Wetsanding questions

VWdriver

New member
I am going to wetsand my resprayed passat and I have never wetsanded before. My main concern is sanding evenly along sharp body curves. I am refering to the wheel arches in the attached picture. Am I supposed to stick to one direction sanding or can I go diagnally too? Does anyone have any tips for getting it even?



This will also be my first time using a spot pad on a PC and I don't know how much polish to put on these...



00005829jo.jpg
 
One tip I have is to use Four Star Body Shop Abrasive Enhancing Gel. It makes the paper last much longer, does not leave a watery mess all over the floor, and the paper seems to glide over it very nice allowing you to wetsand more evenly.
 
I use the Meg's black flexible foam pads and wrap the wet-sanding paper around that. Allows you to follow the contour of the panel and still distribute the sanding. I like to follow the contours of the panel, not go across and be careful at corners/edges.
 
You may have some difficulty buffing out sanding marks with a PC. Make sure you try on a small area first! As far as how much polish to use on the spot pad - just use the same proportionally as you would on a big pad. You'll figure it out.
 
Danase-

I was reccomended megs hi-tech wash mixed with the water as a lubricant. Is this comparable or is the abrasive gel a lot better? I am not really concerned of the mess, I just want things to be as even as possible. Do you need to wipe the gel off to inspect how far you have sanded?



smprince1-

I also have that megs sanding pad. Are you saying it would be ok to in effect do a circular motion around the arch?
 
I'm saying it's easier for me to apply even sanding by following the countour of the panel. Locally you can sand in whatever direction needed to smooth/blend, but I avoid large sanding motions perpendicular to steps in the panel.



If the panel has an abrupt discontinuity, I usually sand parallel to that feature instead of across it. Sanding across an edge, a crease, or sharp hump, etc. can be difficult IMO.



Use common sense. Use a finer grit paper (2500/3000) until you are more experienced/comfortable. Light even pressure. Plenty of lube. Go slow. Stop to inspect your progress frequently.
 
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