wetsanded 95 z28 + Restored with Flex

**tssdetailing** · 06-10-2010, 12:05 AM

My friend`s black 95 Z28 is really hammered. He`s considering having her painted and asked if I would want to take a shot at it. I decided to use it as a learning lesson. Keep in mind, this hood is really REALLY bad and it was my first time wet sanding anything. You can see there is still pitting in the paint in the final pic-thats how bad she was. BUT, I was mainly trying to make sure that I could restore the luster of the paint with the Flex 3401. Here was my procedure and the results:

Wetsand with 1500 + 2000 Grit

Purple Foam Wool + M105 and QD Spray (press VERY hard)

Hydrotech Cyan + M105

Hydrotech Tangerine + M205

****Post edited to reflect final correction process****

Before shot:

After Wetsanding:

After Purple Wool:

After Yellow pad:

Result:

**Mindflux** · 06-12-2010, 06:26 AM

Am I missing something? The after shot looks hazy where the halogen is reflecting? Maybe the paint is just too far gone.

**tssdetailing** · 06-16-2010, 09:36 PM

got trigger happy with the camera before doing one last wash. so you are probably seeing residual compound.

**tssdetailing** · 06-27-2010, 04:47 PM

So I`ve decided to make a bit of an archive of this project-you can see progress for the rest of the car on my FB page: tssDetailing`s Photos - 1995 Camaro Z28 restoration | Facebook

**Legacy** · 06-27-2010, 04:51 PM

Very nice, but why did you have to start out with SSR3 when 105 is just as aggressive? Seems like double compounding.

**Mindflux** · 06-27-2010, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by Legacy99

Very nice, but why did you have to start out with SSR3 when 105 is just as aggressive? Seems like double compounding.

Pretty sure SSR3 is *MORE* aggressive than M105. At least that was my asessement of it.

**Legacy** · 06-27-2010, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by Mindflux

Pretty sure SSR3 is *MORE* aggressive than M105. At least that was my asessement of it.

The Auto Geek Chart that I have show 105 with a cut of 10 and SSR3 with a cut of 9.

**Barry Theal** · 06-27-2010, 05:35 PM

I wonder how wavy this hood looks in the direct light. I comend you for taking a stab at wetsanding. I absolutely love to sand cars. Since this is your first attempt if you don`t mind me helping you out. Please take this as critisom and not a bash at your work. I`m not trying to beat you up here. Your sanding marks look real incosistent. Notice how you see dull and shiny. It should all look dull. Take note in the center of the hood where it meets the front bumper cover. It is real shiney there. Did you sand this later? The hazyness around the light looks as if the wetsand marks were not fully removed. Are there tracers in this hood? It almost looks to as if you removed most of the dullness, but didn`t fully remove all sanding marks. Good luck on your sanding and remember it takes a lot of practice to become a great wetsander. Best of luck If you want real world advice on this stuff call me!!!! :hifive:

**tssdetailing** · 06-27-2010, 07:26 PM

Thanks Barry-I wouldn`t post if I wasn`t open for critique. The hood was just a starting place to figure out the process. I didn`t know how aggressive to be with the sanding-plus, the customer is a friend so i`m doing it for the sake of a learning experience; a very fun one too! But I did some research after doing the hood and found exactly what you said to be the case-that there needs to be more uniform `matte finish` to the paint. So for the rest of the body, we went more agressive with 1500 and 2000, circling the areas (by hand) probably 3-4 times with each grit. Here is a shot of that:

**tssdetailing** · 06-27-2010, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by Mindflux

Pretty sure SSR3 is *MORE* aggressive than M105. At least that was my asessement of it.

Originally Posted by Legacy99

The Auto Geek Chart that I have show 105 with a cut of 10 and SSR3 with a cut of 9.

Agreed! After doing the hood, i did my black 02 S10 and found that a better process was:

PFW 105

Cyan Pad 105

Tang Pad 205

**wannafbody** · 06-27-2010, 08:35 PM

Look at photo 4 around the light. Those marks are tracers. You`ll never get them out without a rotary and wool pad and even then probably not completely. In this case it isn`t a big deal since this car was so hammered. But these photos should be evidence why factory clearcoat shouldn`t be wetsanded. Personally, I wouldn`t go anymore aggressive than 3000 grit-even that can be a challenge to remove completely.

**tssdetailing** · 06-28-2010, 10:49 AM

Like I said, i changed my method after doing this hood and went more agressive/diffrent correction on my truck. It looks like a mirror now. Once the rest of the Z is done, i`ll post up.

**Mindflux** · 06-28-2010, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by Legacy99

The Auto Geek Chart that I have show 105 with a cut of 10 and SSR3 with a cut of 9.

Interesting, I`d like to see that chart if you have it handy.

This chart seems to indicate both M105 and SSR3 are a "9"

Autogeek Swirl Removers & Compounds Comparison Chart

**tssdetailing** · 06-30-2010, 03:16 PM

Car is finally done! Although, the bumpers and mirrors need to be painted still. Check back to the FB page for the full detail. I was stoked b/c I was actually able to cut a few steps out of the restoration process and get her back to full gloss with 3 pads (on a Flex, mind you!)

Wet Sanded:

Purple Pad + 105, lots of QD and very VERY heavy pushing

Hydrotech Cyan + 105

Hydrotech Tang + 205

Sunlight Verification! + Blackfire Wetdiamond Paste Wax