How to: Wet Sand + Polish Clear Coat Paint - Part 2

Welcome back to the 6th Gear Garage where I’m currently restoring  this $350 Acura Legend In the last episode, we looked  at the damaged clear coat  and I showed how to prep the surface  and then apply new color and clear however, doing this in a residential  garage and not a paint booth resulted in some dirt in the finish as well as some orange peel on the hood So today I’m going to show how to wet sand  that surface to get it perfectly smooth again  and then polish it to a finish that looks as  good as it did the day it left the factory In the last video  we left of after I finished painting  the car and let it cure for a week there was a little orange peel on the roof a thick tape line on the A-pillar  where I forgot to blend the clear pretty heavy orange peel on the whole hood a big run on the fender and a run on the bumper as well The first thing I did was try  wet sanding with 2000 grit in   a few areas to see if that  would be aggressive enough I’m gonna stop here and show  you why this isn’t going to work I’m barely taking down any of the  orange peel with the 2000 grit See all the glossy paint still That would be all dull if it was sanded smooth So this amount of orange peel is going  to need a lower grit paper to start with See that completely dull area right there That’s what I want I need to start with a more aggressive lower grit  paper or I’ll be out here for a week sanding this Next I wrapped some 1500 grit paper  on the block and gave that a try I’m testing the higher grit paper first,   because the scratched left by the higher grit  sand paper are easier to remove when polishing Ok let’s take a close look at this area wet sanded with the 1500 grit sand paper  and it’s looking better but you can still see some reflection in there  all those glossy reflective areas are low points and that means the surface isn’t perfectly flat If I were to polish this now  it would still end up with an  orange peel finish on the surface instead of having that glass smooth  wet look I showed in the last video   when I ran water over the surface Like I said, I’ve got a lot of material to  remove and I’m going to waste a lot of time   trying to get there with 1500 grit paper I’m going to jump down to 1200 The 1200 grit was just the right amount  of abrasive to remove the orange peel  yet not worry about taking  off too much of the clear coat you can see by the cloudy white  water running off the hood that white is the clear coat I’ve sanded away I did two passes with the 1200 grit  and dried the hood to stop and check   for any glossy low points left on the surface Alright now I’m getting somewhere this is looking much better  but I do still have some low areas as you can see the gloss there So I’ll say one more pass with the 1200  should get me pretty close to smooth maybe a little more in some of these areas because I have to go back and sand with 1500   and 2000 grit next so those will  remove a little more clear as well Ok I’ve been working on the hood and also the roof remember the orange peel on  most of the roof wasn’t too bad there was some dirt on the roof and that created some high points there’s actually one that got knocked  down with the 1200 grit right there you can see it’s dull now had a lot of high points there’s one there’s another there was a huge one right there and unfortunately that bug is forever  apart of the Legend’s clear coat It was too far down to wet sand that guy out here was that heavy orange peel I got the doors too with the 1200 grit now you might recall this fender and the huge long run off the flare here  its really more like a giant sag I’m going to wet sand this out next Because this was a thick heavy sag  it took many passes with the 1200 grit  paper to get the surface smooth and even for this I’m going to keep using the  thicker more dense sanding block here  because the run is on a flat area of the fender I’ll put a link to this block in the description Notice I’m using my fingers and   flexing the block to keep most of the  pressure on the run that I want to knock down  instead of the outer edge of the fender that  I want to be careful not to sand through So here it is after much sanding  there’s no low glossy spots  where the edge of the run was oh actually I’ve got one right here I need to sand a little more right there there’s a better angle you can see it now Alright I’ve sanded everything with 1200 grit Here’s how it’s looking the top of the roof still  has a lot of glossy areas  and that’s because I didn’t need to sand much  there because there wasn’t a lot of orange peel Ive got a damp microfiber towel let’s give this a wipe down and see how it looks I’ve got some fresh water in the bucket and it’s time to move up to the 1500 grit I’m getting closer to this trim  than I did with the 1200 grit and that’s just to save myself some elbow grease   polishing by hand in case I can’t get  close enough to the trim with the orbital The higher grit paper leaves finer  scratches which sand out easier so when I do this the final time with 2000  grit paper, I’ll go right up to that trim So I want to be sure I’m sanding enough to sand  down past all the scratches left by the 1200 grit and I put down plenty of clear coat so I’m not worried at all about sanding too much The 1500 grit is less abrasive than the 1200,   so I can sand a little longer than I did  with the 1200 and still remove less material I will say  there’s nothing worse than jumping  up through the grits too quickly  and then after sanding with 2000  grit and moving on to the polishing finding out you have some deeper  scratches from the earlier grit papers   that are too deep to polish out Then you have to take a couple steps back  after polishing and go back to wet sanding Let’s take a break and see how  this area is looking so far this is looking good so here’s the 1200 grit surface completely dull no reflection except for those low spots in  what’s left of the orange peel and over here is the result of the 1500 grit it’s so smooth that it actually has a reflection because the scratches from the 1500  grit are so fine compared to the 1200 this is one step closer to a  fully polished glossy finish if I zoom in close  you can still see the fine  scratches left by the 1500 and then the very edge by the