I'm thinking of wet sanding some of the scratches out of the clear on my car, they're not too bad but they look like crap on a black car :smash: . I tried on one small one already with 2000 grit and some scratch out and it turned out pretty good but it kinda left a dip (like a wave) in the clear, does this mean I can't do the scratches individually without seeing this on each one and that I have to do the entire panel for it to be wave free? Any tips on how to and materials would be much appreciated. Thanks all :cheers:

 

i to am interested in this answere

 

Are the scratches too deep to be buffed out?

 

Since no one has responded yet, I'll give you my opinion. I'm not an expert, but I've taken an Autobody course at a local techinical highschool several years ago and I put in over 400 hours doing bodywork on my old '86 camaro. And I've read several books on the subject. That said,
I personally would not take a piece of sandpaper (2000 grit or whatever) and rub it on my vette's paint. Because, well, when a car is first painted (clear coat/base coat), orange peal usually results in the clear coat from the spray hitting the surface. WHEN THE CLEAR COAT IS SOFT, wetsanding can remove the orange peal. You are actually removing a layer of clear coat when you do this. Years go by, the paint is no longer soft, it's very dense and hard. Wetsanding a seasoned paint job by a non-professional (even by some pros) is risky business. Black is beautiful (I had my '86 camaro painted raven black), but it shows every darn swirl mark and spider web scratch. Why not take your car to a professional detailer and talk to him about buffing the car professionally. They will use high speed buffers and micro-cutting compounds that will remove most scraches in the clear coat. If you have really deep scratches, take it to a bodyshop for a repaint estimate. But wetsanding, :nono: :nono: . That's only my opinion.

Good luck,

Bob

 

Im sure you have figured out that this can be tricky, especially on a black car. Often, scratches can be buffed out without sanding. However, if sanding is required then my best advise is to not sand with just your fingers on the paper. Get a small rubber block or pad (3M makes these, Not the large rubber blocks) and wrap the paper around it. You should also soak the paper in a bucket of clean water, with a drop of liquid detergent such as Dawn, for 10 minutes before sanding. This will loosten the paper up and the detergent will lubricate the paper against the surface. When sanding, use 2000 grit or finer. Sand parallel with the body. Using the block, you will take an equal amount of material off of the area surrounding the scratch. Feather this area out a few inches from the scratch. Keep the area wet while sanding. Sand for just a few strokes and check your work. I use a small squeegie to dry the area to see if the imperfection is removed. The factory clear is very thin, so use caution so you don't sand through it. Once the area is flat and free from scratches, then comes the buffing. I use 3M pads. The first pad is the 3M compounding foam pad(white in color). You will need either the 3M compound or Meguiars No. 2 Fine cut cleaner. Buff until the sanding scratches are gone. You will then need to switch to a polishing pad to get rid of the swirls. I use the 3M foam polishing pad (black in color) with Meguiars No. 9 Swirl remover. Apply this with the buffer and work it until it is almost dry. Remove the rest with a clean terry cloth towel. You will probably want to go over the area a few times with the swirl remover. Then mist the area with a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water to remove any residue left behind. Check the area for swirl marks. If there are none, now is the time to use a glaze or wax to protect the area. This is alot of work, but the results are stunning. :D

 

I was in the body and paint business for about 8 years. I was a painter and body man as well as the manager after about 4 years. My question is are you using a pad in-between the sandpaper. If you even have to think about this you are not using one. If you are not the reason that you have the dip in the clear is due to he groove that you fingers made (with out a soft even pad). You were sanding the clear unevenly. You MUST have a wet sanding pad to achieve the best results. If you just use your hand you will have grooves all over the place. If you have to color sand, the scratch is pretty bad and you should have a pro do it. The reason is you may burn through the clear either with the sand paper or the buffer. Hope this helps.

 

Good advice from 91 tpi-zf.
I wet-sanded my black 91, all the upper surfaces. There was a good bit of pollution etching from the previous owner. I tried the various polishes and cleaners before deciding to wet-sand.
If you choose wet-sand, put masking tape on the edges and curves to keep from going through the clear & paint. Change paper often. I switched between using my hand to a block depending on contours of surface.
I used the 3M products as well. I especially like the results from the Swirl Mark Remover for Dark cars.
Just don't get in a hurry; do one panel at a time. Spread your work out over a few weekends. Rinsing and changing the paper is the key. Nothing courser than 1500 is needed, even for really bad spots. 2000 is best as mentioned.

 

Thanks for the responses all, looks like I knew just enough to be a danger to the paint on my car. :lol: But hey, I didn't claim to be a paint and body expert, I just like to try to do all the work on my car (keeps me from paying someone to mess it up. :eek: But I believe this time I may bow out and visit the local shop for an estimate as I'd hate to mess up a good paint job. :cheers:

 

If you do not have any experience in wet sanding and buffing DO NOT TOUCH IT! I think that blk91 will agree this is not a job for the inexperienced. Corvettes with the original paint were painted with 2 coats of sealer (the black primer) 2 coats of color and only 2 coats of clear.

It doesn't take much to either sand thru or buff thru the clearcoat. One other thing, with so little paint on the car and you don't know how many times it has had a buffer on the finish, how much fade from the sun,= how much of the original thickness is left.

Wet sanding and buffing should be left to the bodyshops and detail shops.

 

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