I have been trying for the last couple of weekends to completely strip of any wax in preperation for Zaino. I have several very small spots of sometghing on my hood. These spots are raised and if I scrap them with my finger nail, I can scrap off some of the spot but not enogh. I tried wax remover, a scotch brite pad, accitone (spell?) and repeated washing. They are still there. So my bright idea was to use some 600 grit sand paper and wet sand it. I did this in 5 or 6 spots and it got rid of most of the spot (keep in mid I have these spots across my whole hood and the spots are about 2 milimeters round) everything looked ok as long as I had the water running. Of course as soon as I went to dry it, I now have 6 very dull spots where I'm sure I removed the clear coat. I'm not stupid and should have known better but these damn spots have been driving me crazy for years. Anyway, I tried polishing compound and wax and they still look very dull. Is there anything I can do short of having a body shop fix this? :banghead: :banghead:

 

Bummer :rolleyes:

 

:iagree:
600 might have been a bit course....don't they make like 2000 grit for wet sanding?

 

Have it buffed with a very light cut compound.

 

:iagree: However, if you want to do it yourself, I'd follow the suggestion for picking up some 1500 or 2000 grit sandpaper and smooth it out some with that. Then use the rubbing/polishing compound with plenty of elbow grease; it will probably take a few repetitions. You won't need the wax to restore this. Just keep polishing until it looks nice... you probably didn't do as much damage as you think.

Best of luck!

 

600grit :banghead: Too coarse. Try to touch it up lightly with some 2000, then you're going to need to buff it really good. I would recommend some 3m swirl mark remover, it works wonders. After the buffing, you're going to have to strip those areas again, the compound will leave oils. Good luck, hopefully you didn't break through the clear. Does any color come off on the cloth when you rub it? How about when wetsanding, any color on the paper, or in the water?


[Modified by JCAIRE2, 4:12 PM 7/19/2003]

 

[QUOTE]600grit :banghead: Too coarse. Try to touch it up lightly with some 2000, then you're going to need to buff it really good. I would recommend some 3m swirl mark remover, it works wonders. After the buffing, you're going to have to strip those areas again, the compound will leave oils. Good luck, hopefully you didn't break through the clear. Does any color come off on the cloth when you rub it? How about when wetsanding, any color on the paper, or in the water?

No color on the sand paper. Do I use polishing compound and then the swirl remover or just the remover? :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

 

If you don't see any color, then you didn't go all the way through the clear coat... good news! In my experience, the swirl remover isn't as "strong" as the polishing/rubbing compound... so that just means it will probably take a lot more work on your part to get the job done if you use the swirl remover instead of the polishing compound.

 

Always start out with the LEAST aggressive compound first! Your also in a kind of "special" situation where you probably have VERY little clear left to work with in those areas. Usually, clear is ~.5mil thick, not much room for error, and from what I have experienced with my own vette, the clear might be even thinner.

I would try these steps:
Wetsand with 2000 VERY GENTLY, hopefully these areas are flat, and you can use a RUBBER block, do NOT use a wood block, you can get away with a sponge as a block if you have no other choice. If the area is not flat, you will have to be VERY careful when you're working the paper or you could damage it further.

Try the 3m swirl remover, this will definately take some elbow grease if you don't have a random orbital polisher. DO NOT use a rotary or drill buffer for this. Apply the SMR with your favorite applicator, and rub until it begins to "dust up" around the edges of the area you are working. Just keep rubbing until you start to see dried dusty residue around the edge. Then wipe off and REMOVE the oil left behind so you get to see the actual work area, not the work area filled with oils from the SMR. Do this 3 or 4 times.

If no noticable improvement, move on to a light duty rubbing compound. Try the compound a few times, and if it's still not working, move on to the next more aggressive compound. Then once you reach a compound that is removing the scratches, use that to remove the majority of the scratches, then step up to the next lightest compound you have. Repeat until you're back to finishing up with the SMR.

Then just for kicks, hit it again with the SMR and leave the oils on the paint and cover with your favorite wax, just to see how it looks. You're going to have to strip everything again anyway, and a little wax beforehand will help you determine how it looks compared to the rest of the finish.

Also, you should do all the previous steps under harsh lighting if at all possible. The REAL finish freaks keep halogen worklights on hand, since they really make the imperfections stand out.

