Wet Sanding Clear Coat

[Grant 302]

I wanted to remove some of the OEM peel and surface scratches and etching near the area that I removed some of the 302R graphics before I put the new set on.

Light pass with 1500 and a 3M rubber pad to knock down and 'see' highest spots:


Smoothed with 2000 and a foam detail block:


After polishing with Meguiar's 83 (D/A Cleaner Polish =6 on cut scale) followed by 80 (like 205 =4 on Meguiar's 'cut' scale) with a D/A and foam pad:


Reflection in un-touched door panel:


Reflection after wet sand and polish:


Disclaimer:
I don't mean for this to be a how-to thread! Don't do this at home unless you have at least some experience and a good level of comfort working with paint!

Some tips in case you want to try it anyway:
Keep everything extremely clean and well lubricated with water when wet sanding. I use distilled water in a spray bottle and never get the sandpaper to clog.
Wet the sandpaper before and/or 'knock it down' a bit by rubbing abrasive side against itself.
Tape edges and corners so you don't accidentally burn through the clear. I didn't above, but wanted to 'feather' to the edges.
Don't ever do this kind of work on a windy or dry, dusty day. Trust me, not worth it.

 

[VoodooBoss]

Nice work. It’s nice that modern clear coats are very durable and able to be cleaned up.

 

[TymeSlayer]

Grant,
You went where Angels fear to tread. Good job brother.

 

[Grant 302]

Thanks, guys!

Nice work. It’s nice that modern clear coats are very durable and able to be cleaned up.

Agreed. Spots/scratches I've had to clean up over the years have held up pretty well. Now I need to find time to do the rest of the car!

Grant,
You went where Angels fear to tread. Good job brother.

Honestly, most of the fear was set aside after I saw a Kona Blue GT500 that was done. I thought is was a good re-spray until I talked to the owner.

 

[quimuel17]

Awesome work, Grant.

 

[BigShow]

Really nice job, I could never do it myself.

 

[Grant 302]

Thanks!

One minor update... I’ve started using Micro Mesh brand abrasives. A little spendy, but good quality grit and available as fine as 12000.

 

[blacksheep-1]

Funny, back in my day we used 600 on lacquer, then buffed it, then 800 came around. When the first polyurethanes came around they were like sanding concrete. Then they figured them out, and they could be sanded with 1K , 1.5K and even 2K so they were shiny before they buffer was used. If you ever used a product called Liquid Ebony, it is a great product for final swirl mark removal. For the rest of you that don't have the...uhhhmm talent to sand a new car paint job, there is also the ability to clay bar which is relatively safe for every finish, although the results won't be quite as nice as what Grant did.

 

[BigShow]

Thank you guys for all the good advices, I have finally decided to try out sanding for myself. Firstly I had to find a sander for myself and it was not that easy. There are a lot of models, but I had no idea which ones are good. I found an article about the 8 best random orbital sanders of 2020 and there I learned a lot about sanders. I decided to get Bosch 3725DEVS because it is the most powerful one and Bosch has the best quality tools. It is really good and even I managed to use it. I am still learning how to do it properly and I know that I have the right sander.

 

[Grant 302]

Not even clay bar would help me I think, but I should start learning how to do it and that can be a good start.

Wasn’t worried when you posted this^

But your edited post makes me a bit concerned:

Thank you guys for all the good advices, I have finally decided to try out sanding for myself. Firstly I had to find a sander for myself and it was not that easy. There are a lot of models, but I had no idea which ones are good. I found an article about the 8 best random orbital sanders of 2020 and there I learned a lot about sanders. I decided to get Bosch 3725DEVS because it is the most powerful one and Bosch has the best quality tools. It is really good and even I managed to use it. I am still learning how to do it properly and I know that I have the right sander.

JMO, but this is not work for an electric sander. Way too easy to burn through paint.

This is all best done by hand. Or risk ruining your paint. And like I said earlier...not really a project for somebody new to paint/correction/etc.

 

[302 Hi Pro]

Thank you guys for all the good advices, I have finally decided to try out sanding for myself. Firstly I had to find a sander for myself and it was not that easy. There are a lot of models, but I had no idea which ones are good. I found an article about the 8 best random orbital sanders of 2020 and there I learned a lot about sanders. I decided to get Bosch 3725DEVS because it is the most powerful one and Bosch has the best quality tools. It is really good and even I managed to use it. I am still learning how to do it properly and I know that I have the right sander.

This has disaster written all over it, especially for a beginner.

After you wet clay bar the finish,

Start off by taping off all hard edges. Then use a method called block sanding using 1500 grit wet sandpaper. Then finish it with 2000 grit.

You will need polishing pads for your new Bosch sander to polish out any sanding and or swirl marks. Polishing pads come in 3 variants finish, light cut & heavy cut.

McGuire makes professional grade paint resto products in fine/medium & heavy cut grades. Use Liquid Ebony with a finish polishing pad to maintain the mirror finish.

Don’t over-polish any of the hard edges, you’ll burn thru. Have your water spray bottles at hand too.

Good luck & let us know how it comes out. I’m rooting for you.

 

[Stangra]

This has disaster written all over it, especially for a beginner.

Your clear coat thickness probably ranges between 1.5 – 2.0 mils (35 – 50 microns)

Automotive Paint Detailing | Resources | DeFelsko

DeFelsko manufactures various hand-held, non-destructive paint thickness gages that are ideal for use in automotive paint detailing.

www.defelsko.com

.

Average particle size on a sheet of 1500 grit is 12.6 microns

Sandpaper - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Your clear is only 3-4 times as thick as particles in the abrasive you're using. Exercise caution! You'll still need to polish after too.