What else do I need to learn

[chang26k]

I have not done much to my car but I did do the 5 step and I am not satisfied with it. So I read more and more and I started to learn about wet sanding.

The five step I used is car wash with Eagle car-wash with nano/wax, claying, dc1, swire remover #9, dc2, ntx2.0. Ok, sorry about my bad posting style but I will improve over time and I did 6 steps. And I do use detailing spray weekly just to keep it good and other stuff like that.

I did everything by hand and I only tried it to the hood of my white Honda Civic 2002 but I did wash the whole car. Now I have pads and other stuff but I do not yet want to try it. Anyways, the paint is very clean and the car looks good but not show quality. It dosn't have the nice reflection and I see little orange peel on the hood. I am not sure if it is consider orange peel but it is very minor but how do I make my clear coat totaly flat so ther will be no little marks. It might be consider watermarks or oxidation but whatever it is, I want it gone.

Do I need to wetsand it using 3000g, compound, dc1, dc2, nxt2.0?

Or use a mechine with scratchX2.0? Also tried scratchX2.0 by hand and it did not help the little marks on the hood. The marks on the hood is not scratches but little grooves, valleys and maybe even a river with islands. Very minor but how do I get it to be flat?

[Andy M.]

Re: What else do I need to learn

Hi, First let me say welcome to MOL. I moved your post from the Introduce Yourself part of our forum to the Detailing101 part of our forum. We try to keep Introduce Yourself for just that, introducing yourself to the community. We keep questions to the Detailing101 forum as kind of a catch all, if your not sure where to put your question. Make sense?

As for your question, if you are new to detailing and are working by hand, then wet sanding is not an option, as you will not be able to remove the wet sanding marks.

It really depends on your experience level, but you are in the right place to learn.

Andy M.

[Carfire]

Re: What else do I need to learn


Welcome to Meguiars Online!!!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: What else do I need to learn

So I read more and more and I started to learn about wet sanding.

Do I need to wetsand it using 3000g

One of the things we educate people about on this forum that usually is skipped over on other forums is that most wet-sanding is done after a car is re-painted at a body shop NOT on factory baked-on clear coats.


Factory Baked-On Clearcoats

• Thin
• Usually hard
• Risky to sand and buff - Remember sanding removes paint and compounding and polishing removes paint.

Re-paint

• If it's going to be sanded and buffed the painter is aware of this and sprays extra paint so the guy doing the sanding and buffing has less risk because he has more film-build or paint thickness to work with.
• Fresh paint is softer than baked-on factory paint, this means it will be a lot easier to buff out the sanding marks.

When it comes to removing sanding marks the best tool for the job and the right tool for the job is a rotary buffer, not a dual action polisher. Can sanding marks be removed with a dual action polisher? Sure they can, we have very talented people here at Meguiar's that are researching and pushing the envelope as to what's possible long before most everyone else and we completely know what's possible. But there's a huge difference in doing a little spot on a car and sanding an entire panel down let along an entire car.

There's also a HUGE difference in sanding down the paint and then buffing it until the surface is shiny again and sanding down the paint and buffing it until 100% of the sanding marks have been removed.

If the car you're working on has the factory baked-on clear coat finish and if you have never sanded down a car and if you don't own a rotary buffer and have never used a rotary buffer to remove sanding marks then the last thing you want to do is to learn about all this first hand on something that's important to you, (your car).

A better approach would be to get some of our new Ultimate Compound our our new M105 that can be used with a dual action polisher and then either tackle the job by hand or tackle the job by machine and an even better solution is to use a combination of hand and machine to get the paint to where you want it to be.

See this thread in our Hot Topics forum

Removing Random Isolated Deeper Scratches - Man vs Machine

Or use a machine with scratchX2.0? Also tried scratchX2.0 by hand and it did not help the little marks on the hood. The marks on the hood is not scratches but little grooves, valleys and maybe even a river with islands. Very minor but how do I get it to be flat?

Keep in mind your clear layer of paint is thin and you can only do so much... a lot of times you can't completely remove a defect but often times you can improve a defect to the point where it's much hard to see and you can live with it versus having the car repainted.

[chang26k]

Re: What else do I need to learn

Thank you everyone for all your advice. I will try the new compound when I see them at the store. I do not have a DA but I do have a two handed drill. I also have two foam pads that I can use with the drill. Is this equivalent to a rotatory? I have practice using the cleaner wax with the drill and it is very tricky. The drill also have variable speed. Am I pushing my luck with using a drill or would it be the same?

[chang26k]

Re: What else do I need to learn



Can you see the little pot-holes or orange-peel. It's not orage-peel but rather neglected paint that has been etched or something. Can that be corrected? And I got myself a polisher and this was my first correction. Got lot's of swirls out but there are still some. I used medium-cut and #9. Also with dcpp step 2 and ntx 2.0. In the sun, I can see light swirls but not deep swirls in my garage.

[akimel]

Re: What else do I need to learn

Chang26k, STOP whatever you are doing! You need to first read all you can about removing swirls and scratches and ask questions here on this forum before you attempt any serious paint correction. And put away your drill! It's not the right tool for the job.

[chang26k]

Re: What else do I need to learn

I'm not using a drill anymore. I got a rotary polisher. I did everything one speed 1300-1500. Next time, I'm going to slowdown to 1000.

[02zx9r]

Re: What else do I need to learn

I have never used a rotary, and frankly I dont want to.

Not saying you do not know how to use one, but be very careful with a rotary. If you do not know what you are doing you can go from a few swirls and scratches to big trouble and maybe a repaint very quickly.

Use caution

[BarryK]

Re: What else do I need to learn

oh my, I see this situation going from bad to disastrous very quickly...

Sir, put the rotary buffer down... step away from the buffer

[akimel]

Re: What else do I need to learn

Please read through these articles and threads before you use your rotary:

Can a Rotary Buffer like a Makita or DeWalt be as Idiot-proof as a PC?
Buffer Swirls, Holograms and the Rotary Buffer
Learning to use the Rotary Buffer
Please explain Pros/Cons between Rotary and Orbital Buffers
Cobweb Swirls vs. Rotary Buffer Swirls
Need HELP! - How to avoid holograms?
Avoiding Swirls with a Rotary buffer
Holograms - Is it possible to 100% remove them with the rotary buffer?
What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...