wet sanding and polishing

[gp02a0083]

i know many members have their own ways of doing things with this , but i figured it still wouldn't hurt to get a "dummy" guide for those who want the extra help

Tools:
Orbital (left) or rotary buffer/polisher (right)

Orbital polishers are nice for the everyday joe or beginner, they typically operate at slower speeds and are more forgiving, but they may not be up to the task for really tough scratches and swirls. Rotary buffers are mainly used in a professional body shop and "cut" the paint better, however inexperienced users can damage the clear coat , emblems , moldings , ect a lot easier than with a orbital. im using a Makita Polisher Model 9227cx3 with a wool compounding pad, and a softer wool glaze coat pad. Foam pads can also be used but i prefer wool, remember to have two pads one for compound and one for glaze coat.

Supplies:
Wet/Dry sandpaper
Sanding block
Water

a job pack from Home Depot/ Pep boys / Autozone will work well, 1000-2000 grit is good. Using a good sanding block with the sandpaper is a good idea also to get orange peel out of the paint. Always remember to use water, makes life easier and helps extend the life of the sandpaper. I'm using a 3m sanding block that can be found at Wal-mart,Pep-boys ect. with 1000 grit wet/dry sand paper. For water I'm using a old spray bottle filled with water, a cap full of car soap can be used to help wet sanding.

Other Supplies:

Rubbing compound (for medium to heavy scratches)
Glaze coat ( for lighter scratches)
Clay Bar (not shown, optional, best used on older cars/paint)
Wax/ Cleaner wax ( to protect the finish)
Micro-fiber Rags/towels
Painters Tape / Masking tape
News Paper

Compound/glaze coat/ wax doesn't need to be from the same brand/system, with some brands it does help like Ardex.

Let's Get Started:
Step 1: wash your car really well to remove loose dirt and debris and dry it. you can use the clay bar on the car to remove any gritty material from older paint surfaces. You can also remove items from the car like the windshield washer nozzles to make your life easier when using the buffer.

Step 2: Wet sand the area being polished starting out with 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper with water then stepping up to 1500 then 2000 grit. Sand in a circular motion while keeping the area wet, if you hear a gritty sound, STOP WET SANDING!!, clean the area again and repeat. If you don't keep the area clean you will cause heavier scratches that will damage the clear coat further. Wipe down the area and check your work, it shouldn't look glossy and should look like the next few pictures. Generally when wet sanding, stay away from body lines and panel edges unless your skilled enough. Tape nearby panels or body lines to help with this.




Step 3: Clean the panel again to remove sanding debris, re-tape any panels again if needed. Mask with the tape and newspaper any plastic parts where compound might end up, most compound i have used ends up staining plastic parts. The front cowl, moldings and bumper moldings are a good example on our cars. Working in small areas, use small amounts of compound with the buffer, start out with at a slower buffer speed so you don't sling compound everywhere. Work the compound around into the paint in the area until the flat finish is glossy again, don't stay in one spot keep moving around and stopping every now and then to add more compound so that you don't burn off the clear coat.

The finish should look like this:


Step 4: Wipe the area lightly with a micro-fiber towel/rag to get rid of any compound "dirt/dust" and make sure it is clean again before you Glaze coat it. Follow step 3 with another buff pad for the glaze coat.

Step 5: Remove tape, newspaper and masking material. Rinse the car off to remove any remaining compound and glaze coat dust. Dry the car then apply wax.

Finished product:




TIPS:
Buff the car in the shade or garage, not in the sun, make it easier for yourself
Keep the panels as clean as you can, cleaner they are, the better the job
Sling the power chord for the buffer over your shoulder so it doesn't scratch the paint or get caught up in the buffer (it can happen I've seen it)
Stay away from body edges, its easier to burn the paint off of them
Keep cleaning the buff pad with a spur or flat head screwdriver
When washing the car the the final time, make sure you get the inside door/hood/trunk/hatch jambs , dry compound is a PITA to remove


Lets see some clean accords!

[Civic Accord Honda]

please come do mine

[A18A]

i am very jealous of how bling that paint is! i wish mine didnt have oh so many stone chips

[ghettogeddy]

ya how about the next time your in cali you just do mine lol ho-w much would this costs at a shop im willing to pay but have 0 desire to do all this on the curb of my apartment lol

[gp02a0083]

ya how about the next time your in cali you just do mine lol ho-w much would this costs at a shop im willing to pay but have 0 desire to do all this on the curb of my apartment lol

might be in cali in a few months to visit my sister in Sana Barbra. something like this i would say depends on the size of the car, something like our cars may cost a around hundred or two, for a full job including carpet shampoo and detailing. I never bothered to look on the work orders at the body shops i was at to see the cost, its typically done after a respray

[ghettogeddy]

might be in cali in a few months to visit my sister in Sana Barbra. something like this i would say depends on the size of the car, something like our cars may cost a around hundred or two, for a full job including carpet shampoo and detailing. I never bothered to look on the work orders at the body shops i was at to see the cost, its typically done after a respray

100 - 200 isent bad i need to get my hood re done first lol

[Catalyst]

Excellent writeup! Thanks!

[gp02a0083]

100 - 200 isent bad i need to get my hood re done first lol

its kinda simple to do this and is cheap to do yourself , if you have the tools already. the compound glaze coat wax and sandpaper shouldn't cost more than50 at most. i ended up using the rest of the 3m compound, it works fine but i bought for $5 and some change turtle wax compound IMO it cuts better and is silicone free, causes less problems with painting down the line

http://www.turtlewax.com/main.taf?p=2,1,4,23

[ghettogeddy]

i have a sanding block and a power sander
and a polishing wheel

just no energy to get off my ass and do it lol or shade for that matter

[gp02a0083]

you need some gratuitous amounts of energy


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuNxHqwazs

[Hazwan]

Is that factory paint?

