sanding Q

[sonyman87]

169k miles on the car and its not as white as what it used to be. I pulled the pinstrip about 7 months ago and i have this nice bright white line that goes down the side of my car.

 

the plan:

 

Im going to wet sand with 2000grit paper to bring the luster back out. is this a really bad idea or a smart one? im kinda scared im going to sand down to metal and have to put chip paint on also if i do would i have to reapply clearcoat?

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

You can wetsand with 2000 or even 1500 grit, just do small sections at a time with constant water. Make sure the area is clean (duh). Feel it with your hand as you sand and when its smooth then move on. Also be careful around curves, and don't sand near edges such as on the hood or what-not.. the paint there is thin and you risk sanding through the clearcoat/paint.

 

You might want to try a heavy-duty rubbing compound instead, with a buffer. That stuff can do wonders. There is also that claybar stuff which I have not tried out yet so I don't know how effective it would be at removing years of wear on the paint.

 

Lastly buff with some polish, and wax.

[godofthunder]

ehh, im never a fan of sanding a car with a clearcoat, or really sanding in general unless removing bunches of paint. I wouldnt even use rubbing compound. If at most, just a really abrasive machine applied polish.

 

jon

[GnatGoSplat]

Try buffing and claybar first. Sanding as a last desperate effort.

[Baddflash]

Go get yourself some Meguires fine-cut cleaning compund and a low rpm buffer, you'd be amazed at the difference. I guarantee you'll have an amazing improvement even if you do it by hand (not reccommended).

If it'll make a 39 year old paint job look like new I'm sure it'll work on your car.

 

A good hand polish after and it should be good as new.

 

Sanding not reccommended it's to easy to cause damage and ruin a perfectly good paint job.

[sonyman87]

Sanding not reccommended it's to easy to cause damage and ruin a perfectly good paint job.

 

i hate to say it but my 88 lebaron has a better and more glossy paint job. i Hate white cars! i had 4 people pull out infront of me today and im pissed b/c i can already see breakdust building on my clean rims (new breaks under 300miles)

 

im going to try rubbing compound first. I have some and used it 2x on my dads truck to bring back the fire truck red shine but it still dull looking unles its wet. Thats the reasons i was considering sanding. Ill go buy some new rubbing compound tomarrow

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

I used rubbing compound on the t-bird when we had it, and it did a great job. I'd definatly recommend it to use first. It might still look dull though (cause rubbing compound has gritty stuff in it, almost like a 2000+ grit sandpaper) so you should also use a good polish with a buffer and then wax it for a good shine.

[godofthunder]

yeah, again, i wouldnt even start that abrasive. Use a normal hand polish, or if you have some money, get a buffer and get a mid grade machine applied pollish.

[conley3.1]

It'd probably take you forever to sand down to the metal with 2000 grit, like, a long, long time. So, you probably don't have to worry about that.

[Guest Anonymous]

Talk to this guy.

 

http://www.TheDetailingBible.com

[patgizz]

It'd probably take you forever to sand down to the metal with 2000 grit, like, a long, long time. So, you probably don't have to worry about that.

 

you arent worried about going to metal in this case, you are worried about cutting thru the clear, which is simple to do