Wetsanding A Black MB S430

A

Anthony O.

New member
One of my doctor clients called me up and told me as he and his wife picked up their MB after their ocean vacation they noticed white specks all over their car. They really stood out because it is black in color.



I told him to bring it with him in the morning and I would remove it for him and then detail it. Well he wasn't lying, there was tons of white overspray all over the car.......I mean EVERYWHERE! It was almost as if someone did it on purpose. He didn't get it while driving because it was real heavy on the top portions but still on the lower panels as well, just not as heavy.



I washed it and then began claying it.........nothing. I then tried another clay.........nothing. Ron, a detailer friend who also does PDR work, was there with me and he had some Goof Off. So we tried that.........again nothing. Thinner...nothing........My assistant tried chipping them off with her nails........you guessed it...NOTHING!



This stuff was not coming off. Called a body shop buddy of mine and he said it may be paint overspray from the harbor area where they had their car parked...or something sprayed, an epoxy of sorts, near their car. So I was as a last resort I broke out the 3M 2000 grit paper and we began wetsanding the whole car:shocked



Ron and my assistant went to work on the sanding (Ron is an experienced detailer so he taught my assis as they went along) while I followed after them with my rotary.



Since a picture is worth a thousand words here are a few pics of the overspray.
 
Funny thing about this overspray is that the clay would shave off the overspray but woul dnot remove it. Now if the car had been white we would not have had to do all this work. Just polish it and wax it......go figure.



I was unable to wetsand the trim and bumpers as these are plastic, also the side view mirrors, so these areas will have to be done by hand:eek:



This is Ron (or part of him) doing the roof
 
I was unable to finish this car today but I do have a few pics of my progress so far, in the buffing stage.



First is a picture of the front door and fender after being wetsanded......nasty eh?
 
My first pass with the rotary consisted of a LC wool pad and Akrya's Heat Induced 600 grit leveler at 1400 rpm's.



Same front door and fender
 
Second pass was with again my rotary but this time an LC orange pad and Hi-Temps Med. Cut at 1200 rpm's.



My next step will be with the rotary and an LC white pad with Menzerna IP at about 1000 rpm's.



I will post more pictures tomorrow, God willing I dont pass out from the heat!



Anyway that's all for now:D
 
It's going to look better than ever when you get finished with it. If only I had your rotary skills...



I may come spend a few weeks with you :D
 
ZaneO,



Thanks!.........Bring the BBQ when you come :)





tpgsr said:
Did you use a sanding block?? In the picture it looks like you were using your hand on the paper.
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That was my assistant in the picture and no, she wasn't using a block.had only one block which Ron was using. My assistant did mainly the hood area and some of the sides. One should always use a block as the sanding marks will be more uniform.



As can be seen from some of the pics the sandingmarks when done by hand only can be very irregular which makes for more work when trying to buff out the finish.



If in a pinch wrap the sanding paper around a MF applicator sponge, works well for angles also. Try to avoid using fingertips as this can cause gouging of the paint.:nono



Anthony
 
Anthony Orosco said:
As can be seen from some of the pics the sandingmarks when done by hand only can be very irregular which makes for more work when trying to buff out the finish.



If in a pinch wrap the sanding paper around a MF applicator sponge, works well for angles also. Try to avoid using fingertips as this can cause gouging of the paint.:nono



Anthony [/B]
Click to expand...



Thats why i was asking, i have several contour blocks, and i even learned the MF applicator thing when i forgot my blocks one day, and had to figure something out on the fly. You are right about fingertips especially. Some people like to try and use them for spot sanding, not realizing that they are creating a visible dip in the surface :(
 
If the clay shaved it off but didn't remove it, why not then try the rotary and wool pad first before sanding the whole car?



Just curious.



Or, maybe you did try that :p
 
Anthony, you should check out the paint overspray wipes that I posted about a while back in the forum. These things work awesome for road paint and require a fifth of the labour I used to do when removing it with no damage to the painted surfaces. I have also carefully used them on plastic and rubber surfaces with no adverse affect. They are a godsend and could have saved you a lot of work if you had them.
 
ShineShop said:
Anthony, you should check out the paint overspray wipes that I posted about a while back in the forum. These things work awesome for road paint and require a fifth of the labour I used to do when removing it with no damage to the painted surfaces. I have also carefully used them on plastic and rubber surfaces with no adverse affect. They are a godsend and could have saved you a lot of work if you had them.
Click to expand...



Here's the link regarding what ShineShop was talking about ;)



Click here on the linky poo!
 
Spilchy said:
If the clay shaved it off but didn't remove it, why not then try the rotary and wool pad first before sanding the whole car?



Just curious.



Or, maybe you did try that :p
Click to expand...



Actually I did exactly that but again nothing.



As for the paint overspray wipes.........I have some like that from Sprayway but stupid me, I forgot to place the lid on properly after using one and when I went to try and use one they were all dried out:doh :angry



I should have some finished pics up soon (outside pics). The doctor took off early today and won't be back in that particular hospital until Friday.



Thanks for the votes of confidence and I hope it comes out well;)



Anthony
 
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