"You can wetsand within a few days I would think, I know body shop guys who have. If you want to wetsand it's up to you, if you've got some orange peel you want to remove then go for it. A thorough buffing afterwards will remove the sanding scratches and leave it looking nice and glossy
If you need info on how to wetsand and//or use a high-speed polisher, lemme know... It's what I do "
Tahoe YJ
Some info on wetsanding and buffing would be appreciated. I used 2000 grit 3M yesterday and the white turtle wax polishing compound with an orbital and it looks bad. Not all the orange peel is gone and some of the sanded spots are still showing. The surface just doesnt look that smooth yet and i am not getting much gloss. The orange peel isnt that bad but some dust settled on it while drying, and I want the glossy look.
How do you go about your wetsanding, what cutting and rubbing compounds do you use, and what type of pads should I have? I did pick up a variable speed rotary buffer. I used to buff and polish at a detail shop while in college, but that is 5-6 years ago and most the cars were older with oxidation. So I do have a little experience with the tools, but your expertice would be appreciated.
Well you're off to a good start using 2000 grit, I've had lots of people tell me to use that or nothing coarser than 1500 grit. I did a friends black BMW hood with 2000 grit and it took a while, but the end result was worth the effort. Just work in the same direction all the way around the vehicle (or wherever you decide needs wetsanding) and don't use too much pressure. Go against the grain of your fingers (if that makes sense) as much as possible. If you don't, you'll have lines from your fingers that will be a PITA to remove. If you you don't feel comfortable sanding too much just do a small spot, buff it out, and see how it looks. That's pretty much what I did the first time I wetsanded a vehicle. After you've made some progress you can sort of tell when you've leveled off the orange peel as best as possible without burning through the clear (You're going to be buffing afterwards, so don't take off too much or you could easily go through the clear when compounding.) Again just work slow and don't be too afraid. If you're confident then you shouldn't have a problem.
If you've got some experience using a rotary, that's another great start. Because it will be IMPOSSIBLE to remove those sanding scratches without an abrasive product and heat (from the high speed rotary) to break the product down. A wool cutting pad and fairly abrasive product works well for removing sanding scratches, and on black don't be surprised if you've got to do 2+ full passes to remove the scratches. Run the machine around 1500-1700 RPM's and just keep it moving. Tape off your edges/molding/whatever to help avoid burning things and messing up your pad. You'll have some swirl marks left behind from compounding, no biggie. If you want them 100% gone, you'll need to do a 3-step polish or even more. By 3 steps, I mean Compounding (To remove sanding marks), a lightly abrasive polish to remove the deep holograms from the compound, and a finish polish to get that swirl-free, glossy look. This is where I see a lot of body shops screw up, they go straight from compounding to applying a glaze, so within a month the car is covered in swirls and the sanding scratches are evident again. Do each step thoroughly if you want a glossy, defect-free finish. And as you progress to each step you will see an improvement. The compounding might leave a light haze behind, which is where a lighter duty product/pad comes in. After that, the final polish. You can even slap on a hand glaze to hide any possible defects and just deepen the finish a bit.
After that, just wax it and you're good to go. As for wax, if you're going to use a generic auto parts store style wax, any of them will do. You can use other products though, such as Poorboys, P21S, Pinnacle, P&S, whatever. If you want some links to products/more advice I can point you in the right direction.
I kinda threw all this together for you really quickly as I'm about to head out for a bit, but feel free to ask if you need me to clarify something or need more info...
