julianaa

Hey guys, I just got my car out of the spray booth about a week or so ago and I was wondering how to wash this thing. First off, the car has some orange peel in the rear driver quarter panel and some on the door. When I got the car painted, I told them to put 2 extra coats of clear on it, and they did. So I guess my first thing is to get the orange peel off and then wash the car right? Wet sand it with 2000 then 3000?

And then how do I wash the car? Do I wash/polish/glaze/wax? Or should I just wash/glaze/wax, or just wash/wax? The paint is only a week old so I don't kno if I can wax it yet. Thanks for the help guys. Hopefully I can get the orange peel off and make the car shine as much as the front end does

boostedwagon

from what I understand and my limited experience with autobody, you should not wax the car within a month of it getting painted. However, to get the orange peel off, I would say start with 1500 and work up to 2000. Then you will polish it, seal it, and then wax it. Someone else can chime in if I am wrong.

jakeiscool

the reason you are told not to wax for a month on new paint is to let the solvents come out of all the layers. if you wax before they are out you will see bubbles and crap.

1. with onestep(singlestage color and clear) paintjobs i would def wait at least 3-4 weeks.

2. with regular paintjobs color+clear i would not be AS worried about waiting a month but unless you have a show to go to or your car is covered in mud or somehting i would wait about 2-3 weeks.

julianaa

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boostedwagon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">from what I understand and my limited experience with autobody, you should not wax the car within a month of it getting painted. However, to get the orange peel off, I would say start with 1500 and work up to 2000. Then you will polish it, seal it, and then wax it. Someone else can chime in if I am wrong.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea that's what I had understand too, to get rid of the orange peel. I had read to wetsand with 2000grit - 3M Rubbing compound - Wax. But I can't wax til at least a month after the paint job haha. So how should I go about that? Should I polish it, or use the rubbing compound? Or what? The guy where I got it painted from told me to wait 60 days to wax it...

WihaSi

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JakeIsCool &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the reason you are told not to wax for a month on new paint is to let the solvents come out of all the layers. if you wax before they are out you will see bubbles and crap.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, it's called solvent popping. Just wet sand it with 2000 grit, then use 3M rubbing compound (they make a really good water based compound), then after there is no dullness use 3M finishing glaze. If you step the compound down from a white foam pad (more abrasive, better cut) to a black foam pad, then use the finishing glaze on a new black foam pad you will have a really nice finish.

I'm sure a detailer or two (usually Erok or w/e) will get on here and tell you that you have to go through 15 different steps to buff it properly, but if you take your time, step the compound down with the 2 different pads, then use the finishing glaze you'll be fine, and you will have no swirl marks.

After buffing you can rub some hand glaze on it, it's almost like a wax but doesn't last very long. Usually it wears off in the rain.

DjMigs

Just something i was taught and will follow....Always start with the least aggresive...

So "only" buy some Meguiars Unigrit 4000, 3000,2000.....even if you have to special order it.....

remeber only work on one section @ a time and finish the complete step meaning wetsand check your work always if no more is needed then polish, polish, then pull vehicle out in the sun to check your work....

everybody has a preference but i would wait till a month to wetsand but thats just me....

like i said start with 4000grit check you work if it need more then move to 3000 and so forth...again always check your work it easy to remove clear hard to put back once it sanded to much.....by the way do you have ETG to check paint and do you have buffer to polish out the scratches....i dont like 3m polish but some do reason the have filler, i could suggest others but im sure your tring to get your items local so my suggestion would be Meguiars 85,84,83,80 and meguirs have three pads Burgundy(cutting pad) Yellow(Polishing pad) Tan(Finishing Pad)...remeber what i said and try the least aggressive method first and what i suggest is not in order you should try...Meguiarsonline.com(hopefully i spelled that correctly) will aid in more product info and can help you with whatever more questions arise again that only for there product...

GL

julianaa

Thanks a lot...that was very detail, from the both of you. I'll try it out and definitely post pics

powerflow

lol, I don't think a noob would have a MIL gauge, it would be worthless at this point. Yep, many different ways to this phase of a paint job. At least it sounds like you have enough clear build to work with. I would go around 2000 wet paper.... 3000 wet trizact on a DA....machine buff w/ 3m perfect it 3000....machine polish(high rpm random orbit) 3m easy clean up polish....

Pockets

you don't start with the least agressive, that makes no sense. following those steps would just make it harder to buff. anyways, you can use a breathable sealent that says it's safe for fresh paint (wizards makes some for example) and it's safe to put on the same day, assuming it was ran through a bake cycle.

julianaa

So do you guys suggest I do this like in little steps at a time first? Like do the door completely, wetsand-compound-glaze, and then the quarter panel, wetsand-compound-glaze. Or just both at the sametime?

RollinEk

When I was a detailer at a local bodyshop and I did the whole thing at once. Not to bash you or anything, I don't think you've done this too many times. I personally would do it a panel at a time to get the process down than work my way to bigger things. Be careful on your panel edges, they will be the first thing to burn through. Since you had the shop put 2 extra coats of clear on it, I would start with 1200-1500 then go to 2000+. Then compound it and glaze it. Biggest piece of advise i can tell you is to go slow and stay off the edges as much as possible. Going all 5000 RPm's doesnt make it any shinier than 1000 RPM's will, it will just be quicker.

julianaa

I've never done this before in my life That's why i'm asking all these questions, to make sure i'm doing it correctly I'll post before and after pictures, whenever I get this done...

Also, is it ok for me to glaze it since it's so fresh? And should I glaze the whole car over or just the panels that i'm working?

Genuine Rolla

I've heard that you shouldn't wax it at all until after 3 months have passed, so that it allows enough time for the paint to cure and all.

crxb16ftw

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by julianaa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've never done this before in my life That's why i'm asking all these questions, to make sure i'm doing it correctly I'll post before and after pictures, whenever I get this done...

Also, is it ok for me to glaze it since it's so fresh? And should I glaze the whole car over or just the panels that i'm working? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Glazing is fine but NO wax...and there is really no need to glaze a panel that you havent wetsanded and compounded...

Officer

I worked for a body shop.

After it was painted.

We used WATER AND SOAP.

holteimage

I just started painting for a living and through most of the training process we just sand sown the orange peel w/ 1500 and then polish it out.. It also really depends if your going for a glass finish or do you want a little bit of orange peel. if you don want orange peel it doesn't hurt to go 1000, 1500, and possibly 2000. be careful you are more likely to burn through the clear with all the steps.. like said always check the work for the dull spots..and stay away from the edges..
I would wait a couple months for wax.. just to be safe but that is just me..