Help, I went to far while wet sanding

[BobbyG]

I wish you tried to do it yourself...



Yes, you are wrong to think that. Generally a paint shop does not sand and polish the paint to perfection, leaving orange peel behind.



Color? The damage was only to the clear, did they actually repaint they roof or just shoot a layer of clear??



Probably not, the chance of the paint shop workers having the same high standards that we Autogeeks have is low. I guess you could try to have them sand the orange peel (for free), but expect to do some polishing to fix all the rotary holograms that they will (likely) leave behind.


I agree with rx7chick, factory paint is very thin and after market is much thicker (generally). If you do want to wet/damp sand it is a good time to do it, the fresh paint is very workable making for easier sanding mark removal. Just don't wax/seal for 30-60 days from when it was painted. It's a good idea to stop by a Professional Detailer or Paint Shop and ask if they can take a couple paint thickness readings for you. If you compare the new paint vs factory you should find it to be ~3x thicker.

From there damp sanding with your DA is totally feasible, get a 3M Hookit 6 Inch Soft Interface Pad with 3M Trizact 6 inch P1500 sanding discs and 3M Trizact 6 Inch Foam Discs P3000. I know, the discs are expensive, you may be able to find them sold individually at an auto body supply shop. The combination of the 3 items I linked with a DA polisher will make sanding away orange peel a pleasure.

Orange Peel/No Orange Peel


Orange Peel half removed/fully removed. You can see all the "low points"
of the orange peel texture have not even been touched by the sand paper,
the "low point" is the level the rest of the paint needs to get sanded down to


Sanded with Trizact P1500 grit, I skipped the 3000 and compounded from here.


Sun shot after finishing with 3M Ultrafina


My write up from the above process:
Orange peel correction, hand vs Pnuematic palm sander (long post)

A couple articles from Mike:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...tml#post363818

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...ang-twins.html (I really like this one .)


Good luck!

Great post! I like the way you addressed his questions and the photos really added a clear explanation to this procedure.

What I've found in the past is people start out with too course of a paper and this starts the ball rolling right to the paint shop.

I also agree with you; the color should match perfectly as he only broke through the clear coat not the color coat.

[sohail99]

@yakky - I'm in the process of acquiring it!

I cant spend >$200 over a paint thickness gauge

[sohail99]

How is this PTG?? - Paint,Coating Thickness Meter Gauge for Automobile,NEW on eBay (end time 20-Dec-10 03:29:00 GMT)

[yakky]

@yakky - I'm in the process of acquiring it!

I cant spend >$200 over a paint thickness gauge

The Highline II is $225 shipped, it is sold by a company that specializes in Paint Guages that sell for much more than most of us can afford. Its a great value for the money and a staple in my routine. It takes the guess work out, you know when to stop, and being slightly OCD like most of us are, a hard stopping point is a nice thing to have.

[sohail99]

Thanks! will check it out!

Need to save up to buy that PTG now!

btw any idea regarding differences between 1st gen Highline and 2nd one? (Accuracy etc.)

[yakky]

Thanks! will check it out!

Need to save up to buy that PTG now!

btw any idea regarding differences between 1st gen Highline and 2nd one? (Accuracy etc.)

From what I remember, the specs are the same, the II is more compact. Give them a call, their customer service is top notch.

[sohail99]

Thanks!

btw how do you wetsand on urethane panels(bumpers) that are painted?
I'm aware of PTGs which can measure thickness over plastic and urethane but they are insanely priced!

[oldmodman]

btw how do you wetsand on urethane panels(bumpers) that are painted?
I'm aware of PTGs which can measure thickness over plastic and urethane but they are insanely priced!

You will just have to "assume" that the same amount of clear was sprayed on the plastic areas as was sprayed on the more easily measured steel areas.

Plus, do you have any areas on the car that were not painted? You could measure those areas and then measure the areas that were only re-cleared. That would give you a relatively accurate measure of the clear thickness that was applied.

[sohail99]

Yea! That makes sense!

Will get a PTG and then attempt to get back some DOI on the repainted panels!

btw any standard measurements below which one should never go on a re-painted panel(while sanding/compounding and polishing)?

[A4 1.8tqm]

Yea! That makes sense!

Will get a PTG and then attempt to get back some DOI on the repainted panels!

btw any standard measurements below which one should never go on a re-painted panel(while sanding/compounding and polishing)?

I think I remember reading that you should have no less than 100 μm. This needs to be confirmed by a pro before being taken as sound advice...