novice wet sanding....

[iAndy]

I am really disappointed with the finish on my clio, its a 12 plate and still smells new inside but am considering having it wet sanded...... or attempting myself after seeing some great results.

Seen a Tigra for £295.... thought is, buy it and wet sand it as practice then attempt own.

Am I being totally unrealistic? Should I bite the bullet and just get someone experienced to do it or just grow a pair.... man up and hit the clio with some sandpaper??

Thoughts?

 

[Roy]

If your not confident get some one else mate cause 1 mistake big bill waiting

 

[Willis]

Scrapyard.

Couple of panels will cost you £50 or so, doesn't even matter what car they're off. If you ruin them, who cares, at least it's not the Clio.

 

[iAndy]

This Tigra is soooo tempting... wet sand it and worst case is scrap it lol, got alloys and 3 months tax and test so worth the money. I have a false sense of confidence after seeing everyone else's results and am thinking calm down and take things easy.... could cost ££'s but on other hand its getting to point of ordering a Megane 265 and putting the clio up for sale or using as a track car. Its annoying me too much for something that shouldn't bother me. Car drives great and love driving it but when I polished it last time it annoyed me too much

 

[DrDx]

If the paintwork is that bad on a 12-reg car why not complain to Renault? I did see a used Racing Blue RS200 that had a shocking paint job on the rear quarter panels. It looked like a dodgy respray but it turned out to be original paint....!

 

[Fernandez]

I think the wet sanding bit is the easiest part its the polishing afterwards where you'll get the potential problems.

With wet sanding you just need to be patient and take your time, its a job you can't rush.

 

[BenW]

It's not as hard as it looks, just have to be very careful on panel edges as the paint is thinner there and you'll sand through it very quickly. The other thing to keep in mind is that flat panels are easy, its the curved bits which will catch you out.

 

[Graeme GTR]

what makes you think the 265 will be any better? Alot of manufacturers paint is shockingly bad. Orange-peel everywhere.

 

[Fernandez]

If you do it just ensure you use the right paper. I'd start with an 800 grade then move upto 1,200 then 1,500 and finish off with a very fine 2,000

 

[chappers]

why not pay the money for a wet sanding course with a detailer?

 

[martinclarkie]

If you do it just ensure you use the right paper. I'd start with an 800 grade then move upto 1,200 then 1,500 and finish off with a very fine 2,000

Hello sorry i would just like to point out there is no way you would ever start on 800 grit thats way way to low, most people start on 1500, then 2000 then 2500 or 3000 then compound...

 

[Fernandez]

Hello sorry i would just like to point out there is no way you would ever start on 800 grit thats way way to low, most people start on 1500, then 2000 then 2500 or 3000 then compound...

Thanks for correcting me and pointing that out Martin. I think your, prob, the only person on here that has actually done it to their car so nice one.. :thumbup:

 

[Benmc]

Ask Martin how much to do it for you

 

[Magic]

I have a detail coming up on a forum members car at some point over the next couple of months - it requires a part wet sand on the rear upper quarter panel for the same sort of reasons. Looks like it has had a repair of some description, but it is quite possibly original paint (not measured it, so can't say for certain). I will get plenty of pics and post somewhat a "how to" - although I should say at this stage that wet sanding is the deep end of detailing, an area in which experience counts for everything as it's not really something you can read a guide on and go out and do.

So if you're planning on having a go yourself, as mentioned by Willis, get yourself some scrap panels for practicing on first!

 

[RussZS]

The problem is with wet sanding is finding an environment clean enough to work in (not outside!) and also technique to avoid inflicting scorelines into the paint. I've seen a few wet sands up close and on photos they look great, but up close the scorelines are frankly shocking!!

Test panels are a good idea of course, but also paint is different and hardness will directly relate to the starting grade you need to level initially - so either 1200, 1500 or 2000. I'd guess that 1500 would be needed on a Clio.

Whatever you do make sure you refine the grades up to at least 3000 so that the sanding marks are relatively easy to remove.

Have a read of my thread over on Detailing World - may be helpful:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=244507

 

[Robo_#1]

If your gonna spend £250 on a tigra Andy, why not go on a proper course and learn from the Pros? Test panels would be cheaper than the whole car too.

 

[SprayShack]

We dont do any of our wet sanding by hand, we use a couple of different size DA's with 2.5mm and 3mm throws. If you wet sand with a block or otherwise with a standard peice of wet/dry paper you have immence scratches which will take a long time to get out with a rotary polisher (or more likely sanding again)...."not rounded off" which is what alot of the time you see.......out.

You should never need anything greater than 1500 abrasive, anything else is 100%certain fail for going through. My advice would be dont do it.......but if your going to

1. Get foam backed abrasives in DA format, and a compatible sanding block they can be wrapped around or even better a couple of 3mm DA's in 150mm and 75mm....

2. Keep the panel clean, wipe often while sanding both the panel and the abrasive, do not let it it build up at all.

3. Always use light pressure, start with 1500 and work up right up to 3000 then rotary polish. We use the 3M Schema, but whatever you use make sure there are no fillers in it, you dont want your scratches coming back.

4. Remember as its old (not just sprayed) paint to seal it off and protect with wax afterwards, if it was fresh paint you wouldnt be doing this till a month on.

Cheers,
Si @ SS

 

[RussZS]

We dont do any of our wet sanding by hand, we use a couple of different size DA's with 2.5mm and 3mm throws. If you wet sand with a block or otherwise with a standard peice of wet/dry paper you have immence scratches which will take a long time to get out with a rotary polisher (or more likely sanding again)...."not rounded off" which is what alot of the time you see.......out.

You should never need anything greater than 1500 abrasive, anything else is 100%certain fail for going through. My advice would be dont do it.......but if your going to

1. Get foam backed abrasives in DA format, and a compatible sanding block they can be wrapped around or even better a couple of 3mm DA's in 150mm and 75mm....

2. Keep the panel clean, wipe often while sanding both the panel and the abrasive, do not let it it build up at all.

3. Always use light pressure, start with 1500 and work up right up to 3000 then rotary polish. We use the 3M Schema, but whatever you use make sure there are no fillers in it, you dont want your scratches coming back.

4. Remember as its old (not just sprayed) paint to seal it off and protect with wax afterwards, if it was fresh paint you wouldnt be doing this till a month on.

Cheers,
Si @ SS

Try using 1500 via machine on an E92 M3, it will just laugh at it as the paint is so hard. The starting point depends on the hardness of the clearcoat. Maybe 1500 works for what you use but when sanding OEM paint, like when machining to remove swirl marks, the combination used will be determined by the hardness of the paint.

Here's 1200 being used on an M3 in fact:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=141365

That's like saying 3M Extra Fine and their Yellow Polishing pad will 'always' remove swirling and defects from 'any' paint. Maybe it will with multiple passes/sets but why would you use it when you can use Fast Cut Plus and achieve the same results more effectively.

 

[SprayShack]

Look at the technology being used in that thread lol, yes in the hands of a professional using something greater will be quicker etc, but DIY without paint depth guages or having just sprayed it, then IMO a slow process is far far better, taking off only small amounts with light buffing inbetween to see where you are.

Without paint depth guages or having just sprayed it, you really shouldnt be wet sanding IMO.

Heres an example of fail on a mk3....due to wet sanding....

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?619851-Whoops!&highlight=wet+sanding