What am I doing wrong - (wetsanding)

[carguy2007]

I am doing some work on my 1965 Chrysler 300. I have had this car almost three years. It was re-painted sometime in the early 2000's from what I was told. The paint is NOT single stage, but BC/CC. I would say the car is a good 15 footer. The first picture shows the car after a wash and wax. This was taken last Fall. I wanted to try and restore the paint the best I could with what I have.

Tools available
-GG 6" DA
-Meguiars pads - cutting, polishing, finishing
-LC pads - cutting and polishing
-M105, M205, M83, also have UC and UP
-2000, 2500 wetsand paper


First I tried polishing with a megs yellow pad and M105. (This is after I clayed) I did this on speed 5. It helped the condition some but I was looking for more. In various places there are defects including what looks to be fish eyes. I wet-sanded a good portion of the drivers side hood. I then continued to polish/compound but this time using a megs red cutting pad. The result came out amazing. The paint looked and felt like glass. I was very happy. However some of the 2000 grit marks remain. I went over again and they still wouldn't come out. So I tried another section of the hood using 2500 grit. End result is nice and shiny but there are scratches if viewing from up close and in the right light. M105 states it can remove 1200 grit marks. But I'm having a hard time removing 2000-2500 marks. Maybve wet-sanding wasnt even needed as I made some improvment with compound only.

So what am I doing wrong? Here are a couple pictures. The passenger side is untouched where the drivers side is the side I worked on. I will try and get some pictures of the scratches if need be. I am a newb when it comes to wetsanding but I wanted to try it on this car since the paint is already dull. I tried to show the difference the best I could throught pictures. Might be better it the car was outside but it was dark out.

Thanks for any info, greatly appreciate it.


The last picture shows the spots/fish eyes. By wetsanding I was able to remove these.

[Alek@DeepClean]

In order to remove sanding marks, you have to remove enough paint so that the top surface is level with the very bottom of the scratch. Sanding marks at 2000 can still be pretty deep, and may require several passes even with something like M105. Your options are basically either to make more buffing passes, or to sand up to 3000 and hopefully make it easier to buff out. It's a matter of which you'd rather do: More sanding, or more buffing?

EDIT: You said "Wetsanding may not have even been needed." My number 1 recommendation for this(and any) situation would be to do a test spot! You want to use the least aggressive method to get the job done. Obviously with something like this, you aren't going to see a lot of improvement from a finishing polish or anything with very light abrasives. I'd probably start with M205, even knowing I'd most likely have to move to M105 or 101 to see the results I wanted. If M101 wasn't cutting it(pardon the pun), that's when I'd move to wetsanding. Again, you want the least aggressive method to get the job done. So start with 3000, see how it goes, then move down in the grits until I find something that's decently fast without removing any more paint than is necessary.

[Evan.J]

Your going to have a very hard time removing those marks with the da and a foam cutting pad. What I would do is go up to 3000 grit then polish with the Meg's MF cutting disc to remove the marks.

The foam pads on a da does not provide enough cut to remove the marks completely that's why if you look at the marks from far they look gone but up close some still remain.

The MF cutting dics and m105 should do the trick

[Bill1234]

as everybody said. M105 is very versatile. It can remove sanding marks and heavy clearcoat defects.

[carguy2007]

I'll try and pick up some 3000 grit sometime this week. When you say cutting disk, what exactly do you mean? Thats something I don't have experience with. can it be used with the DA backing plate or do I need something special?

Also most of the fish eye spots seem to be on horizontal surfaces. Such as the hood, roof and trunk. The trunk seems to have the most. The sides look pretty good just faded.

[Evan.J]

I'll try and pick up some 3000 grit sometime this week. When you say cutting disk, what exactly do you mean? Thats something I don't have experience with. can it be used with the DA backing plate or do I need something special?

Also most of the fish eye spots seem to be on horizontal surfaces. Such as the hood, roof and trunk. The trunk seems to have the most. The sides look pretty good just faded.

Meguiars DA Microfiber Correction System, paint polishing system, car polish, car detailing system, compounding system, remove scratches (http://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-da-microfiber-system.html).

There is the kit that includes the two cutting discs (maroon color)
And two finishing discs (black color). The kit also comes with the proper backing pad to be used with those as well

[rmagnus]

It's the combo of ingredients you are using. Fire up a rotary buffer with wool and M105 can remove 1200 grit sanding marks no problem. The micro fiber system was developed for the DA to give it more correction power but you'll need to sand to 2500 grit and 3000 is even better.

M105 was designed for the rotary and a wool pad. The newer M101 is designed for a foam pad on either polisher.

[DaVinciAutoSpa]

[QUOTE=rmagnus;848173]It's the combo of ingredients you are using. Fire up a rotary buffer with wool and M105 can remove 1200 grit sanding marks no problem. QUOTE]


This ^

Rotary + wool pad + M105 = win

[Mike Phillips]

You're dealing with Tracers...

See here...

Tracers Tracers - RIDS - Pigtails - Cobweb Swirls - Rotary Buffer Swirls - Holograms - Water Spots - Bird Drooping Etchings - Micro-Marring (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/22234-tracers-rids-pigtails-cobweb-swirls-rotary-buffer-swirls-holograms-water-spots-bird-droping-etchings-micro-marring.html)



Best, fastest and most effective way to remove sanding marks is with a wool pad and a rotary buffer...


:)