Wet/colour sanding...

[Ducklakeview]

Ok,

I've now decided NOT to have my Zed painted, as I LOVE the look and colour now the 224's are on...

So, what I DO want to do, is to wet sand the paint, to get rid of the blemishes and few marks in it.

I have a DA, both air and electric, and also a 75mm air DA for tight spaces. Just looking to get a paint thickness gauge, as I know the car has had paint before..

So, my plan is to hit the whole car with 1500 wet on the DA, and then when I've removed the "peaks" and then to follow up with 3000 to remove the sanding marks.

I then want to go with megs 105 and then 205..

Anything else I need to know/'watch?

Mike

 

[Angelus666]

Do you have experience wet sanding before? I'm no expert, but a friend runs a bodyshop and you his advice is to get a good feel for it first before doing it on your own car...so probably worth getting a panel to practice on.

 

[Ducklakeview]

Do you have experience wet sanding before? I'm no expert, but a friend runs a bodyshop and you his advice is to get a good feel for it first before doing it on your own car...so probably worth getting a panel to practice on.

That'll be the Daughter's black Ka!

Mike

 

[Nictrix]

What I have always thought when reading about wet sanding is although you know the depth of paint using a gauge, how do you tell how much of this is paint and how much is lacquer? Especially if you have not owned the car from new and dont know if there has been any additional paint repairs done.
It must be extremely easy to sand through the lacquer and then need a respray.

 

[Ducklakeview]

From what I've read, wet sanding with an orbital (DA) machine, actually removes LESS clear coat than using polishing compound.. Typically 5um for a 2 stage sand, followed by 2 stage polish. Average mfr paint & clear thickness is about 80um, and if a car has been painted, expect between 120-160um, so plenty to play with.

Mike

 

[markeg]

Done this previously with a DA (G220) - only thing I'd recommend Mike is to do a panel at a time (rather than the whole car), take plenty of paint measurements, protect adjacent panels with tape/paper, and look out for the surface "flaming"; it's very easy to hit one of the plane curves on the wings and take too much off!

If you have any "chipsaway" type repairs, it does tend to remove those

Oh, and it gets very dusty!

 

[Ducklakeview]

Done this previously with a DA (G220) - only thing I'd recommend Mike is to do a panel at a time (rather than the whole car), take plenty of paint measurements, protect adjacent panels with tape/paper, and look out for the surface "flaming"; it's very easy to hit one of the plane curves on the wings and take too much off!

If you have any "chipsaway" type repairs, it does tend to remove those

Oh, and it gets very dusty!

Did you get a good result?

Mike

 

[markeg]

Sure did Only did the boot lid at first as it was scratched by some toerag resting bags on there (I think). I did a bit of paint correction for a couple of small chips, left it for a couple of weeks, then wet sanded the whole lid back. Still looking good even now, and it was about 3 years ago:



Have done a few more bits since then - was a wee bit scary doing wet sanding at first, but if you have an old panel just compare the DA with an orbital sander; orbital will take it down to the metal in no time, but a DA is very gentle on the surface.

 

[derin100]

Done this previously with a DA (G220) - only thing I'd recommend Mike is to do a panel at a time (rather than the whole car), take plenty of paint measurements, protect adjacent panels with tape/paper, and look out for the surface "flaming"; it's very easy to hit one of the plane curves on the wings and take too much off!

If you have any "chipsaway" type repairs, it does tend to remove those

Oh, and it gets very dusty!

Did you get a good result?

Mike

I've done it on a few cars now and most recently on my Alpina Roadster's bonnet as that definitely appeared to have had paint at some stage which I though could be improved. I must admit it was a bit scary to do the first time.

Do as Markeg says above, take your time and you should be fine. I must admit, I've done it each time without a paint thickness (mainly because I don't understand how they do or can work! :lol: ). I've probably erred on the side of caution too much but (thankfully) I haven't had a problem so far doing it.


P.S (off topic) I see you're in Lincolnshire Markeg? I've just recently moved to just a few miles outside of Lincoln (although I'm still working and renting a place here in Shropshire).

Where do you get your car serviced? Anyone good in the Lincoln area that you can recommend? Thanks

 

[markeg]

P.S (off topic) I see you're in Lincolnshire Markeg? I've just recently moved to just a few miles outside of Lincoln (although I'm still working and renting a place here in Shropshire).

Where do you get your car serviced? Anyone good in the Lincoln area that you can recommend? Thanks

Hi derin100 - welcome to Lincolnshire

I get my Alpina serviced at Sopers - they have an Alpina certified mechanic there. I used to get it done at Sytners in Nottingham, but that's just too far away. I used to get all non-service work done by a local garage as the guy used to race BMWs. He's since retired (he's only in his 40's) to concentrate on his racing, so I'm trying another local guy - he's been good so far, but he's only done some suspension work, so not sure how he'd be with the complex stuff.

 

[derin100]

P.S (off topic) I see you're in Lincolnshire Markeg? I've just recently moved to just a few miles outside of Lincoln (although I'm still working and renting a place here in Shropshire).

Where do you get your car serviced? Anyone good in the Lincoln area that you can recommend? Thanks

Hi derin100 - welcome to Lincolnshire

I get my Alpina serviced at Sopers - they have an Alpina certified mechanic there. I used to get it done at Sytners in Nottingham, but that's just too far away. I used to get all non-service work done by a local garage as the guy used to race BMWs. He's since retired (he's only in his 40's) to concentrate on his racing, so I'm trying another local guy - he's been good so far, but he's only done some suspension work, so not sure how he'd be with the complex stuff.

Thanks Markeg !

I normally steer away from Main-dealers (certainly my local one where I've lived for the last 15 years) but I had actually heard good things about Sopers. So I'll give them a try when the time comes. Thanks again.