Hi everyone. I wanted to wet sand and polish to get out some minor scratches and swirls. wet sanded with some 3m 2000grit paper with block. and polished with some meguries final cut(not sure if this was the right stuff to use or not.) but any ways it didnt turn out bad i notice a little diff but nothing big. Is there anything i can do to improve my results. the polish is a pain in the a$$ to remove, next time i will rent a high speed buffer. here are some pics.

before









After

Let me know what you guys think.

 

I think a high quality polish and buffer will get 90% if not more of that out.

 

hey civicman86 i totally agree with you. here is the compound i used. I think it's the 2nd part of a three part system(i think) this is all i used. i applyed with an applicator pad. and removed with a microfiber towel.

 

You defiantly need a buffer to properly break down the compound. Get a Porter Cable and some Lake Country pads and go to town

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Civicman86 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You defiantly need a buffer to properly break down the compound. Get a Porter Cable and some Lake Country pads and go to town </TD></TR></TABLE>
x2

 

so which one is the before and after?

go search up on how to remove swirl before you cut thru the clear

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iam7head &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so which one is the before and after?

go search up on how to remove swirl before you cut thru the clear </TD></TR></TABLE>

The first 2pics are the before and the last one is the after.

 

Looks as though you did use a block, and you can see the marks from your fingers ?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jmunk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Looks as though you did use a block, and you can see the marks from your fingers ? </TD></TR></TABLE>
i did use a block, but I don't like Im going
2 buy a diff one. I know what u mean though.

 

That paint didn't need to be wet sanded......

 

That was a horrible idea to wetsand. All of those scratches could be removed with extra cut compound and not to mention why would you hand sand with 2000? if you were going to wetsand at all for scratches 3000 grit trizact would have been 20x better. If you used that and an interface pad your whole panel would be sanded instead of the streak marks you have. If you must hand sand little circles work the best for a more even sanding pattern. You can still run some trizact over your 2000 marks to lighten your buffing time.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hnycrk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The first 2pics are the before and the last one is the after.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i know, it should be some what of an ironic remarks.

to be honest, you can get rid of those swirl with just a good polish and right pad, for that much work with sanding, you should get it to look brand freaking new.

that is why i advice you to do more research and learn how they work before cutting thru your clear

 

hope this wasnt done in direct sunlight

 

I do this for a living and it is pretty simple but you could have had a brand new looking fender if you would have done a few things differently:

First, you did good on starting with the 2k grit sandpaper but you should have used a 3M Stick-It Pad which is a firm foam that will bend with your fender and you'll have a more even sanding across the surface. The gouge spots you created wouldn't have happened this way. Following up with a 3k grit is up to you but its not manditory.
[[A little sidenote: Don't wetsand that fender again. Even aftermarket paint jobs can have a very thin clear depending on its age and wetsanding it once diminishes its lifespan.]]

Second, to remove the millions of scratches that wetsanding creates, you need to use a good cutting agent. I see you used Meguiars and that's a great product but you need to use their Diamond Cut compound and a wool pad combo on a variable speed buffer made by Makita or DeWalt. I use the Dewalt but it really doesn't matter. Use a good wool pad on whatever buffer you use at a speed no higher than 1500rpm (gotta crawl before you can walk).

After that, you need to use a foam pad and a finer compound, like the one you have pictured below to remove heavy swirls and cutting marks. Then, get a finer polish, and a softer foam pad, like an egg-crate waffle pad and that is your final step.

Don't forget to wipe off excess compounds between each step or you'll never be completely rid of swirl marks!!!

There's a series of videos on YouTube that has a Meguiar's rep holding a class on wetsanding and buffing. Try to look them up. They'd be great for someone in your shoes.

EDIT: DO NOT WETSAND IN A CIRCLE!!!!! Wetsand in a cross-stich pattern. Basically what this means is that you wetsand back and forth making a zig-zag pattern in a certain direction, then go back over it in the opposite manner. If you are only doing one small area, lightly wetsand back and forth stationary then reverse it, making a dull 'plus sign' in the clear. This is the most effective and best way to get the most even coverage possible by hand. That is, unless you wetsand with a D.A. pad but that's a whole different story...

 

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MAN!! thanks for that write up!!. im going to rent a buffer soon and do this right.

 

Hey no problem there's plenty more that I could have said and there are buffing techniques in those videos I mentioned that you need to see in order to understand this better. He even shows how to avoid burning the paint.

If you have any questions or problems arise in the future, just pm me.