Wet Sanding

[True-Blue]

So the Mrs car, ‘Project Shoestring’ is still un-drivable until the new diff gets fitted next Friday, so I thought I’d tackle the bonnet.

I’m used to bmw paint being hard, but for some reason the paint on this car is very, very hard. I decided wet sanding was the way to go, having done this in the past, but didn’t take too many photo’s.

In fact the only photo I took of the wet sanding stage was after an initial pass with 2500 paper. As can clearly be seen, this did very little to remove 15 years of swirl marks and other defects. so I did another pass with 1500, which produced much better results, before a second pass with 2500 to refine.

It’s many years since I’ve wet sanded, and I should have just started with 1000 and refined with 3000 but anyway…

This is the single pass with 2500;

D9675C97-82DB-442A-A210-68D0B04C9703.jpeg (88.25 KiB) Viewed 933 times

So the final result after cutting with Meg’s 101 and refining with Sonax 4-6 is this;

BC9301B9-F949-4869-87CD-94C9DDC5F685.jpeg (159.2 KiB) Viewed 933 times

I’ve got a few bits on the way from auto.doc for the car, can’t wait to see the Mrs pottering about it this once it’s done

[IRD]

I’m sure you will get it sorted. I wouldn’t have the courage to wet sand. Knowing me I’d be through to metal before you could blink. Look forward to seeing it when you have finished.

[Special Kay]

Wow you got that result from wet sanding and polishing? Initially, I thought it was a mirror. Hats off to you sir, that's incredible work Did you use a rotary or a DA?

[Silverstar]

Now that is some result! it takes some skill not to go through the lacquer, ask me how

[True-Blue]

Thanks all, the polisher is a FLEX 4’’ pad , 12mm ‘long throw’ DA. Lovely little machine, just a little small for panels of this size but has excellent cut and is very smooth with minimal vibration

I did the Wet sanding by hand, not that brave.

I got very lucky and picked it up brand new for £150 from FB market place.

[Jellyfishfields]

Looks great, top work

[Rickg3]

I don't know how you've got the kohoona's to wet sand mate, but the results are truly fantastic. More pictures would be good. I take my hat off to you, well done.

[Beedub]

i do this pretty much weekly at work and its definitely not for the faint hearted. I remember a job where i was asked to wet sand a brand new 458 bonnet that had etch marks all over it.... that tested me i use air powered machines with a foam interface between trizac disc to the D/A sander. This will give you a really nice even sand, by hand i find its near impossible to get a perfectly even sanding as your hand pressure is never constant ( smallr and more intricate areas i tend to do by hand with a sanding block ) . i like to start with a 1500 and refine with a 3k, once you've hit it with the 3k you can almost see the reflection coming back. The work it out with the various polishing machines, im always impressed how little sanding actually uses of the clearcoat if done correctly.

Great work OP.

[True-Blue]

i do this pretty much weekly at work and its definitely not for the faint hearted. I remember a job where i was asked to wet sand a brand new 458 bonnet that had etch marks all over it.... that tested me i use air powered machines with a foam interface between trizac disc to the D/A sander. This will give you a really nice even sand, by hand i find its near impossible to get a perfectly even sanding as your hand pressure is never constant ( smallr and more intricate areas i tend to do by hand with a sanding block ) . i like to start with a 1500 and refine with a 3k, once you've hit it with the 3k you can almost see the reflection coming back. The work it out with the various polishing machines, im always impressed how little sanding actually uses of the clearcoat if done correctly.

Great work OP.

Many thanks,

I did achieve a more consistent finish after dropping to 1500 then back to 2500, but didn’t take any pics. A bonnet is a large area to wet sand by hand, but the paint was so etched I thought I’d risk taking off too much clear coat if I tired to sort it by DA only.

The point you make about removing relatively little clear coat is also an excellent one, in the ‘stage one’ sanded pic above heavy swirls are still clearly visible, so the removal of clear coat at this stage was insufficient to even remove swirls.

I agree though, definitely not for the feint hearted

[True-Blue]

I don't know how you've got the kohoona's to wet sand mate, but the results are truly fantastic. More pictures would be good. I take my hat off to you, well done.

I think Beedub’s post adds a bit of perspective, wet-sanding looks scary, especially before you polish the clarity back but if you’re careful you can remove less clear coat than with a DA, and definitely than a rotary

[Mr Tidy]

That's a fantastic result.

You're much braver than me!

[Beedub]

I don't know how you've got the kohoona's to wet sand mate, but the results are truly fantastic. More pictures would be good. I take my hat off to you, well done.

I think Beedub’s post adds a bit of perspective, wet-sanding looks scary, especially before you polish the clarity back but if you’re careful you can remove less clear coat than with a DA, and definitely than a rotary

absolutely correct, i can wet sand a panel and use LESS clear than hitting it with the D/A with a micro-fibre or wool pad and Definitely less than a rotary machine. i will always do as the customer asks but for my own vehicles id rather go with a softer pad and have some minor swirling than shoot for a glass like finish....For me Detailing is NOT about perfection, its about reaching a fantastic finish using as little clear as possible, minor imperfections are acceptable , but of course their are many customers that ask me to shoot for glass zero orange peel finish.