How harsh of a polish should I use?

I`ve been wanting to do a bit of wetsanding on my car and have been looking at the great write-ups here on the topic, especially on Anthony Orosco`s jobs. However, I noted that he uses some pretty abrasive stuff to get out the sanding scratches, like Akrya 800 level compound with a wool pad. I really don`t feel comfortable using something this agressive with a rotary. Is it necessary to do this, or is there a safer way for those who aren`t as skilled? At the same time, I don`t want to use something that will take forever to get scratches out. Also, I`ve been looking at using something like Hi-Temp Medium Cut Leveler. Do the levelers work as well as their compounds on sanding scraches? BTW, I have a rotary and can use it okay, but I`m not great with it. I`ve also never used a wool pad with it. Thanks for the help!



Drew T.

If you are wetsanding you will need an aggressive polish and then a finishing polish, no way around it. If you have a rotary all you have to do is keep it at 600 rpms and it is just as safe as PC. Wool is good but messy, you can get the job done with high cut pads.

I have a project coming up for my younger brother that is going to require wetsanding his hood. From the writeups I have read you can work your way up to 8000 and 12000 grit paper so that Menzerna PowerGloss (or equivalent) on a cutting pad would be sufficient to remove all of the marks. Then just polish with some IP or FP II to remove the PowerGloss marring and you`ll be set. Hope this helps.

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Originally posted by MS22

I have a project coming up for my younger brother that is going to require wetsanding his hood. From the writeups I have read you can work your way up to 8000 and 12000 grit paper so that Menzerna PowerGloss (or equivalent) on a cutting pad would be sufficient to remove all of the marks. Then just polish with some IP or FP II to remove the PowerGloss marring and you`ll be set. Hope this helps.

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Did you mean 800-1200 grit?



I always start with a good 1200 grit wet sand paper. I use norton wet 1200 and have never had a problem. I buff with a rotary and presta products ultimate cutting creme, then once that is all done,i go over the whole job again with the PC and DACP, then the Lsp.



Good luck,

Sellncars

I went the Megs route this weekend.

1) Wetsand with 2000 unigrit

2) Compound with #84 and a burgandy pad (2x)

3) Polish with #83 and a green Propel (2x)

4) Finish with #80 and a blue (Didn`t know that #80 has polymers in it)



I got the ideas for this process from the Megs video and from the hotline. It is a much involved process but the orange peel free reflections are worth it!!!

Thanks for all the help, guys! I may get some Powergloss, but I`ll probably try the Hi-temp stuff instead. It`s alot cheaper and from what others here have said about it, it seems pretty good. And I`ll definitely keep the rpms down with the agressive stuff. Thanks for all the info!

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Originally posted by sellncars

Did you mean 800-1200 grit?

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Nope, I meant that to minimize sanding marks he should finish with either 8000 or 12000 grit paper. Starting with something like 1500 then going to 4000 then 8000 (possibly 12000) PowerGloss would finish off the marring with no problems.

I`d start even more conservatively and see it it`ll do the job. I seldom get more aggressive than 3K and I haven`t used anything coarser than 2.5K for years.



FWIW, I find that 2.5-3K scratches aren`t all *that* tough to get out.



Drew T.- You should do OK with the Hi-Temp, especially as it doesn`t require as much heat as some similar products. Try to be gentle when wetsanding. Technique can be just as important as which grit paper you use and the finer finish you leave with the paper the less correction you`ll have to do.

Accumulator



Thanks! I plan to get some Meguairs 3000 unigrit paper. And I don`t plan to totally sand out the orange peel, but just knock off the hills a bit. That sounds good that the Hi-temp stuff doesn`t take much heat to work. Kinda contradicts the name though :p .