'68 Coronet R/T wrote:My guess is the 12" long sanding block is too long and flexes in the middle. All the scratches seem to be going in one direction which means they weren't removed when using the next finer grit.

I use a small piece of oak about 5" long and 1 1/4" wide and 3/4" thick for the initial wet sanding to remove orange people and any urethane wave.

The process is to work a 12" x 12" area at a time. I keep a spray bottle of water with a drop or two of dish soap in it to keep the surface wet. I also keep a microfiber towel to wipe the surface from time to time to check my progress.

Next I use a soft block (like this: https://www.amazon.com/Motor-Guard-SB-1 ... B003WUYG1E) with 1500 grit and work the panel in the same manner as described above. Repeat with 2000.

If you only have a few places with those scratches showing, try wet sanding them again with 1500 and see if the scratches go away. Then hit the area with 2000 and follow up with your buffer and Meguairs M-100 compound. I start the buffer working at low rpms to spread the compound and then jump it up to 2000 or so for buffing.

The scratches are actually going different directions and are all over. I have a soft block like that link you sent, I used it today and didnt use the 12" block like I did yesterday.

Today I started with 1000 grit on the soft pad then 1500 then 2000 then 2500. I used the wool pad with M100 then the black 3m foam pad with 3M machine polish and when wiping off the final residue with a clean microfiber towel it revealed the scratches.

I then started all over . This time carefully using 800 grit to get out the deeper scratches then 1000 the 1500 then 2000 then I used my 5" DA with a 3000 grit disk and water proceeded by the wool pad, polishing pad. I found it looked way better and i had very few scratches after using the DA. BUT now I had tiny swirl marks cut in different areas.

I then took a small piece of 2000 grit paper and water and sanded by hand with no block in the areas with the someone deep swirl marks followed by 2500 grit by hand and it removed the swirl marks, then I hit it with the wool pad M100, and polish again only to find no swirl marks but now long scratches all over going random directions.

I'm starting to really get worried that if I keep sanding and cutting with compound that I might burn through. I should also mention for my first time cutting and buffing doing it on white paint seems to make it really hard to see verses like a dark color. Do you recommend a product to put over the scratches and or do they even make such a thing that actually fills the many scratch grooves or is it all about sanding more clear down to level out the scratches?

'68 Coronet R/T wrote:I use a small piece of oak about 5" long and 1 1/4" wide and 3/4" thick for the initial wet sanding to remove orange people

Yeah, but how hard is it to find orange people?

NFT5 wrote:

'68 Coronet R/T wrote:
Yeah, but how hard is it to find orange people?

'

Ha, ha.

If orange people start cropping up in my clear coats.....I'm not gonna do this stuff anymore.....

Orange people could have a part in this haha. **** I really want to move onto my car but if I continue doing what ever I'm doing wrong to this door on my car its gonna be a **** show paint job.

Follow the process I gave you and it will work.
I have lots of pictures of vehicles I have done with this process (minus the orange people) and it works.

DarrelK wrote:If orange people start cropping up in my clear coats.....I'm not gonna do this stuff anymore.....

probably a good idea. by then its been too long breathing in ****

Most of the time, when I have people help me color sand, or I show the owner of the car how to help, it's not keeping the area clean, by squeegeeing off the sludge, or just not using enough water to keep the area clean. Best to do it outside with a hose running all the time. I put a long piece of Tygon tubing on the end of the hose, so the brass fitting can't bang against the car.

Thanks for the advice fellas I will give it another shot and hope that i still have enough clear left.

Maybe it's the way I'm using the sandpaper or the way I wrap it around the soft foam block also. Some how I keep adding scratches to the bright white color and they dont really stand out until I cut with compound and then they are visible from the shop light shining off the reflection.

The first time I did this I used the hose out side but it wasn't on constantly. This last time I used a squeegee in between grits. I noticed once you scuff/sand this white paint or I should say the Clear, it turns to haze and you can no long see the scratches even when I squeegee or atleast its really hard to tell if I sanded the scratches out or not and I dont notice until I cut and buff and then there they are. I will give it another shot this evening when I get home from work.