[gp02a0083]

i wish it was but its not, dead dive away was the excess clear i saw built up at the edges of the panels, also i think it was mark that noted that the paint had more metallic in it than the normal Seattle silver.
probably after the winter i will end up being able to repaint it unless i can find a decent place that will let me paint it

[Hazwan]

Haha that makes sense. I don't trust myself wetsanding a factory paint, let alone 20 year old paint. Nice work BTW, and why repaint? It looks fine as it is.

[gp02a0083]

major chips in the paint here and there , typical wheel well rust in the rear, not sure why the car was repainted to begin with before i got it, i haven't found any signs of collision damage repair, for all i know the factory clear coat failed. Im not to fond of the gold/silver i was thinking after seeing catalyst's hatch i want something alone the lines of a silver/black 2 tone

[Tomisimo]

Thats nice, Thenks for the writeup on this..

I 'wish I had paint good anough to do this to my car, but I have bobble rust here and there so I guess I'm stuck with normal wash until repaint after all rust repairs.. And yes, there is something about rear wheel arches, mine are gone, but looks still mint tho.

and your car is Hot!!

[MessyHonda]

looks brand new

[markmdz89hatch]

i wish it was but its not, dead dive away was the excess clear i saw built up at the edges of the panels, also i think it was mark that noted that the paint had more metallic in it than the normal Seattle silver.
probably after the winter i will end up being able to repaint it unless i can find a decent place that will let me paint it

Yeah it just looks to have a teenie bit more metallic in it than oem, but the color base looks damn near dead on. The fact that you used the Seattle Silver touch-up/retouch paint on that wheel arch, and the very close match, shows it might just be the proper base with just a little metallic dust added to the first clear, or just mixed into the base.

I'm very jealous of the finish on that car. I said it when I saw it, and I'll say it again, I really do like how clean that paint-job was done. Yeah, from what I know, that seattle in '87 had a crappy clear which peeled like a mo-fo. ...but I could be wrong because I never had one that color, so I have no first-hand experience with it.

Honestly it's the clear that scares me with any of the paint jobs. My dad has two old '50's cars, one with it's original paint, and another that had been repainted in the mid 80's, but both used the stock laquer (i think that's what it was) paint instead of enamel (maybe the other way around). Although the paint did tend to check, it had no clear, so buffing it just brought out the original base color instead of just cutting clear.

When I had my hatchie repainted, I used Maaco, who is notorious for using very good Dupont paint, but very shitty clear that yellowed quickly. As such, I'm sporting 3 base coats of GM's White from the Express van, which was the purest white I could find in the chip book. No clear here.

Love the write-up. ...so you want to come and do mine? It desperately needs it.

[Tomisimo]

sorry to thread juck, but I have to coment Marks post.

You sud have looked at MB C43 AMG Arctic White, its beautiful, its so rich, that when sun hit it, it glows like neon almost, you get that sensation from it. I seen one IRL, and I noticed it with one eye move, it just popped out of the croud of Toyotas that was white and other mix cars.. btw, white is toyotas favorite.. here at least.

[gp02a0083]

mark, your right about the lacquer paint, it was commonly used to my knowledge into the 80's , its more or less like single stage enamel, lacquer is pretty forgiving paint to spray, Ive sprayed a few cars with it, over spray is pretty much non existent compared to the urethane and enamels.
usually with single stage and older lacquer you will notice when you wax it the paint kinda comes off a little bit, usually when lacquer fails its peels really bad or "crow's feet/ checkers" pop up.

As far as the metallic tint on my car, yes the rattle can i used to patch it up worked well, with the match for the paint im guessing whoever sprayed it bumped up the air pressure with the gun, higher air pressure will cause a "lighter" metallic, lower pressure the opposite. It still could have a bit more metallic in it, even tho its the same paint code the plant it was built at can still have a variant tint.

i sprayed with DuPont systems for about 2 years, the yellowing comes from the balancer/binder polymers, its the same system i have on my olds that was painted back in 03' and you saw it really wasn't yellow. i used for that car a "whiter" white (usually has more yellow or blue in it) from a 02' corvette.
if everyone likes or wants to add to the writeup i don't mind , it might be a good idea to sticky it in the DIY section.

Mark, as well as other members id be happy to do bodywork/paint. id only have to have the car for 1-3 weeks at most. some of you sen my other work on my olds, 1st project i did and it came out good , heres two oterh examples, the FC was in Rix magazine for team drift brigade, the 240 was also for the same team


that was the day after paint, no wet sanding done


this was was in RIX magazine, full sand and paint, quick release front bumper

[b20a86lude]

dude beautiful man. very seriously but i could never understand that if u , sand off the clear and dont reclear it how the hell does it shine if u sand it off. im very confused on that

[gp02a0083]

your taking a little bit of the clear coat off with oxidation and stuff, making the surface "flatter" and in a sense burning the clearcoat to get a shine

[79cord]

Always worried about polishing thorough the clear coats.
Clear paints are always less durable than Solids without the pigment to block UV light penetrating deeply into the paint.
Before late '80's most solid paints didn't use a clear-coat over the base colour, though Metallics always did.

Just polishing up the paint on my white '77 now..... MUST find electric buffer!