After you get the finish to where you are satisfied, strip and move on to the zaino regimen.

Good luck, I hope everything works out in your favor. :cheers:


Edited for clarity and spelling.


[Modified by JCAIRE2, 5:57 PM 7/19/2003]

 

Someone please tell a dummy (me) how do you wet-sand? And how does it not scratch? Sounds like any sanding would scratch paint all to heck, regardless of how fine the grit... :confused:

 

It does scratch the finish, but the scratches are so fine you'd be hard pressed to see them without a loupe. Wetsanding is only the first of MANY steps to a perfect finish. Of course if you have a random orbital rotary polisher, you're set.

 

The only thing I've found to absolutely, positively remove every microscopic bit of wax from a car is straight ammonia and a sponge followed by a vigorous wash with dishwashing soap like Dawn.

I learned this trick when some vandal poored liquid floor wax all over my car during the night and it was hard as a rock in the morning. I tried 409 and all the cleaners and all the solvents. My mom stripped her floors with ammonia so I gave it a try and it melted the floor wax off quickly without hurting any part of the car. The only part that was damaged was a spot where I used M.E.K. to try and get get the wax off with no results.

BTW, M.E.K. is the second strongest solvent known to man. Nitromethane is the first.

Good luck,
BIG JIM


[Modified by BIG JIM 54, 6:48 PM 7/19/2003]

 

Below is a link to the 3M website which may help you. http://www.3m.com/us/auto_marine_aer...ns/index.jhtml

600 grit paper was OK when cars were painted with lacquer or enamel 20 years ago but for the new catalized urathane enamel, you should be using 1500 - 2000 grit.

The clear coat can take more sanding than you think. If you only sanded enough to get the gunk off the paint, you probably just dulled the clear cost. Since I can't see it, I don't know for sure.

What I recommend is wet sand it with 2000 grit, use 3m Finess It II, followed by 3M glazing compound, then Zaino. See the details on the 3M website for intructions. I would not recommend machine sanding but highly recommend using a 1800 rpm circular buffer with a wool bonnet followed by a foam pad for the glazing compound.

 

Allright I took everyones advice! I bought an orbital polisher and some 3M rubbing compound and the dull areas look good as new :party: However, I still have the original problems of the small spots and I am now wondering if they could be the clear coat :confused: I have seen a lot of cars where the clear coat has started to lift but these are spread across most of the hood and look more like rain drops (in size and splatter) than any thing else. I propably will just leave them untill I can get the care repainted (like thats going to happen anytime soon). Once again thanks to everyone for the advice!!!!!!!!!!!

 

methyl ethol ketone is strong but not second strongest ...trust me on this i work in a chemical plant :crazy: there are far worse things than that such as methylene chloride ...bad bad stuff ...especially for paints.. :cheers:

 

Just some FYI......acetone will eat your paint..........
Why would you use this???????? I know you are kidding us......Right????
tony
:confused: :confused:


[Modified by oldace84, 3:28 PM 7/29/2003]

 

Before you do anything... think about what steps a normaly body shop would use to wet sand a car and then buff it to perfection.

They will wet sand the hold car then buff it out with some compound and a good buffer.... the only difference is they do this with freshely painted cars.

since your car hasn't been painted freshly, this will be harder and you have to be carefull not to over buff the paint or else you will go straigh through the clear coat and straigh to the paint..
:banghead:


wet sand with some 2000 grain a bit more, then buff with some conpound and a good buffer, then apply that 3m swirl remover.

keep in mind the swirl remover will only remove swirls left by the compound buffing.. not the fadded spots left by your 600 grain sanding.

Its the compound that will get ride of the fadded spots.

If this doenst' work.... take out the $ and go see a shop to have it repainted.

 

Have you owned the car its whole life?

If not, then the car may hae been parked under a tree or power line for some time. Bird dropping may have set on the finish for weeks at a time. This will damage your finish. Also, are the splotches oblong?

 

I would try claying before wet sanding. If you have something like overspray, it will come out great and save you a lot of work. I had a car painted several years ago with lacquer and did the buffing myself. It looked great, but was a tremendous amount of work.

 

Do yourself a big favor and get a good orbital polisher, such as a Porter Cable. Your problem should be easily taken care of, and you can tell the so called "professional" detailers to go away :thumbs: