My first wet sanding Experience

[angryfx45]

My 2013 Audi Q5 was repainted on the hood and passenger side fender and the bumper from a front end accident.



The whole body work was good except for the huge amount of orange peel that actually made the black look dull.

Instead of the fresh painted part looking newer it looked as if the new parts were older.

I coulda taken it back to the shop to have it fixed but from the way they buffed the car, with holograms and etc etc i decided to tackle on the job myself.

I bought 6 pcs of 3000 grit, 2 2500 grit, 2 2000 grit.

I did not buy 1500 bcuz i was so scared i would go through the clear.

First impression of the 2000 3000 grit sandpaper was that when it was dry l, it was very soft and fine didnt even feel like sand paper.

So here are some b4 shots. Sorry for the crappy note 3 pics.



This is a double 4 feet Fl bulb.
See how there is not shine/ reflection/ depth at all--?



Short comparison to the Acura next to me at the lot (neighbors auto washed TL has deeper shine)TT



So i had sprayed a 2 by 2 area of the hood first and soaked the 2000 sand paper wet previously.

And did my first initial pass real carefully.



As you can see i was so scared i did maybe 2 3 passes and stop to wipe and check my result.

First impression of the wet sanding was unlike when it was dry. Once wet and rubbed against the hood of the car. It grabbed and kind of clung on to the paint.

It wasnt gliding rather biting the paint and i was using some force to push and pull.

Im not sure it this is the right way to wet sand but this is what i felt.



After a cp stroke i started getting the hang of it and knew when i was sanding and knew when i was gliding over the sheet of water.

And sped up my sanding. Paying attention to the edges and curves.



I was done with my initial passes and dried the hood and checked.

There still was high spots and i knew it wasnt good enough so i banged the parts out that valleys and peels were showing.



And here after i done the 2000 step i did a water wet test


Coated with just water the reflection shows better than b4 already.

Onto 3000 grit




Now the light fixture is actually showing its shape and under the 3000grit scratches now reflections were glowing

I knew i couldave done alil bit more but i was scared and wanted to buff it out and maybe resand againg if needed



Ill update later after i buff n polish




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M105 + MG MF cutting pad with makita wasnt cutting the fine 3000 grit scratches.

Damn so ill have to do this monday with my GG 6" when i have power supply and more time

[Accumulator]

angryfx45- Looks like you`re making good progress!

Be sure to get some good/appropriate lighting on the subject when you get to the latter steps. Lots of stuff requires Point Source Illumination if you want it to look OK in the sun. The Fluorescent tubes are great for texture though, so I bet that helped with gauging your progress during the wetsand.

[512detail]

wow, those pics scare me

still waiting to get a `test` panel before I try learning how to do that

[angryfx45]

angryfx45- Looks like you`re making good progress!

Be sure to get some good/appropriate lighting on the subject when you get to the latter steps. Lots of stuff requires Point Source Illumination if you want it to look OK in the sun. The Fluorescent tubes are great for texture though, so I bet that helped with gauging your progress during the wetsand.

thank you, and yes your completely right.

after my initial "light" pass with m105 it brought the shine back alittle bit but under the light therewere tons of
3000 grit scratches. Which i think will neeed alot of correction.

I had to lightly buff with m105 so my wife can drive it for cpla days until i have time perhaps monday!!!

[512detail]

this may be a dumb question.. but what is the cause of orange peel? scientifically

I view it as just unlevel paint or something similar

[angryfx45]

wow, those pics scare me

still waiting to get a `test` panel before I try learning how to do that

Yes and i went brave went straight without any previous practices but I knew it was a repaint = more clear towork with....

and i think its better to do very little strokes and smaller panel at a time. Check against light. my picture quality is really bad

but with naked eyes you will really see what your actually doing. I wont say its easy but not as scary as it looks!!!

[Accumulator]

..after my initial "light" pass with m105 it brought the shine back alittle bit but under the light therewere tons of 3000 grit scratches. Which i think will neeed alot of correction.

IME the M105 can handle 3K scratches, but yeah it does take a while. 4K is much easier if you have any handy (gee, guess you don`t or you woulda already used it...).

[angryfx45]

this may be a dumb question.. but what is the cause of orange peel? scientifically

I view it as just unlevel paint or something similar

Im not a pro at this, so my answer could be wrong.

technically i may have to do with air pressure in the spray gun, or just bad technique from the body shop.

or I personally think when the clear coat dries in an atmosphere thats not controlled it may dry uneven creating highs and lows..??? maybe...

[angryfx45]

IME the M105 can handle 3K scratches, but yeah it does take a while. 4K is much easier if you have any handy (gee, guess you don`t or you woulda already used it...).

i do have the car pro denim pads.... (initial bought those to fix the problem but they were not cutting it for this mess)
would the denim pads work similar to 4000 or 5000 grit?

TYI

[512detail]

Im not a pro at this, so my answer could be wrong.

technically i may have to do with air pressure in the spray gun, or just bad technique from the body shop.

or I personally think when the clear coat dries in an atmosphere thats not controlled it may dry uneven creating highs and lows..??? maybe...

I looked and looked for orange peel on the repaint areas on my SRT when I was polishing it down last year- never found any. . perhaps its there and I just cant see it but I don`t know

maybe the guys who painted my car were just That good

I know you can`t even tell it (rear quarter, fr passenger fender, bumper) was repainted, that`s for sure

[angryfx45]

I looked and looked for orange peel on the repaint areas on my SRT when I was polishing it down last year- never found any. . perhaps its there and I just cant see it but I don`t know

maybe the guys who painted my car were just That good

I know you can`t even tell it (rear quarter, fr passenger fender, bumper) was repainted, that`s for sure

It took me sometime b4 i can spot factory orange peels.. it`s like regular civilian coming out out a auto looking at their car and

saying " it`s spanking shining clean!!!"

But boy once those eyes open fogettaboutit

[XxBoostinxX]

this may be a dumb question.. but what is the cause of orange peel? scientifically

I view it as just unlevel paint or something similar

Usually it is from spraying the clear too thick.

[512detail]

Usually it is from spraying the clear too thick.

clear wasters!

[BudgetPlan1]

Im not a pro at this, so my answer could be wrong.

technically i may have to do with air pressure in the spray gun, or just bad technique from the body shop.

or I personally think when the clear coat dries in an atmosphere thats not controlled it may dry uneven creating highs and lows..??? maybe...

Dunno what causes it but the Corvette plant in Bowling Green has been a master at producing it for many years.

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[Accumulator]

The OP on my S8 is simply *TERRIBLE* on a few panels despite their then-new robotic paint system. Oddly enough the A8 (same plant, same paint, built a few months earlier) isn`t as bad. I just live with it as I`m all about thick clear.

Heh heh, the reshot front bumpercover and hood of the Crown Vic are so bad that the texture makes the paint appear semi-matte despite proper polishing! No, I`m not leveling that either. OP is something that just doesn`t bother me for some reason...same with most paintchips and also dents even when they`re prett bad. Now wash-induced cobweb-marring or a hologram? Wouldn`t take it down the driveway with flaws like those, but chips, dents, and OP are OK. Everybody`s different...