Recommendations for Wet Sanding Lacquer Paint

[Rob Tomlin]

I am going to be trying to salvage a 30 year old lacquer paint job on my friends 1966 Chevy II Nova that he just picked up.

The paint is in bad shape. There is lots of etching, shallow scratches, and oxidation. We have decided that we will wet/color sand the car.

We don't know how much paint is left, but it is lacquer, so we won't be shocked if we do go down to primer in some spots. The car will need to be repainted eventually. This is to make it look as good as it can for the next 10 months or so until it can be repainted.

Questions: first, what grit should we use for the color sanding? My friend wants to use 1500, but I think that is too coarse, especially on a lacquer paint. I was thinking of using 2000.

I have M105. Will this be strong enough to follow the wet sanding with 2000 or 1500? Or do I need something with more cut to remove the sanding scratches?

If I need something stronger than M105, what would you recommend? My friend has some 3M Perfect it II Rubbing Compound, would that work (I'm not familiar with the 3M line)?

Finally, and I will probably find out on my own after doing one panel, but anyone familiar with the old lacquer paints, do you think I might actually be better off using my PC than the rotary, given how soft the lacquer paint is?

Any other tips/recommendations are welcome. I'd prefer not to screw up my first wet sanding job!

[bufferbarry]

Rob feel free to call me if you need advice I will certainly help you out!

[gbackus]

if this is single stage paint you'd be surprised how much dead paint a decontamination system(I MUCH prefer valugard stuff) will remove.

[the other pc]

Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin

...I have M105. Will this be strong enough to ...

Strong enough for lacquer? Meg's had to extend their cutting scale because it didn't used to go high enough for M105.

And people were using Megs' old products to cut scratch in lacquer for the better part of a century before M105 was invented.

M105 was designed primarily for modern urethanes. Not sure how it will behave on an old, soft lacquer. Do a test spot and keep a very close eye on it.


pc.

[Rob Tomlin]

Originally Posted by the other pc

Strong enough for lacquer? Meg's had to extend their cutting scale because it didn't used to go high enough for M105.

And people were using Megs' old products to cut scratch in lacquer for the better part of a century before M105 was invented.

M105 was designed primarily for modern urethanes. Not sure how it will behave on an old, soft lacquer. Do a test spot and keep a very close eye on it.


pc.

Thanks, this is exactly the kind of thing that I am concerned about! Should I start with something more mild that m105? The paint is a real mess, so I doubt something like SIP will be strong enough, but who knows since we are dealing with lacquer?

[Accumulator]

I think I'd consider going old-school and using Meg's M02 Fine Cut, probably on a fairly mild wool pad. I haven't tried it since it was reformulated, but the older versions I used (on ss) had *strong* chemical cleaners as well as pretty potent abrasives. I'd follow that with M80. I'm just not 100% sold on using M105/M205 on single stage, generally speaking but I'll admit that's primarily just my gut-feeling (though my conversation about this with Mike Phillips reinforced that feeling).

PI-II (assuming it's the "Fine Cut Rubbing Compound") is nice on ss, but a) doesn't work that well on poor-condition paint as it apparently has minimal chemical cleaners and b) will kill you dead just like asbestos unless you wear the proper mask. I leave mine on the shelf and suggest that your pal does the same.

If you sand it, I wouldn't resort to 1500 myself, but compare that to whatever buffer barry suggests Keep repeating "this is my first wetsanding job and it's not my car"...I'd *not* sand it.

The PC might pigtail, esp. with aggressive stuff. Even *I* would use the rotary for most of this job, just be really gentle/careful/aware.

If it's *really* oxidized/dried out I'd pretreat with M07 (can elaborate if necessary).

[mikemurphy234]

"Rob feel free to call me if you need advice I will certainly help you out!"

Barry, you are awesome!

[Rob Tomlin]

Originally Posted by Accumulator

I think I'd consider going old-school and using Meg's M02 Fine Cut, probably on a fairly mild wool pad. I haven't tried it since it was reformulated, but the older versions I used (on ss) had *strong* chemical cleaners as well as pretty potent abrasives. I'd follow that with M80. I'm just not 100% sold on using M105/M205 on single stage, generally speaking but I'll admit that's primarily just my gut-feeling (though my conversation about this with Mike Phillips reinforced that feeling).

PI-II (assuming it's the "Fine Cut Rubbing Compound") is nice on ss, but a) doesn't work that well on poor-condition paint as it apparently has minimal chemical cleaners and b) will kill you dead just like asbestos unless you wear the proper mask. I leave mine on the shelf and suggest that your pal does the same.

If you sand it, I wouldn't resort to 1500 myself, but compare that to whatever buffer barry suggests Keep repeating "this is my first wetsanding job and it's not my car"...I'd *not* sand it.

