wet sanding - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

NightRydaSS · 09-04-2007, 05:13 PM

I have been thinking about wet sanding my paint to clean it up a little bit. My friend did it to his car and it turned out awesome, looked like a new paint job.

Anything tricks to this? What grit should i use (1000 or 2000)? and right way or wrong way to do it?

camaro2you · 09-04-2007, 08:10 PM

the highest in coarseness i would go would be 1500, work your way up from there.

NightRydaSS · 09-04-2007, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camaro2you

the highest in coarseness i would go would be 1500, work your way up from there.

i don't mean to correct you, but wouldn't that be the lowest? Like start out w/ 1500 and work my way up? I just want to make sure i understand you correctly.

How high should i go? Should i cap it at 2000? The thing is i have a beater now, and i can really sit back and decide what direction i want to go w/ the car. There is so much i wanna do: suspension, ultra-z body kit, new paint job, rear work, and engine work...maybe even the ZL402 crate from SLP. My paint aint that bad, just a few imperfections due to 6 yrs of DD. So if i can make it last a few more yrs before it def needs to be resprade then that is what i would like to do.

Im wondering if there are any "tricks" in doin this tha i don't know about, like anything to advoid doin. I HAVE wet sanded before, but mine wasn't the "wet sand" you were goin to see.

i would guess side-side, NOT swirling or anything? How far do i go w/ the 1500 before i switch to the 2000? I don;'t want to sand through the clear, i just want to clean it up.

camaro2you · 09-04-2007, 09:35 PM

Well the higher that you go in number the more fine it is so its less coarse, and yes you are correct either side to side or up and down it doesnt matter just dont swirl it, and you can look at it and see how fast it goes down. Once you knock most of the peal off you can go up to 2000, theres no need to go up to 3000 the polish and buffer you use should take out the scratches from the 2000.

johnjzjz · 09-05-2007, 07:14 AM

this article has some good info it was on this site before -- jz

http://www.type2.com/library/body/saprep.htm

HardcoreZ28 · 09-05-2007, 12:30 PM

If you've never done it before I'd start with 1500 and work up to 2000. Use LOTS of water and put a little dish soap in it. Do one section at a time. Put the paper on a rubber squeege and keep a second one handy. Sand an area and wipe the water off with the second squeege and you can see if you have any areas you didn't get. Be VERY careful not to go through the clear when you're sanding and also when you buff it back up after. It's easier than you think to screw it up. Good luck!

Blackbirdws6 · 09-08-2007, 05:50 AM

As mentioned by the others, be very cautious when doing this. Applying even pressure and going light will be the key to having this work out for ya. Without knowing the depth of the paint, I would advise going with the 1500 to start however don't go nuts with it. You will notice a difference almost immediately with that grit on the clear so take your time and don't rush. Make sure to use plenty of water with a little bit of soap and continually dip that sand paper in the bucket of water. Don't let it go dry on you.

It's going to look like you screwed it up after your done wetsanding but grab a good orbital buffer (easy to work with than rotary) and start polishing. Again, less aggressive is better for people new to this process. You would much rather go over a panel twice or three times than ruin it once with a very aggressive polish.

Good luck

-Brian