Help with removing masking tape clear coat edge/line.(pictures inside)

[JacobR]

Hi guys new poster here on MOL so please be easy

Here is a problem,I have noticed recently that my car that was bought half a year ago had a rear quarter respray.Finish and colour matching is spot on but there is a what I belive a clear coat edge/line left when masking tape was removed.
Edge/line is rough and you can easily feel it under your nail or when touching with your finger.It is not that visible but once spotted it is just there annoying my eyes every time I open rear doors.

So far I have tried:
-UC on foam pad(yellow one) by hand, no results
-clay bar, better but nothing spectacular
-aggressive clay bar made an improvement by smoothening the roughness but edge is still visible

So my question is what would be next step trying to remove it.Wet sanding?Please note that I can only work by hand as I sadly don't have a DA or rotary.

Pictures:

Clayed:





Not cleyed:



Others:



Some bubbles:



And the worst part:




Sorry pictures are huge but this is really small in real world heh

Thanks for reading and if any mistakes made please forgive me as English is not my first language.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Help with removing masking tape clear coat edge/line.(pictures inside)

First off, welcome to MOL!!

Wet sanding is definitely the way to go here, but if you've never done it before it can be quite daunting. Plus, if you're working by hand, and only by hand, you need to be very picky about what sanding media you choose and how you use it. Why? Because you are then going to hand rub the sanding marks in order to remove them, and that's not always the easiest thing to do. Plus, from the looks of things in these images, the issue is on a tightly curved panel or on an edge. That's problematic because it's extremely easy to put too much pressure on a high spot or edge and sand right through it - even with a very fine sandpaper.

You do not want to run down to the local hardware store and buy some wet/dry 1000 grit sandpaper for this job. That's a terrible idea as the paper is nowhere need the grade of material you want for use on an automotive finish. What you need to get is either some Meguiar's Unigrit 3000 grit sandpaper or Unigrit finishing disc of the same grit, or 3M Trizact of the same grit if you can't find our papers. This will likely need to be sourced through a body shop supply store, or online. You then want a flexible backing pad behind the paper, not just your bare hand. If this is indeed on an edge or a high spot, you want to use very light pressure and really take your time. Make sure to use lots of water, rinse the surface and the sand paper frequently, in order to keep the surface clean and any debris out of the paper. Being impatient at all will only lead to sanding right through the paint. Even with this process, especially if you've never done this sort of thing before, you may not get it perfect - it kind of depends on what you've really got to work with here. Given that the body shop that did this work obviously did NOT do a stellar job in the first place, what's underneath this is anyone's guess.

OK, so once this has been sanded you need to remove the sanding marks. You're going to want either some M100 or M105 and a foam applicator pad. Stay away from microfiber or terry cloth as they can be overly aggressive and actually create some marring of the surrounding surface. Again, start slowly because even working with these products by hand can cause you to rub through the paint, especially on high spots and edges.

On a flat surface this would be a fairly simple task, but the high spots and edges change things dramatically. The color of the paint doesn't help either as this will show every little defect, whether that defect is just something in the paint that can't be fixed, something the body shop messed up that you can't repair, or someplace where you went a bit wrong and caused some fresh damage.

So, the ultimate fate of this finish is up to you: can you live with it the way it is, or are you brave enough to venture into a fairly complex and potential very aggressive process that might improve things a little, a lot, or make it worse?

[JacobR]

Re: Help with removing masking tape clear coat edge/line.(pictures inside)

Hi Michael,fantastic piece of info here,thank you very much.
Yes,you are right it is just on the edge of curve so as you called a high spot.
As for a wet sanding only did it once in my life and years ago but as far as I remember I did quite well(can't say that about rotary that was handed to me with out any words of wisdom hahhaha)

I will think about every thing you said and decide to bite the bullet and try it on my own treating this job like a women(gently) or just leave it for a pro to tackle.

Thanks again.

[JacobR]

Re: Help with removing masking tape clear coat edge/line.(pictures inside)

BTW I saw Mike using FG 400 by hand to remove sanding marks with very good results so I might consider this product as well if I decide to start whole thing.

hope it is ok to post a link to another forum:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/58151-how-remove-wetsanding-scratches-hand-fg-400-a.html