls and mettalic finally shine through and the relfection is good enough to see where i break parts and see them fall off.
 
So anyone else up to the challange yet or am i the only one with that much time?
 
I did have a few people ( expecially my wife) think i was crazy scratching the paint up in its transition stages when it looked like hell.[/QUOTE]

Wetsanding scratches with 1K, going over panels with 1500 then 2500 on a black car (ENTIRE WET SAND NOW!!!) with a 'stick' + buffing: 5~6 hrs

I regularly dont time myself while doing it because it defeats the purpose of the detail. :biggthumpup:

i wouldn't use 1000 i would just go with 2000 the whole car. then polish, then wax.

[QUOTE=SKperformance;262954]
SO Q did you finish , what products did you use ?
[/QUOTE]
 
I shouldn't have posted because I wetsanded to remove the clear coat, not to fix imperfections.  I hit it with 800grit for a total of like 12-15 hours by hand (over the course of a week).

Unless the orange peel is really bad, I wouldn't go less than maybe 1200 or 1500 grit sand paper. And the term mostly used in body shops is color sanding. Wet sanding, most of the time refers to sanding with water prior to painting. Color sanding, is, just the term we use....  

If its a stock paint job and you're just trying to make it shine a little bit more, id hit it up "fast kine". With 2000grit... because from the factory, the paint job is presentable, but not perfect. And from the factory, you don't know how many coats of clear was put on. So if you sand with 1000, then 15000, then 2000, for all you know, you may be one stroke away from cutting into the basecoat. Then one you start buffing, it'll burn thru... but if you are dealing with and aftermarket paint job, with at least 3 coats of clear, then maybe id hit it with 1000 grit, if the orange peel was bad enough OR if I'm dealing with a light colored paint... if its a dark colored paint, no less than 1500, and end with 2000. Because if you use, say 1000, and end with 2000 but you weren't able to take out the 1000grit sand scratches, you then make the buffer and compound work harder and eventually you'll burn thru trying to buff out those sand scratches... 

But you can start with 1000, or even 800 but you just gotta know where to stop or how much to sand, when to switch to a finer sand paper, etc......

When I painted my lexus, I lay'd down 2 thick coats of clear. I baked the whole car twice at 150 degrees, but the clear didn't flow or lay down the way I wanted so I HAD to color sand and buff the car...  because I let the paint cure for 1 week the clear was still soft (not actually soft, its hard but easy to sand) so I hit it with 1200, 1500, then 2000, then buffed it with cutting compound, then buffed with with swirl remover, and hand buffed it with a hand cream/fine swirl remover.... ther whole process took about 10-12hours, start to finish.... plus too you gotta know how to sand and how much to. Sand, I usually stay about 1-2" away from any corners, trims, edges. Then u don't make your cutoff line straight, you gotta kinda feather it out with 2000.... idk I kinda lost my train of thought...

Its not for beginners. You gotta have some sort of knowledge for autobody and paint... and for milling the paint, I wouldn't trust that. I've never met anyone in the field that uses that tool or method. I only used it once in school to measure how thick the paint was. If the paint is too thick, you can't paint over it. If the paint is too think, or or too many layers of paint it'll chip and flake off...  you gotta factor in from base metal there's 1 coat of E-coat to prevent corrosion, then maybe 1 thick coat of sealer, or a coat of primer then sealer, then 3 coats of base color, then 2-3 coasts of clear. That's at least 8 coats of material with varying thicknesses.... there is no telling how thick each layer of material is, so I wouldn't use that tool.... oh yeah we would mil a panel to see how much a panel weighs. We'd mil it, weigh it. Then spray it, then mil it and weigh it again and see how much paint was sprayed in weight...

If you really want to get crazy with it, spray 2 coats of clear, sand the entire car with 800 grit, then lay down 2 more coats of clear.... comes out like glass. I don't have the patience to do it, but helped a friend do it, and oh my was it nice....

i forgot to ask if you still have your oem paint?
and like mista808 said all paint varies in thickness. unless you buy a $2000+ paint thickness gauge that can read the varying levels of underlying coats, theres no way you can tell exactly how thick the clearcoat is.  
OH and one more thing. oem clearcoats are supposed to only provide UV and some other protection in up to the first 40% of their thickness. not 100% sure on how that works but ive heard it from a PPG rep and see it being mentioned on autopia how its 20-40% of the clearcoat.  anyway so if thats true then the remaining clearcoat and basecoats will degrade and oxidize at a faster rate.

My paint is not oem and has up to 2 coats of paint and residual clear.
I have a $1200 elcometer (some cheaper ones are $400 but mine is a ferrous non ferrous metal reader which can do aluminum and other non steel metals ) which reads up to 2.5 in some areas that were overlapped.
Color sanding is just that , since i was only cutting the clear it is still just considered wetsanding.

It was painted with the new VOC law standard here in Canada using water borne paints so the painter went over it in multiple passes which is why it is so thick and orange peely .

hmm..

orange peel you say no easy fix respray. Orange peel often happens when painting on a cold day then it expands and cracks the paint.

^ Wrong...=)

I love detailing cars while working with 3000 grit. It levels the paint just enough, and is extremely easy to polish out. Often only taking one of two steps with a mild polish.

yeah I agree, I go as high as 4000. foam pad, and a real pro palm sander

Just a question, what is the highest grit of sand paper that can be bought in local market?