I think if you started out with an 800 grit sanding disk you and the owner would be very surprised by the results (in a good way)
#800 grit? Really? That's REALLY aggressive.
Too aggressive in my opinion for a factory finish especially an older factory finish. Also too aggressive for anyone that doesn't have any experience wetsanding.
To use such a low grit you would also then have to follow this with less aggressive sanding papers to refine and remove the deep #800 grit sanding marks so at some point a person could then safely buff out the last set of sanding marks.
All that sanding and then compounding and then polishing is a recipe for an accident of factory hard and factory thin paint.
The only people I know that use sandpaper that aggressive are painters that purposefully sprayed extra clear on on a custom paint job so they know they have the material or film-build to sand on safely as they work through the sanding process for a show car finish.
Boat detailers might also use sandpaper this aggressive and people prepping molds in the fiberglas industry. Others that use this aggressive of a paper would be people sanding really bad aluminum.
If this truck has the factory paint and it's a "Daily Driver", then the most aggressive I would get is #3000 by machine. Anything more aggressive than this might remove more of the scratches but it's going to leave whisper thin layer of clear behind and it's just a daily driver.
I have never wetsanded and I am slightly intimidated by it.
The whole truck is bombarded with swirls by a detailer down the street he's been taking it to for years and I think this is an opportunity to upsell some correction work.
So the truck has already been buffed by others before you and this means others before you have already removed a measurable amount of the factory clear coat.
This means what's left is thinner that what came from the factory and too thin to sand safely.
I've had a client ask me if I can tackle this:
The most aggressive thing I have is CG's AIO.
I don't do much more than swirl removal so this is new to me.
Will I need a compound to tackle this? I have a PC with LC pads.
Couple of comments and then a suggestion...
First, it's hard to tell from the picture but just taking a guess from the picture and the information presented so far in this thread, this truck looks like,
A: A daily driver work truck.
B: An older truck.
C: A truck that has been worked on for some measure of time by other detailers.
Taking all three points above and the products and experience you listed, here's what you could do and here's what I would do...
First...
Educate your customer...
Grab a
3M Post-it Note and explain to him that the factory clear layer of paint is
thinner than the post-it note and have him hold the post-it note between his fingers like I show in my how-to book.
This will DRIVE HOME THE POINT of how thin the ORIGINAL factory paint was then explain it's probably thinner now due to being detailed over the years.
Then explain that all the UV protection is in the clear layer, the less clear, the less UV protection and the greater the risk for clear coat failure down the road. Point out to him a car with clear coat failure so he can "see" what that term means.
By doing the above you will haven just,
A: Educated your customer.
B: Separated yourself from your competition by showing your customer you actually"know something" about this trade.
C: Will have done him a huge favor by educating him even if you don't do the work.
Second...
Under promise and over deliver.
You do this by saying this,
Because the clear layer of paint is thin and this is your daily driver work truck, I know how to safely buff this section of paint to make these scratches a LOT LESS NOTICEABLE but without removing so much paint as to burn through it or creating a greater risk for clear coat failure down the road.
Right now the scratches are VERY visible because when a clear layer of paint is scratched the scratches are OPAQUE and with a dark color under the clear it makes the scratches very easy to see and even unsightly.
By safely compounding the area and the polishing and waxing you'll make the majority of scratches visible disappear to the point that any owner of a daily driver after you have educated them be able to live with what's leftover.
You'll look like the hero and the truck will look good.
If you don't have a compound, then get either the M105 or the UC and buff this area using a foam cutting pad. Then you can either polish it with a less aggressive polish and then seal with a wax or paint sealant or you could just follow the compounding step with a one-step cleaner/wax.
If you haven't read my article below, take a moment to read through it and I think you'll see how it makes sense to match your services to your customer.
A few tips on starting a part-time detailing business
Match your services to your customer
Since you've never wetsanded before, don't use a customer's vehicle to learn and practice wetsanding. Get a junker panel from a salvage yard or a body shop and learn on something that won't matter if you make a mistake.
Do you own a rotary buffer? If not, then you shouldn't be wetsanding a customer car anyways as factory hard paints can be very difficult to remove sanding marks out of 100% using a DA Polisher or by hand. You also don't want to be practicing how to use a rotary buffer to remove sanding marks on a customer car.
KISS - Keep it Simple Simon
Under promise and over deliver and you'll be doing your customer a favor and you'll be taking the safe approach for doing the repair work on this truck.
There's a huge difference between working on a daily driver and a show car or a Special Interest Vehicle and part of masting the craft of detailing is knowing how to determine what is what.
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