trim hasn’t been sanded at all Next I got to work on the  fender with the 1500 grit So I just sanded this flat surface  with the 1500 and the stiffer block over here too where it’s flat Now I need to switch to a more flexible sponge  for all these rounded edges and contours So I have this 3M number 20 sponge and you can see it forms to  just about any curved surface and that will help me sand  surfaces like this fender I’ll have a link to the sponge  in the description as well I’m also wrapping this with a piece  of used paper instead of brand new just like in the last video if I’m sanding a raised edge  which are easy to sand through  with too much pressure applied  a used piece of sand paper will be less  abrasive and give me more room for error yeah it’s taking longer to cut the clear  but the last thing I want is to  sand through the clear on an edge The rest of the fender isn’t too bad you can see there’s a small amount of orange peel I didn’t even touch this with 1200 grit   because I don’t need to take it  down very much to get it smooth So I did some quick sanding with  the 1500 grit and that was enough So I’ve sanded the roof the hood with 1500 grit  and the fender all the doors  and the C pillars I faded out the sanding toward the bottom now if you remember on the a  pillar I had a tape line here because I completely forgot  that I planned on fading it out I tried to blend it with sanding  but if you look in the  right light it’s still there right here so there’s the result if you  don’t use the spot blender and even though it looks like it’s not  it’s all the way smooth it’s flush there’s really nothing I can do about it now except see how it polishes out Here’s the passenger side to  show you how it was before  I haven’t touched this one yet big old ridge there where the new paint meets the old Let’s see what I can do to sand this smooth I’m starting off with some 1200 grit and I’m trying to keep the  pressure on the new paint because I want to bring it  down to the factory clear I want to avoid removing the  factory clear below the ridge I better put some tape on the fender edge here I can easily scuff that that by  accident and wear through at the edge there we go and keep on sanding Ive got a ways to go yet Ok so this side did not go  as well as the other side I’ve started to go through the new paint but I’m  still not all the way through this ridge quite yet so I need to avoid this area at all cost and just sand this ridge avoid this spot too I’m using the stiffer block now  to only put pressure on the exact   point I need, which is that edge. I had been using the softer sponge, which may have   been the reason I sanded through in such  a large area, because it is less precise Next I went back with the 1500 grit and finally the 2000 grit So first I focused here with the 1200 then sanded slightly larger with the 1500 then did all this with the 2000 grit and it’s a little better now but I’m still not 100% happy with it I have to keep reminding myself this is a $350 car  It’s not going to SEMA It’s for channel content So now I just need to sand  everything else with 2000 grit I started with the roof and you can see  I’m going all the way up to the edge now  where the roof meets the trim then I sanded the whole C pillar along with the door frames Then I sanded the hood As I said earlier  the 2000 is not as abrasive  as the 1200 or even the 1500  so I don’t have to worry as much  about removing too much material   as I get up into the higher grits And some body shops even continue on with 3000 up to 5000 grit but this isn’t a show car and I   can remove the 2000 grit scratches with  a cutting compound and orbital polisher Next I gave the car a good  cleaning with soapy water   and a sponge to remove all of the  residue left from the wet sanding It’s essential the car is 100% clean before  I begin polishing so I don’t end up grinding   any dirt or debris into the surface and add  scratches while I’m trying to remove them How the paint looks right now when wet is  exactly how it should look after polishing Here’s my orbital polisher it’s a 6 inch from Griot’s Garage I’ve done a few paint corrections  on my cars with this over the years  and I have nothing but good  things to say about this polisher I’ll put a link to this in the description It has variable speed and a  extra long cord which is nice I love these Meguiars microfiber pads this is part DMC6  links for these in the description as well They just velcro right on to the orbital I already had a nice spread  of different grade polishes   ranging from heavy cut to light so I figured I’d give those a try first   and maybe save a little money instead of adding  more plastic bottles to my detailing cabinet Some of this stuff is 20 years old I spent a good amount of time   trying the products I already had testing them out on different areas of the hood  and although some worked a little better  than others at removing some of the scratches  none of the compounds were aggressive enough to  remove the scratches left by the 2000 grit paper  no matter how many passes  I made over the same area so after wasting an hour I went in to do some research and I’m back with this Meguiars Mirror Glaze 105  Ultra Cut Compound This seems to be the go-to among detailing  forums for removing wet sanding scratches extra heavy cut  this stuff is no joke so I’m  definitely following the instructions and I also picked up these extra cut discs  there’s a little more aggressive than the  regular DMC6 microfiber discs I tried before no built in padding though so its good for flat areas  but not a contoured surface I’ll put links to this and this in the description So here’s where I left off last time  I tried products I already  had on this part of the hood and that’s good progress compared  to how it looked when I started but no matter how many times  I went over with the orbital  I still had scratch marks here too and these are sanding marks not swirl marks they may not look as bad on camera  but trust me they’re not light at all let’s give this a shot ok guys so  I love this stuff It’s easy to use and it totally works one last look at the before and after just one pass all the  remaining scratches are gone and there’s not even any  finer swirl marks left behind I’m not even going to have to go  back over this