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Louvers. How to wet sand/cut/polish new paint on them?
I have new paint on the center panel. I am correcting the orange peel and whatnot on it. I notice some orange peel on the louvers(sp?) and I am afraid to attack them because I wont be able to get a machine there to buff.
Any advice or link to an article would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Re: Louvers. How to wet sand/cut/polish new paint on them?
That's a real tough nut to crack.
There is no easy and especially easy or fast way to remove orange peel off louvers.
It can be done but it's painstakingly slow and difficult. Heck, just rubbing louvers down with a compound and polish is difficult.
I've done a bunch of this in my life and I dread it every time.
Is this your own car or for a paying customer?
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Re: Louvers. How to wet sand/cut/polish new paint on them?
MINE.
This is too much work to contemplate for some one else's car
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Re: Louvers. How to wet sand/cut/polish new paint on them?
If it was me... I'd very carefully sand and polish the louvers by hand. I wouldn't even consider doing any of it with a machine - too risky in my book.
I have a lot of experience with wet sanding from my younger painting days so although very time consuming, I wouldn't consider it risky at all.
May I suggest... Sand a very little at a time, then wipe and dry the area, so you can see your progress. Doing so will give you an idea of what areas you need to concentrate on, and what areas need extra caution, along with a general idea of how much sanding can be done between the progress checks.
Tedious for sure... But with some patience and finesse it is do-able.
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Re: Louvers. How to wet sand/cut/polish new paint on them?
I asked,
Originally Posted by
Mike Phillips
Is this your own car or for a paying customer?
You answered,
Originally Posted by
arthur1920
MINE.
This is too much work to contemplate for some one else's car
I was hoping this was the case. Can it be done? You bet. When it's your car and your time you can invest all the time in the world because it's your car.
The other scenario - that is someone, (not you), someone detailing for money asking how to remove orange peel on louvers not having a clue as to how much time this will take and how tedious it is. And for these people the answer is,
Take a pass and let some other person have the blessing
Of course there's something to be said for taking on difficult projects like this for the learning experience, in other words, on the job training or taking a class at "The School of Hard Knocks". Been there done that in my detailing live.
For a detailer to take on the job for MONEY there is the expectation of doing the work in a timely manner and trying to do this type of work "quickly" can lead to rubbing or burning through the edges of the louvers and/or leaving scratches everyone on the sides of the lovers where you and your hand rub in a back an forth motion. I know that of which I speak.
So good to here it's your car and your louver project. If you really want to remove actual orange peel, then it can be done but it will be incredibly tedious.
One thing I do to sand Orange Peel flat in tight areas or on thin panels is cut my own thin soft blocks out of a Meguiar's E-7200 backing pad. Not the most perfect backing pads but they work and I have easy access to the Meguiar's E-7200 backing pads. And hey, at the end of the day, you do what you have to do to get the job done.
This is a Meguiar's E-7200 Sanding Backing Pad - it's a firm but flexible rubber pad and the length is 5 3/8" and your basic half sheet of sandpaper is 5 1/2" in length.
The face of this block is about 1" wide
The side or edge of this block is 7/16" wide
Caveman Technique
Then cut your sanding or finishing paper to fit/wrap around the custom backing pad.
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Re: Louvers. How to wet sand/cut/polish new paint on them?
Originally Posted by
2black1s
May I suggest... Sand a very little at a time, then wipe and dry the area, so you can see your progress.
Doing so will give you an idea of what areas you need to concentrate on, and what areas need extra caution, along with a general idea of how much sanding can be done between the progress checks.
Tedious for sure... But with some patience and finesse it is do-able.
Very good advice.
Take your time.
Less is more.
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