Wetsanding question

[kaboom10]

After reading different posts I'm wondering about removing the awful factory orange peel by wetsanding. Mainly the entire hood and upper part of the cab and the pickup bed. The hood has numerous chips on it in the front from the highway along with a few small dings and dents. There's a discoloring spot also. I had to repair the grille area and when it came to color matching I just wound up using a custom paint that would color shift. It left a great finish after claying. I want to carry the custom paint onto the hood now. I want to wetsand down the orange peel before shooting the custom paint but there will be spots the new design won't cover. I'll be polishing the lacquer top coat which will also lead to polishing on the wetsanded OEM paint. Now my question is what should I start with and do I need to follow up with another finer grit? OFWIW it's a dark metallic blue color paint. Acts almost like black.

[tuscarora dave]

Mike Phillips has posted some real useful stuff about wetsanding factory paint as apposed to custom sprayed paint. I suggest you do a bit of research there.

[Mike Phillips]

I have a brand new article on this topic, please read the words carefully as it starts out like this,



Removing Sanding Marks with the Griot's ROP and the Wolfgang Twins

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/772/WetSandingExperiment1001.jpg

IMPORTANT
I don't recommend anyone to sand on a factory baked-on clear coat. The paint is thin and usually hard, (relative to fresh paint and most single stage paint), and unless you're very careful it will be very easy to make a mistake.

Also, as I list below, in most cases, a rotary buffer is the best tool option for removing sanding marks out of any kind of paint. That said, I know a lot of enthusiasts are experimenting with wet-sanding factory baked-on finishes and then trying to remove their sanding marks using a dual action polisher. So keep this in mind before you tackle sanding factory paint and trying to remove your sanding marks using a DA style polisher and above all... do a TEST SPOT before attempting to sand and buff the entire car.





I'll post the link to it after it goes live to this thread.


:)

[kaboom10]

Thanx. I feel braver already.

[Mike Phillips]

Here you go...


Removing Sanding Marks with the Griot's ROP and the Wolfgang Twins (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/wet-sanding-cutting-buffing/21463-removing-sanding-marks-griot-s-rop-wolfgang-twins.html)



:xyxthumbs:

[kaboom10]

Thanx again. I have everything ordered from you or supplied locally. There's a section with paint chips from the road that looks like it will be the test area.