What to do after Wet Sanding CC

1

19mustang65

New member
I just finished wet sanding my clear coat with 1500 and then 2000 gritt paper...now what should i do? i had 3 coats of clear and then i sanded out orange peel. should i have it cleared a cpl more times or is that really necassary?



if not then what steps do i take to buff and make my car look purty? thanks guys
 
If you had it cleared again, who's to say that you won't have more orange peel after the new clear?



I've never done any wetsanding before, but here's how I understand the process is handled after the sanding is complete:



To remove the sanding marks, you'll need to use a compound with a cutting pad. Then use a polishing pad with a swirl mark remover (SMR) to remove the light marring left from the cutting pad and compound.
 
If it were me I'd have researched it more so I wouldnt have had to ask for instruction right in the middle of the project. Sorry if I sound like an @§Â§ but.... :sosad
 
White95Max said:
If you had it cleared again, who's to say that you won't have more orange peel after the new clear?.......
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Paul is correct on this one. You want the clear to be thick enough before you start sanding so you have enough to work with. Otherwise, if you re-shoot more clear you're back to square one with sanding again (for a show-car finish).



White95Max said:
.....To remove the sanding marks, you'll need to use a compound with a cutting pad. Then use a polishing pad with a swirl mark remover (SMR) to remove the light marring left from the cutting pad and compound..
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Correct again. If you go back to your first post asking about sanding, I provided a couple of links that describe the process (sanding and compounding) in more detail. Here is a link to some 3M videos you may also find helpful:



http://www.3m.com/us/auto_marine_aero/aad/solutions/video/index.jhtml
 
Polish out the panel the way you normally would (that is w/a machine and a polish/compound that will remove 1500 and finer grit scratches).



If you did not sand "through" the CC to the BC or sand through the BC to Primer then there's no need to reapply the CC.



I'd skip the wool pad and just use a foam one (medium cut) for starters.



2 or 3 layers of CC is about what you get from the factory and what paint manufactuers call for in their application guides. I've gone as high as 6 on cars/panels I've painted.



A word of advice, I wouldn't make wet sanding a yearly or more thing. You'll eventually run out of CC and then "will" need re-shoot some more.
 
Do you have a rotary? That would make the first buffing step easiest. If not, use your pc on the highest setting.



Wool pad with heavy cut compound.

Cutting pad with medium compound.

Finish pad with machine polish.



I used 3m products with pretty good success. I stopped sanding at 1500 though. This spring I'll use 3000 and it should look better.



Jason
 
stiege: Do you have a rotary? That would make the first buffing step easiest. If not, use your pc on the highest setting.
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no i dont have a rotary, so im not sure how im gonna do it... i have a craftsman wax buffer thing. but i dont think its what i want. im not sure.







ok, one guy says use the wool pad first...and another said dont.... what does the wool pad do exactly?
 
Wool pads are very aggressive, and often leave marring of their own from the wool fibers.

I would use a compound with a foam cutting pad. If you don't have a PC, I would recommend getting one.

The PC 7424 and 7336 are nearly identical, and you can pick up a 7336 at Lowes for ~$100 I think.
 
Neither the Craftsman nor the PC will cut it for your project. Personally I would sand again with either 6 or 8K grit to make sure the surface is totally flat. Then watch the Megs videos on machine buffing, get some pads, and go to Home Depot and rent a rotary! Most likely you are going to need something like Menzerna PG/IP/FPII or if Megs go with #84/#83/#80, pads should be cutting/polish/polish. Good luck.
 
Even though the rotary would make for a quicker finish for your project, the PC coupled with the right products can indeed cut it for the job. I usually use the 3M PIII Extra Cut Rubbing Compound, followed by PIII Machine Glaze, then Finishing Glaze or a whole host of other products for final polish/glazing to wax. Even with the PC, which trades speed for safety, these are aggresive products so be careful and read up on what you can before using these. If you go to Home Depot and rent a rotary....really read up!!
 
i didnt think there was so much to this buffing stuff...i deffinitly would have thought twice on the project, especially right now. I have some 3M Imperial Microfinishing Compound Liquid right now...will that work for the first buffing job?
 
White95Max said:
Wool pads are very aggressive, and often leave marring of their own from the wool fibers....
Click to expand...
That's what they're supposed to do. The idea is that they need to be aggressive to remove heavy sanding scratch and then you use foam pads and finer compounds afterward to remove the wool pad's scratch and bring out gloss.



19mustang65 said:
...I have some 3M Imperial Microfinishing Compound Liquid right now...will that work for the first buffing job?
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from 3M's website:



3Mâ„¢ Imperialâ„¢ Microfinishing Rubbing Compound 39001 -



"Medium cut, machine-applied rubbing compound that effectively removes grade 1200 sand scratches, medium scratches, medium oxidation and water spots."



It's meant to be used with a rotary buffer. Probably won't get very far, very fast or be too consistent by hand, at least not with 2000 grit scratch.



The whole idea is that each step has defects of some size and that the next step cuts out those defects leaving smaller ones. You progress until they're so small you can't see them.



If you're not going to use a machine for buffing I would definitely agree that you'll need to go at least another couple rounds with finer papers before switching to liquids.





PC.
 
ill have to go down to harbor freight or somthing and get a cheapy rotary that willwork for this project. so i can use the compound i have? but should only do it with a rotary right?



Here are a cpl pics of what ive done so far...you can really see the difference. its funny that the scuffed, scratched, sanded area has a better reflection than everything else.



there are more pictures on this site too:

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/776381/7
 

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Trust me, you're going to need a wool pad as the first step whether you use a pc or rotary. You will also need a heavy cut compound for the first step. Otherwise, you'll have to go over the car too many times and still not get out the deeper scratches left by the sanding.



Dont sand the car any more if you've already done it with 1200 and 2000 paper.



This will be a three step buffing process if you want it right with no artifacts from the sanding. The second step will remove the marring from the first step and the third step will remove the marring from the second.



If you do it right, you'll be ready for wax/lsp.



Jason



ps The 3M site has a great step by step process for sanding/buffing that will take you right through it. Go there.



http://www.3m.com/us/auto_marine_aero/aad/solutions/fenthusiast.jhtml
 
I disagree that it's always necessary to use a wool pad. It depends on how fine you take the sanding steps. If you do another round of sanding using say, Meg's #3000 paper or Mirka #4000 Abralon pads you should have no trouble going straight to a foam cutting pad.



If you're going to go ahead and get a rotary buffer I would highly recommend getting a copy of Meg's polishing video. You can get it online from Meg's or order it from a paint shop that carries Meg's products.





PC.
 
the other pc said:
I disagree that it's always necessary to use a wool pad. It depends on how fine you take the sanding steps. If you do another round of sanding using say, Meg's #3000 paper or Mirka #4000 Abralon pads you should have no trouble going straight to a foam cutting pad.
Click to expand...



Yeah, all depends on what you do the wetsanding with. I've removed 2,500 and 3,000 grit sanding marks from (hard, Spies Hecker) clear with just PI-III RC, even done some spots by hand with the RC on a MF, but I wouldn't recommend that approach.
 
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