Wetsanding questions

[VWdriver]

I am going to wetsand my resprayed passat and I have never wetsanded before. My main concern is sanding evenly along sharp body curves. I am refering to the wheel arches in the attached picture. Am I supposed to stick to one direction sanding or can I go diagnally too? Does anyone have any tips for getting it even?

This will also be my first time using a spot pad on a PC and I don't know how much polish to put on these...

[BobD]

One tip I have is to use Four Star Body Shop Abrasive Enhancing Gel. It makes the paper last much longer, does not leave a watery mess all over the floor, and the paper seems to glide over it very nice allowing you to wetsand more evenly.

[smprince1]

I use the Meg's black flexible foam pads and wrap the wet-sanding paper around that. Allows you to follow the contour of the panel and still distribute the sanding. I like to follow the contours of the panel, not go across and be careful at corners/edges.

[Reflections]

You may have some difficulty buffing out sanding marks with a PC. Make sure you try on a small area first! As far as how much polish to use on the spot pad - just use the same proportionally as you would on a big pad. You'll figure it out.

[smprince1]

I have had good success polishing out 2500 wet sand marks with a PC. Use a 4" spot pad to concentrate the work. Try it . . . .you'll like it.

[VWdriver]

Danase-
I was reccomended megs hi-tech wash mixed with the water as a lubricant. Is this comparable or is the abrasive gel a lot better? I am not really concerned of the mess, I just want things to be as even as possible. Do you need to wipe the gel off to inspect how far you have sanded?

smprince1-
I also have that megs sanding pad. Are you saying it would be ok to in effect do a circular motion around the arch?

[smprince1]

I'm saying it's easier for me to apply even sanding by following the countour of the panel. Locally you can sand in whatever direction needed to smooth/blend, but I avoid large sanding motions perpendicular to steps in the panel.

If the panel has an abrupt discontinuity, I usually sand parallel to that feature instead of across it. Sanding across an edge, a crease, or sharp hump, etc. can be difficult IMO.

Use common sense. Use a finer grit paper (2500/3000) until you are more experienced/comfortable. Light even pressure. Plenty of lube. Go slow. Stop to inspect your progress frequently.