with a finer compound This area is done just like that mirror finish And there’s no sponsorship  or product placement here  I paid 30 bucks for the bottle  and it’s worth every penny I just did the center of the hood this is after two rounds and the flashlight on iPhones is a  great way to check for swirl marks and I see zero there’s a couple toward the lower  edge of the area I worked on one more time with the orbital  and it should be golden Next I polished the rest of the hood  three times seemed to be the magic  number for removing all of the scratches then I used the thicker DMC6 pad on the fender remember I skipped 1200 and just did 1500 and  2000 here because the orange peel wasn’t too bad and look at it after one pass all done with the fender perfect match from new paint to original paint I’m applying blue painter’s tape on all of the  moulding and trim before polishing so that I   don’t end up with any debris from the trim on the  microfiber pad, which can end up scratching the   paint and also I don’t want to end up getting  polish stuck in the space where the trim meets   the paint. It’s a lot faster to apply and remove  tape than to clean polish and wax from black trim.   I’ll leave the tape on until I’m  through polishing and waxing the finish. next I focused on the transition  area at the base of the a pillar   where I had sanded down the tape line Here we go watch the reflection of the window  so smooth if you look real close you can barely see a little hint   of the tape line where the new paint meets the old I’m definitely not complaining these doors turned out beautiful look right here on the very edge  I couldn’t quite get to that with the orbital I’ll have to do that by hand I used my finger under a microfiber towel  and went back and forth over the area  changing it up between little fine  circles and going straight across and after about 4 passes it’s looking good Hey always make sure  that you give any polish or  compound a good shake before use otherwise the abrasives can  sink toward the bottom over time I sped up a lot of the polishing  footage to keep this short  but here’s some real time video on this  unpolished area of the roof to explain the process Basically, pretend you are a CNC machine The orbital is set to about 4000  RPM and I’m just holding it steady  moving from side to side in an overlapping pattern   to ensure that every inch  of the work area is covered you can see me lift and angle the orbital  slightly to get the pad to reach the very corner then I do the same side to side CNC  pattern in the opposite direction  perpendicular to the way I went the first time On these first few passes, I’m keeping  moderate pressure on the orbital,   per the instructions on the meguiars  105. This helps it cut faster Than after a couple passes in each direction,  I apply less pressure on the last few passes and then immediately wipe the remaining  haze away with a microfiber towel and here’s how it looks  after just that first round  there are still some random scratches so I’ll need to repeat that again  but look over here  and it’s a night and day  difference compared to before So here I am on round two, repeating  the exact process you just saw and here are the results after round two it’s almost there  only a few very light random  scratches in some areas  some areas don’t have any scratches left at all but one more round should do it Look at that Let me get it to focus here  oh I do still see a couple real light scratches  and those may actually be deeper sanding  scratches left from the 1200 or 1500 grit  that I didn’t fully remove  with the higher grit paper there’s another one right here I’ll have to go back and hit those spots again but overall you can see the difference from where   I started about 10 minutes ago to where the paint is now I know it’s not 100% perfect but to think I got to this point here  painting this in my garage without a booth  and with old equipment and I’m not a pro I hope this gives you confidence  if you’re watching this  considering attempting a paint repair yourself You saw in the last video what I started with and body shops aren’t cheap learning to paint is definitely  a skill worth investing some time   and equipment into if you’re a car guy it’ll pay for itself real quick notice I’m wearing a mask because  this puts a lot of fine dust particles   in the air and you don’t want those in your lungs I just did a test spot with the ultra  cut 105 right here on the original fender  and it brought this old oxidized  paint back from the grave I opened the hood since I’m already done  with it and I didn’t want to accidentally   remove any more material rom the edge while I  was polishing the fender. I used the thinner   more aggressive pad for the roof but I’m using the  thicker DMC6 pad on the curved doors and fenders. look at that shine its so glossy now I can see dents that I didn’t notice before once again the ultra cut 105 coming through with  amazing results on this neglected factory paint remember I had to wet sand some runs on the bumper and done  the last thing to do is give  these freshly polished surfaces   a coat of wax to protect them  and keep them looking good this would be the ideal time to apply a  ceramic coating for the ultimate protection  but that’s little out of  budget for the $350 Legend Next I moved all the masking tape from the trim I’m outside so you can see  how good this paint looks  I didn’t even repaint the trunk, this is just  the original paint brought back with polishing the roof looking just as good here’s the original paint for comparison so much gloss If you didn’t see the last video I’ll put a link in the description the paint was so bad faded and flaking off now I’ll be proud to drive this I still have a lot of detail and trim work to do along with the interior but that’s a future video thanks for watching and consider subscribing for  more how to videos and project vehicle updates here at the 6th Gear Garage

Channel: 6th Gear Garage

Views: 395,011

Keywords: how to, how do i, diy, instructions, fix, repair, faded, peeling, flaking, clear, clear coar, clearcoat, paint, car, truck, vehicle, hood, roof, trunk, wet sand, polish, buff, paint correction

Id: ZCnLoFX5O0o

Length: 24min 1sec (1441 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 22 2021