Buckwheat wrote:so heres my million dollar question: I will wet sand, and what is the safest finest grit sandpaper to use from start to finish and safest compound(s) to use as well as what king of buffer is easiest to use?

There are probably a million answers, one for each dollar in your question.

Unless the peel is really bad I start with P1500. Damp, not wet - and squeegee off often to see how you're going. Some will say P1200, P1000 or even P800 but I think that's a bit aggressive for someone with limited experience. Just start with the P1500 and a hard, or at least very firm block. You may have to do sections a couple of times until those shiny spots (indicating the lows), disappear. Protect sharp edges with tape, if you like.

I then usually move to P2000 and, more often than not, on a 6" 3M Trizact disc. Reason is that I don't want to cut any more, just take out the P1500 scratching. Again, used damp, not sopping wet. Normally I will then move straight to the 3D ACA 500 compound using a 8" twisted wool pad on a rotary (Hitachi/Hikoki) at about 1500rpm. However you can, if you like, go to P3000 Trizact disc on a random orbital before the compounding step. There are some other brands out there that are a bit cheaper than the 3M. Some are good, some are not.

After the compound I then move to a Gelson swirl remover on a twin head Cyclo. Depending on the finish I want I might do this once with hard pads then again with soft, or just the once with a medium pad.

That's all for restoration work. For production (repair) work I just select the gun/nozzle/aircap that will give the closest peel to what's already there. Allow to dry, denib if necessary and send it.

One comment. Don't put on 4 coats of base. Completely unnecessary unless you're using really cheap rubbish and then it's a false economy since you use double the amount. Select your primer or sealer colour to suit that of the base coat and, with good quality base, 2 coats is enough. Four coats needs far too long to flash properly and you run the risk of going outside the recoat window or, if you clear too soon, trapping solvents in there which will come back through the clear as solvent pop. Check the TDS for the base that you're using - most recommend 20-30μm, which is 2 medium wet coats. Top shelf basecoats can be applied in only 1.5 coats for full coverage. More expensive to buy, but cheaper in the long run.

Excellent info again.

explain "damp" paper not soaked, do you dip the paper in a tub of water or spray bottle as you go? I didn't know about the squeege part either.

another silly question, I have plenty of hard blocks what do you use to keep the paper from sliding around on the block so much, a whole sheet folded over to your hand?

just want to go about it right, iv'e painfully accepted the process, the wet sanding dulls the finish and then you bring it back and I so want it to come back. lol

thank you!

good info on base coats to, nvr thought of your reply info, I was so nervous about uneven coverage spraying white that I thought 4 coats guaranteed no issues. it went great but sounds like I got lucky to not get a reaction as a 2nd time rookie my primary goal is a nice paint job and not have any large problems that require rework.

People always say use a hard pad for flattening peel,some even use a hardwood block.
Kinda scary but it does work,You can sand in one direction with 1500 like NW to SE then go the other way with 2000 on a softer pad.

Ive always sanded quite wet ,whats the advantage of going damp?

Here's a picture of what Chris described when sanding the first go around with a hard block.
I am using 1000 grit, a squirt bottle of water and a squeegee to check progress :

The shiny spots are the low areas the sandpaper hasn't touched yet. Notice the edge of the panel where there are lows spots close to the edge but the edge itself has already been sanded. These are areas where you have to be cautious in.

Here it is completely flat:

From here I move to soft rubber sanding block and P1500. Notice the right side of this panel and you will see the 1500 scratches compared to the 1000 grit on the rest of the panel.


The same now with 2000 grit scratches compared to the 1500 grit about half way across the panel:


Here's the end of the bed on a '62 Chevy pickup. This was wet sanded as above and buffed with just the Meguiar's M-100 and a twisted wool pad. By the way, this is Tamco Euro Clear on this truck.

beautiful. sand to dull then incredible shine.

regarding the don't apply 4 coats of base..........part of my reasoning was it seems iv'e always read show car articles stating "iv'e got 8 coats of candy color and 6 coats clear on it" so I was under the rookie impression that more is better. dang i'm glad that solvent pop thing didnt happen. maybe I got away with it because I did use quality product not cheap off brand or anything.

myke wrote:People always say use a hard pad for flattening peel,some even use a hardwood block.
Kinda scary but it does work,You can sand in one direction with 1500 like NW to SE then go the other way with 2000 on a softer pad.

Ive always sanded quite wet ,whats the advantage of going damp?

I use a piece of oak for my hard block. The main thing is that the block doesn't flex, you want it to make contact only with the high spots.
The same holds true when sanding a run in your clear coat.

noticing some pros on videos using 5" hand power buffers with 2000 grit slow rpm for the wet sanding. i like the power idea vs hand. followed up with 3000 grit then buffed.

So wet sanding by hand is a safer way so i'll be doing that.

am I thinking right in wanting to be super cautious and sand the clear very minimally by using 2000 grit first, then 3000 grit, then on to buffing?

Sanded with 1000, 1500 and 2000.
This is the first round of buffing, I used Meguiars M-100 and a twisted wool pad.





It will get buffed with an intermediate compound/polish and then a final polish with Menzerna Super Finish 3800.

mercy I can only hope to achieve that quality.

following your lead, ordered the sandpaper grits/m 100/ merzerna 3800/ lake country 7" twisted wool pad. also ordered some foam pads.

way I see it, why alter from such great success. thank you!