Wet Sanding and detailing of my red 92 ***PICS*** 56k no no !

[fifthearth]

After the installation of the widebody kit, I noticed that the painter left many deep marks from wet sanding... to make a long story short, I decided to re-sand the front bumper to remove the "orange peel" finish in some areas.

Since I am a newbie at all of this, I have a friend (Joe) who is also a professional detailer to help me out with this scary task I know there is enough coating of clear, but he decided to use Meguiar's UNIGRIT 1500 grade to be safe.

The car was first washed down and he went into details to clean the rims, tires, gaps between panels with assortment of big and small brushes. I noticed he used Meguiar's #39 with a small brush for all the gaps that had some left over wax from previous... it worked very well

The papers was soaked in Meguiars #00 and water for ~30 minutes before sanding.... then the sanding begins... sand paper was applied with light presure, same direction motion... rinse after every 3 strokes to keep grits clean.

After the wet sanding....

Another angle....

After the sanding, he applied Meguiars #84 compound cleaner on the rotary with a Meg cutting pad. Then switched to the PC (porter cable 7424 random orbital polisher ) and applied Meg #83 DACP, then #82 swirl free polish... I was amazed just after the polish that most of the orange peel look was gone...

another angle

now for the rest of the car.... I have pretty bad swirls in the rear trunk lid and spoiler. Joe then applied compound power cleaner with a meguiars cutting pad to that area... followed by the PC and SSR2.5, then SSR1 (SSR2.5= Poorboys SSR 2.5,swirl removing polish)

For the hood, Joe applied DACP with the PC, then Meguiar's #80 speed glaze.

The rest of the car also got Meguiar's #80 with the PC.

Then everything is sealed with one more coat of Meguiar's NXT TechWax. I was REALLY HAPPY with the results, and Joe was very helpful and informative to teach a newbie like me the "how to" 101 in car detailing.

Lastly, the tires were dressed with the Meguiar's High Gloss Endurance.
I was told that the wet looks and protection of the HGE lasts a lot longer than other tire dressings, I'll wait some time to see if it lasts...

I was happy with the "wetness" look the NXT brought out in the red NSX...

another angle

I really like this next shot for some odd reason

Last one before I finally had to put her up in the garage...

I have to say after this experience I am starting to gain more interests in detailing and paint condition of the car... I'll be reading up and learning more for the time to come

 

[nis350]

wow... that looks really nice. I have one question. Would this shine last because you have basically buffed off the very top layer of the paint or clear coat? I have friends that have the paint buffed or color sanded, but the dullness returned after awhile.

Thanks.

 

[fifthearth]

the sanding that I did to my car is only the portion where it's been repainted due to widebody panels, the clear coat is thicker on those and the sanding is very limited, we try to preserve as much as possible.

The situation you described is common with single stage paint (paint without clear coat), and is commonly referred to as "die back".... the paint will shine as long as the car is washed and waxed frequently.

I would be VERY CAREFUL if I am buffing or sanding stock NSX paint..... in fact, I wouldn't do it at all unless there's been scratches... but even then, buffing or sanding is probably too late...

Stock NSX clear coat is about ~0.3mm I think (I am not 100% sure about this number) but it's not that thick... if you buff or sand, you can easily get down to the paint and have no more clear left. If your friend buff or wet sanded his "stock" paint.... chances are that he/she might of already buff/sanded off the clear coat thus, shine disappears quickly after each wash/wax.

 

[LJSB]

"Die Back" is when the solvents leave the finish on new paint and the action of this gas release leave a dull finish. It is generally caused by over reduction of the paint or by using a incorrect temperature range reducer. Painters sometime err and reach for a slower reducer to get the paint to flow out and get that wet look. Right out of the booth it looks really great but loses the gloss as the solvents vent. The painters then blame the booth, the product the prep but the real problem is the temperature selection of the catalyst and reducers used.
The dull look that seems to be described here is not that.
What you probably see after a while when you have wet sanded and buffed a car is that the masking effect of the glaze/compound has washed off and you are seeing a incomplete buff job (still hazy). Wizard, as do others, makes a real nice product just to clean off the glaze and sludge left from buffing to reveal the true state of the panel. You could use just a spray bottle of water to clean the panel after buffing and BEFORE glazing to remove the sludge which is often smeared stoddard solvent. Spritz and wipe it clean with a micofinishing cloth. Look at the side angle in indirect light and you will see where you missed and where more buffing(foam pad) needs to be done, THEN apply the glazes. A correctly buffed car on good condition cured paint should not dull down.

Removal of the clear, breaking through to the base is a fatal mistake that again may be masked or hidden to some degree but with a little soap and water is right back to haunt you.

 

[fifthearth]

Opps, I guess I was off on the termnology I am still learning everday !! Good reply pbassjo, I had to read it twice and still think I am a little lost... ha ha ha....

 

[LJSB]

Sorry. I guess it is a bit of a rambling reply, part of being a gasbag.
Does the tire dressing sling off onto the body at all when you drive?

 

[steveny]

Very nice job for your first time at it.

 

[fifthearth]

Thanks Steveny but the work is done by the detailer... I didn't want to risk the sanding part and mess up ... ha ha..

Pbassjo, I was happy with the Meguiar's High Gloss Endurance, I've driven the car a couple of times since the detail, and the gloss hasn't come off, nor did it sling away like other brands I've tired. The Meguiar's HGE is a clear Gel-like material, a lot thicker than the other spray-on tire dressings I used to use... maybe that's why it stays on as long as it has