Thinking of wet sanding my whole car - advice wanted

[Zapa]

Ha ha, Well truth be told when i was wet sanding a small part of my car, i had sanded too much and exposed a bit of the door handle :P ha ha...ah well, #### happens.

Found a pic on my phone on what I am dealing with, its a shitty picture but will snap some when I remember and the lighting is good.

This is exactly why I told you not to.

[Booki]

Ha ha ill post a pic up of the damage...least now I know door handles, specially plastic ones do not have alot of paint on them

[AeroCleanse]

I wouldn't wetsand a whole car without using a paint thickness gauge first.

[Rayaz]

Considering this forum is OCD on parade (myself included, they don't call it DETAILING for nothing), I think you have to be realistic about what you want to do and what the vehicle is being used for. If its a daily driver, I'd want to preserve as much clear as possible so I have room for more correction as needed later. Show car, different story. Less washes equates to less chance of swirls etc. so maybe it is worth the loss of film.

Wet sanding is going to eat up a lot of clear and takes a lot of finesse to get right. If you have already burned a door handle, the creases could get pretty sporty. If it is a daily driver, I'd try some polish/pad combinations first to see if you can get close to what you want and then coat it.

[Booki]

I just ordered the lake country purple pad (think its a wool/foam type) and a generic wool pad...will see how i go with those pads once they come in.

I recken they should get me in a good place with minimal eating of clear.

But who knows, Im still very noob at it all....I got good results on my GTR, removed 99% of swirls and just use polish and a purple lake country type pad.

[erichaley]

If you must wet sand, try the CarPro denim pads instead. I have had incredible results on removing the orange peel on my car. Yes, I've read the warnings, I have a PTG, and I'm prepared for the worst. The denim pads on a DA are roughly equivalent to the velvet pads on a rotary. You'll need a bunch of pads as they seem to get chewed up on a DA (they weren't designed for a DA, do I don't fault them for it). The trick is to work at a speed of about 4 with barely enough pressure to hold the machine to the surface. In fact, you almost need to lift up on it.

[erichaley]

To add to my previous post, too much pressure or to high a speed will glaze up the pad very quickly, and the pad will be doing nothing but skipping across the paint until you clean it.

[Mike Phillips]

Considering this forum is OCD on parade (myself included, they don't call it DETAILING for nothing), I think you have to be realistic about what you want to do and what the vehicle is being used for. If its a daily driver, I'd want to preserve as much clear as possible so I have room for more correction as needed later. Show car, different story. Less washes equates to less chance of swirls etc. so maybe it is worth the loss of film.

That's funny....


"Considering this forum is OCD on parade"





The rest of your post is dead on about balancing what you do and what you don't do to a daily drivers.

If you must wet sand, try the CarPro denim pads instead. I have had incredible results on removing the orange peel on my car. Yes, I've read the warnings, I have a PTG, and I'm prepared for the worst. The denim pads on a DA are roughly equivalent to the velvet pads on a rotary. You'll need a bunch of pads as they seem to get chewed up on a DA (they weren't designed for a DA, do I don't fault them for it). The trick is to work at a speed of about 4 with barely enough pressure to hold the machine to the surface. In fact, you almost need to lift up on it.

To add to my previous post, too much pressure or to high a speed will glaze up the pad very quickly, and the pad will be doing nothing but skipping across the paint until you clean it.

Good stuff their Eric, maybe consider writing an article on this topic...

[erichaley]

That's funny....


"Considering this forum is OCD on parade"





The rest of your post is dead on about balancing what you do and what you don't do to a daily drivers.









Good stuff their Eric, maybe consider writing an article on this topic...

Thanks Mike! I do plan on writing an article on this once I'm completed. It's been a very time-consuming process, and I'm only about halfway done...

[Flash Gordon]

Ha ha ill post a pic up of the damage...least now I know door handles, specially plastic ones do not have alot of paint on them

I just ordered the lake country purple pad (think its a wool/foam type) and a generic wool pad...will see how i go with those pads once they come in.

I recken they should get me in a good place with minimal eating of clear.

But who knows, Im still very noob at it all....I got good results on my GTR, removed 99% of swirls and just use polish and a purple lake country type pad.

LOL Bet you won't make that mistake again LOL

Friend reqeust sent !