The PC might pigtail, esp. with aggressive stuff. Even *I* would use the rotary for most of this job, just be really gentle/careful/aware.

If it's *really* oxidized/dried out I'd pretreat with M07 (can elaborate if necessary).

Thank you very much for the response. I can still get to my local detail shop to pick up a different compound if needed, as all we have right now is the m105 or the 3m rubbing compound.

My friend and I have been talking about this for the last week, and we do consider the possibility of NOT sanding, but we always come back to the fact that the paint really is fairly bad, with lots of etching, some webbing, etc throughout. My friend has wet sanded before (I should know: it was MY car that he painted and wet sanded) but that was a LONG time ago (1985 to be exact)!

Anyway, in the end, we have pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that we WILL be wet sanding this car. We will be going in baby steps as needed, and we will probably try a small area with just rubbing compound first to see how it will polish out without sanding.

I think using the rotary makes sense, but I have read of people being able to take sanding marks out with the PC too (see this video for example: YouTube - Wet Sanding 101 - Part 3

Really, the hardest part now is deciding exactly what compound and pad to use following the wet sanding. We have 2 wool cutting pads, and I have some foam cutting pads too.

After the sanding and compounding, I am thinking of going with Menz SIP (another polish meant for clear coats, but I know it works well on single stage paint because I use it on my yellow single stage paint) with PFW.

Again, any and all advice is appreciated.

Oh, and Barry, I am not sure how to get your number? Thanks for the offer to call, I will take you up on that tomorrow afternoon if you are available.

ETA: found your number in your profile, thanks Barry.

[Rob Tomlin]

Accumulator, when you say "fairly mild wool pad" would the PFW meet that criteria, or is that too fine?

[Accumulator]

Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin

Accumulator, when you say "fairly mild wool pad" would the PFW meet that criteria, or is that too fine?

I was thinking more along the lines of the Edge blue wool, the PFW would probably be OK but more aggressive.

[Repeat my broken record: "man, I wouldn't wetsand it..." ]

Are you *sure* it's lacquer and not enamel? I ask because some ss enamels don't respond well to wetsanding and I mean you'll kill that paint dead.

I myself would be OK with some residual marring on ss, it's just not like b/c with regard to how significant such stuff is (just IMO of course). While b/c often needs to be (at least clost to) flawless to look OK, ss can look nice even when it's pretty messed up. It's just....I dunno, *different*.

BUt yeah, the PC with 4" pads can usually handle ~2K sanding scratches, esp. with the little PFW pads. It can take some doing though.

I was thinking of the rotary with regard to pigtails from aggressive products, and also "smooth cutting" of the ss paint, which will probably cut differently than b/c usually does (note all the "probably"/"usually" disclaimers ).

I can't help but wonder what Mike Phillips would say

[Rob Tomlin]

Barry, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me about this. Much appreciated, and your timing was perfect as I had just walked into my local detailing supply store.

I think I have my friend convinced that we will not wet sand the whole car, but will only do spot sanding where needed.

Originally Posted by Accumulator

I was thinking more along the lines of the Edge blue wool, the PFW would probably be OK but more aggressive.

[Repeat my broken record: "man, I wouldn't wetsand it..." ]

Are you *sure* it's lacquer and not enamel? I ask because some ss enamels don't respond well to wetsanding and I mean you'll kill that paint dead.

I myself would be OK with some residual marring on ss, it's just not like b/c with regard to how significant such stuff is (just IMO of course). While b/c often needs to be (at least clost to) flawless to look OK, ss can look nice even when it's pretty messed up. It's just....I dunno, *different*.

BUt yeah, the PC with 4" pads can usually handle ~2K sanding scratches, esp. with the little PFW pads. It can take some doing though.

I was thinking of the rotary with regard to pigtails from aggressive products, and also "smooth cutting" of the ss paint, which will probably cut differently than b/c usually does (note all the "probably"/"usually" disclaimers ).

I can't help but wonder what Mike Phillips would say

Well, you are right about the wet sanding, and we are not going to do the whole car, just some spot sanding.

I tried to get some M02 today, and the store I was in had TONS of Mequiar's stuff, but, of course, NOT the M02!

Barry recommended 3M's Extra cut compound, but they didn't have 3M products, so I picked up some M95 instead.

Initial plan of action: 1)compound with M95 and PF wool pad (I also have regular wool pads) 2) follow with Menz SIP and PF wool 3) finish with Menz 106ff and finishing pad.

We will spot sand with 2000 as needed.

Will also adjust the above plan of action as dictated by the results!

[Rob Tomlin]

BTW, Accumulator, the guy at my local detailing shop called Jason at Mequiar's to ask him what he thought about using M105 on the lacquer paint, and he confirmed that M105 was probably not the best choice.