How often can you wet sand?

queens guy

queens guy

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So my Murano has a few scratches etc and paint did not look good So i wet sanded almost 50% of the car (where needed) and compounded/polished the best. Results are amazing but how many times or how often can you wet sand before you get down to the paint?
 
Not a lot. Figure that your average paint is thinner then a post-it note. You have 3 layers of paint base, color, clear. Keep in mind that the paint is not the same thickness all the way around. The panel edges are thinner then center of a panel. You should only wet sand if polishing by machine will not fix the defect. If you do wet sand I would get a paint thickness gauge so you can measure as you sand.
Now that you have perfect paint make sure you practice good up keep. The less it's touched the less chance of inducing marring. Practice good washing methods, removing spot dirt (bird bombs leaves and the such.) Keep quality protection on your paint and use good MF towels and tools.
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Hats off to you if you did all this without a whoops!


What type of sandpaper did you use? #grit level?

What kind compound, pad and tool did you use?


Did you remove 100% of all sanding marks?



:)
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Hi Mike I stated with 2000 and finished with 3000 grit. I used the the Hex orange pad for first pass and the the MF for 2-3 more compound passes. I then used the MF pad for polish. Yes sir I got all scratches out with no issues. I used Mags 105/205 and finished off with Pinnacle Souverän Paste Wax and Pinnacle Crystal Mist Detail Spray. I did not seal it yet as I still have to fix a some chips on the hood and passenger side. Once I am done then I will polish it again and seal it before winter around October.

Results were perfect!!! I did take my time and it showed with end result.
 
Might be a good idea to apply a coating before sealing
 
Calendyr said:
Might be a good idea to apply a coating before sealing
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yes i will i just needed to correct my paint because the whole car has swirls and lots of chips/scratches. so I just wanted to correct it then after fix the chips and finally seal it.

I live in apartment so I can only detail when I visit my parents house and usually its only a few hours at a time so I have to do it in chunks.
 
Sounds good.

Starting at #2000 probably saved your butt. Going any lower than than on a factory finish and you're getting into risky territory as factor paint is just thin to start with.

If it were my car... I probably wouldn't sand it again and try not to have to compound the horizontal surfaces, wash her carefully and regularly maintain.



:dblthumb2:
 
I find this to be a horrible idea if you are going to be daily driving the car. There is no reason your daily driver needs to have show quality paint when its going to get scratched again. Factory clears are just too thin. If you had an aftermarket paint job and had more than enough clear to spare I see no problem with this. Idk I tend to air on the side of caution when working with factory clear coats.

On daily drivers I really dont like going to wet sanding. I feel the car is better off to saving as much clear as possible.

But since you have already done it well done not making a mistake! I would highly recommend that you apply a coating to give you more protection.
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Sounds good.

Starting at #2000 probably saved your butt. Going any lower than than on a factory finish and you're getting into risky territory as factor paint is just thin to start with.

If it were my car... I probably wouldn't sand it again and try not to have to compound the horizontal surfaces, wash her carefully and regularly maintain.



:dblthumb2:
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OK but what would you do if the car gets other scratches after I wet sand it? leave it and live with it or get it repainted? assuming i can't buff it out first.
 
Now that it has been wet sanded, if it is a daily driver, I would live with a few little scratches rather than risk sanding again. You don't want to be one of the weekly "did I sand through my clear?!?" threads.
 
queens guy said:
yes i will i just needed to correct my paint because the whole car has swirls and lots of chips/scratches. so I just wanted to correct it then after fix the chips and finally seal it.

I live in apartment so I can only detail when I visit my parents house and usually its only a few hours at a time so I have to do it in chunks.
Click to expand...

I think you misunderstand. What I am suggesting you do is not apply a sealant. It's to apply a coating.

Detailer’s Paint Coating, nano paint sealant, ceramic paint coating, nano paint coating

Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 Permanent Paint Coating

A coating is a permanent layer of protection that acts like an other layer of clearcoat in a way. Then you can seal the paint as you normally would every few months with a synthetic wax like powerlock or any other quality product.
 
queens guy said:
OK but what would you do if the car gets other scratches after I wet sand it? leave it and live with it or get it repainted? assuming i can't buff it out first.
Click to expand...

How do you get these scratches?
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Sounds good.

Starting at #2000 probably saved your butt. Going any lower than than on a factory finish and you're getting into risky territory as factor paint is just thin to start with.

If it were my car... I probably wouldn't sand it again and try not to have to compound the horizontal surfaces, wash her carefully and regularly maintain.



:dblthumb2:
Click to expand...

:iagree:Plus Nissan has thinner paint than most.
 
queens guy said:
OK but what would you do if the car gets other scratches after I wet sand it? leave it and live with it or get it repainted? assuming i can't buff it out first.
Click to expand...


What mavin said below...

mavin said:
Now that it has been wet sanded, if it is a daily driver, I would live with a few little scratches rather than risk sanding again. You don't want to be one of the weekly "did I sand through my clear?!?" threads.
Click to expand...


Zapa said:
I find this to be a horrible idea if you are going to be daily driving the car. There is no reason your daily driver needs to have show quality paint when its going to get scratched again. Factory clears are just too thin. If you had an aftermarket paint job and had more than enough clear to spare I see no problem with this. Idk I tend to air on the side of caution when working with factory clear coats.

On daily drivers I really dont like going to wet sanding. I feel the car is better off to saving as much clear as possible.

But since you have already done it well done not making a mistake! I would highly recommend that you apply a coating to give you more protection.
Click to expand...


And I agree with what said above, in fact I think I have an article on this...

Wetsanding - Fresh Paint vs Factory Paint



Plus, the more clear you remove the less UV inhibitors are left to protect the entire matrix of paint over the service life of the car. See my comments in this article,

Beginning Clearcoat Failure



What is done is done... now wash it carefully like I describe in my how-to book...

Detailing How-To Book and Detailing How-To E-book by Mike Phillips




:)
 
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