Sanding questions

[ChuckN]

Hey guys and gals, from afar my paint looks passable but in reality there’s tons of old scuff marks, sanding scratches from apparent previous attempts (including some of my own during working with some patina preserver to make it more presentable) and it just looks like a$$.

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I don’t expect a show quality outcome, but I would like to have at least somewhat of a uniform appearance. What kind of wet sanding grit would you start with and end with? I have a cheap hobo freight orbital polisher but basically no experience.

Also what special tools or tricks do you use for the concave contours? I know I need to avoid the edges to keep from burning through the paint. The whole thing is complicated because I tried some VGG wipe on clear coat a couple years ago and it just turned out awful- “smeary” is the best way to describe.

Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions.

Signed,
A noobie (Chad)

 

[legopnuematic]

Depending on how much material (paint) thickness you have and how far you want to go (is cutting into the layer below/primer ok), I'd start with 800 and pretty quickly you should be able to determine if you can go to 1000 or down to 600, or continue with 800, depending on how much attention is required in that area. It's better to start finer than coarser.

You could start finer with the same (say 1000, 1200, etc) process and make the determination where to go from there.

A soft rubber or foam block works well to back the paper up with. A piece of PVC pipe with some 1/4" soft(er) foam adhered to it can be used on the curves.

How fine to go depends somewhat on how course you want to begin with the compound.

I had given my Dart a pretty quick wetsand with 1200 and buffed directly after the 1200, some might go to 1500, 2000, 3000 first before buffing.

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[ChuckN]

Thanks! Can’t go back once it’s removed so I’m guessing I’ll start with 1000, dry it off to have a good look, and go from there.

 

[ChuckN]

After your wet sand, what was your process to choose what cleaner/compound @legopnuematic ?

 

[legopnuematic]

I used Meguiar's Pro-speed compound, swirl remover 2.0, and then the show car glaze in that order.

I'm by no means a detailer, that's what Harbor Freight had at the time so that is why I used them.