new toy , don`t work blind

[CosminTX]

i plan to wetsand my car , so i got a paint gauge , elcometer. for safe work and "insurance" in detail. i knew the car has a mystery background. got it with 53k miles for a good price. engine runs perfect , body /paint in good shape , inside clean, few minor stuff that i go over it. anyway back to the story ,by using the paint gauge i found that my trunk was repainted . here are some pictures and explanations where the readings was taken.



thin spots on roof , by the edge also found that the paint is iregular on roof from 90 to 140 so i may skip wetsand this part and use a finish pad and go over with some fillers

trunk that was repair/repaint

another read of the trunk:

inside door as a reference for a minimum thickness

door healthy , will be wetsand

and to have an idea of proportions i read on decals layers too

one layer

two layers

overall except the trunk and roof i found the paint thickness from 120 to 190 that i consider a good healthy paint for wetsand and buff/polish steps.

 

[WhiffySpark]

Why are you wetsanding you car to begin with?

 

[CosminTX]

Why are you wetsanding you car to begin with?

i have some light orange peel , i will wetsand the doors and the trunk maybe the hood too . i will go with 2000gritt and i will see how it goes from there.

i just want it clear mirror

 

[Got Wax]

I have never been a fan of removing finish when not necessary. If you go ahead and remove product so that you can reduce orange peel, I will almost guarantee that you will get a scratch that you will be unable to get out because...you have sanded out any buffer (no pun intended) that might enable you to level around scratch.





Andy

 

[Accumulator]

I agree, I wouldn't wetsand it to remove OP either. I don't wetsand my vehicles over that. If (I mean *when*) you get some subsequent marring you won't have enough clear to correct it again.



Think long-term...you're gonna end up polishing out scratches more than once and you might need every micron of clearcoat.



Q: can you go over a year without instilling any marring? I mean *zero* scratches/swirls of significance from washing and daily use? If not, I wouldn't even think about wetsanding.