To make a long story short, I'm currently restoring the finish of a 1980 Benz. The car was repainted dark metallic green w/ clearcoat in 1994 but has been neglected ever since; it sat in the sun almost every day and has never been waxed. Here's an example of how it looked before I started the restoration:
The bodyshop who did the work never wetsanded it. It has terrible orange peel especially on the side panels. Since wetsanding is the only way to remove OP, I went to my local OSH and picked up some supplies:
After I washed the car, I first applied my rookie wetsanding skills on the hood. I soaked the paper in water for 5 minutes then attached it to a 3M sanding block. I used soapy water to lube the surface of the hood. I worked in short back and forth strokes with medium pressure. I would average 20 slow strokes before wiping down the mess to check my work. Once I no longer saw any clearcoat (little dots of clear meant OP is still left) that meant to move on to the next section.
The hood took me about 4 hours to sand down. I first started with the 1000 grit then went over again with the 2000 grit to make compoundng easier (the left side was my test section that I finished earlier):
I then used my PC to take out the sanding marks. 3MFCRC with yellow pad on 6....lots of very slow passes and twice overs to take out all the marks.
I then used Meguiars #9 to take out the haze left from the compounding. White pad on 6:
I then applied one coat of Klasse AIO with the white pad on 4 (notice how it darkened the paint):
I'm just simply amazed with the results of my first wetsand. The surface looks almost perfect...something you would expect from a Benz paintjob. Even though there is a very slight wavyness to the paint, all the bumpyness was eliminated. I couldn't get an angle shot to show how smooth the surface was after I was done because I didn't have adequate lighting...I'll post some later.
Things I learned from this:
1. Sanding is more effective when the paper is not so saturated with water. I no longer see a reason to soak the paper first. As long as I kept the surface slightly moist then the sanding was fast and effective. I just kept a bucket of water by my side to rinse the sanding block after each section.
2. The fear about wetsanding is overrated. You have to be sanding like a madmad to do damage to the paint. As long as you carefully check your work after a number of strokes then you're fine.
3. I need more practice!
Once I'm finished with the car I'll post it on the Click & Brag section.
The bodyshop who did the work never wetsanded it. It has terrible orange peel especially on the side panels. Since wetsanding is the only way to remove OP, I went to my local OSH and picked up some supplies:
After I washed the car, I first applied my rookie wetsanding skills on the hood. I soaked the paper in water for 5 minutes then attached it to a 3M sanding block. I used soapy water to lube the surface of the hood. I worked in short back and forth strokes with medium pressure. I would average 20 slow strokes before wiping down the mess to check my work. Once I no longer saw any clearcoat (little dots of clear meant OP is still left) that meant to move on to the next section.
The hood took me about 4 hours to sand down. I first started with the 1000 grit then went over again with the 2000 grit to make compoundng easier (the left side was my test section that I finished earlier):
I then used my PC to take out the sanding marks. 3MFCRC with yellow pad on 6....lots of very slow passes and twice overs to take out all the marks.
I then used Meguiars #9 to take out the haze left from the compounding. White pad on 6:
I then applied one coat of Klasse AIO with the white pad on 4 (notice how it darkened the paint):
I'm just simply amazed with the results of my first wetsand. The surface looks almost perfect...something you would expect from a Benz paintjob. Even though there is a very slight wavyness to the paint, all the bumpyness was eliminated. I couldn't get an angle shot to show how smooth the surface was after I was done because I didn't have adequate lighting...I'll post some later.
Things I learned from this:
1. Sanding is more effective when the paper is not so saturated with water. I no longer see a reason to soak the paper first. As long as I kept the surface slightly moist then the sanding was fast and effective. I just kept a bucket of water by my side to rinse the sanding block after each section.
2. The fear about wetsanding is overrated. You have to be sanding like a madmad to do damage to the paint. As long as you carefully check your work after a number of strokes then you're fine.
3. I need more practice!
Once I'm finished with the car I'll post it on the Click & Brag section.
