3M sandpaper?

[clnfrk]

I have an overspray removal job scheduled for tomorrow and will need to go to the local auto parts store and get some sandpaper. Most places carry the 3M line. How would you guys rate the 3M sandpaper? I`ve heard good things about Meguiar`s Unigrit paper, but I`m pretty sure I won`t be able to find that in any store. Do you think they will carry some in 4000 grit? Also, I plan on using water and car wash shampoo as lube when sanding. What is a good ratio of soap to water for such an application?

[Stanger'66]

3m is good, that is what I use.

[Accumulator]

Perhaps they`ve reformulated it, but the 2K 3M paper I have leaves random deeper-than-2K scratches, what some people call "tracers". It can be very challenging to polish out sanding scratches from this paper without taking off a *LOT* of clear. The Unigrit is in a whole `nother league, utterly superior IME.



But it wouldn`t surprise me if 3M has some paper that`s better than the stuff of their`s that I`ve used :nixweiss



I don`t mix up my shampoo/water mix to a specific ratio, better go with somebody else`s recommendation.

[Invigor]

I`ve never used anything other than water as lube for sanding...



Would a claybar work in your situation?

[David Fermani]

I have an overspray removal job scheduled for tomorrow and will need to go to the local auto parts store and get some sandpaper. Most places carry the 3M line. How would you guys rate the 3M sandpaper? I`ve heard good things about Meguiar`s Unigrit paper, but I`m pretty sure I won`t be able to find that in any store. Do you think they will carry some in 4000 grit?



I really doubt you`ll find 4000 in stores. PLEASE reconsider sanding with anything less until you`ve exhausted all efforts with other products/processes! Sanding with heavy paper (3M/Meg`s) will result in too much extra work that most likely isn`t needed. I`ve done some really heavy OS jobs and rarelt did they require the need to use this method.



Can you explain the overspray you`re trying to remove?

[Labster]

It sounds like you have little if any experience wet sanding. I would definitely be wary of doing any sanding on a customer car without having previous experience on a test panel. It`s a lot more involved than many know. Definitely try a body solvent with a bug sponge or medium clay then light clay. That`s the route I`d go.

[Can You Hear Me]

There is a website. MicroMesh? I believe. I would do a search here. They sell headlight restoration kits and I stocked up on a bunch of high grit sand paper for customers headlights and some wet sanding on paint. BE CAREFUL THOUGH.. they have a chart on the website. 4k for them might not be the same 4k that you are using. They have everything from 400 to really really high grits for hobby cars and such. Hope that helps some.

-Nick

[Junebug]

I had to get the over-spray off a white Suburban once. It belonged to a guy that does mobile body work for car dealers - PDR and touch-ups. The Chevy looked ok, but one rub on the paint and you knew you were in for a long day. I used a rotary, wool pads, Optimum hyper cut ( feel free to use Megs or 3M) then I went back with OP on a white foam pad - overspray gone, paint nice and slick.

[clnfrk]

Well, today I finished the car with the overspray. It was a Maaco repaint and there was heavy overspray mainly on the 4 doors, rear quarters and roof. Following the Maaco repaint, the trunk lid was repaired again at some point which is when the overspray occured. I did go ahead and use 2k grit 3M sandpaper on some parts of the car where the overspray was the heaviest. I had previously on another day tried using a medium grade clay. I also tried mineral spirits, but neither made much of an improvement in the feel of the paint.



After very lightly sanding those areas, I went with an LC purple foamed wool pad and SIP to remove the sanding marks then followed with 106 and a white LC foam pad both via rotary. At some point I decided to try using an Orange pad and Menzerna PG instead to remove the sanding marks which worked quite nicely. After following that with the 106 the paint was as smooth as ever and looked very good under the halogen lighting. I also pulled the car out in the sun a few times to check my progress as well. The sections I did inspect in the sun were swirl free with the exception of one area that I made another pass with the 106 to correct.



On the parts that I didn`t wetsand, I just hit those areas with the PG/orange pad combo followed by the 106. The overspray using this method was removed rather easily. I probably could have gotten away with doing the whole car this way, but as bad as it sounds, I wanted to actually try my hand at wetsanding. On a customer`s car no less. I would be alot more hesitant to perform this with a fairly new car with original paint versus a respray with many obvious paint flaws like this car had.

[Accumulator]

clnfrk- Glad to hear it worked out so well.