Well, i had my car painted about a year and a half ago, clearcoated it, but never competely finished it due to a busy schedual. Next week, when i get home i plan on finishing it by colosanding/polishing the paintjob, then claybar/wax the car.

anyone have any tips for colorsanding? This is my first attempt, so im not really too sure what to do, but I want that paint to be smooth.


Thanks

Soak the paper for at least 30 minutes before you start. Drop a little dish soap in the water. It offers a little lubrication.

Use a soft block. One of those foam ones, that shapes to the panel.

I doubt you need to clay-bar. Its really to strip contaminants off the paint before you polish/wax. Since you are sanding your surface, you shouldn't have any contaminants.

Try to go in one direction. Don't sand in circles, just sand back and forth, with the natural lines of the panel.

One more thing, are you using a rotary polisher? (as opposed to one of those orbital things)

orbital, but i need a different end for it.

Something we used to do was to put masking tape on all sharp edges(like the

small lip on the fender) . This way when you are sanding the large field and

inadvertantly hit that lip you will not wear off the paint that can be a little thinner

on sharp corners. Then you come back and carefully sand those areas. Do the

same thing when you polish. Just a sudjestion.

what grit sandpaper should I use too?

You can come to my house before next Wed. and I'll show you what to do. I'm about 15 minutes from Poly.
I've done it for 20 years.

If you pass on this offer good luck with your project. Nothing better than getting a demo from a pro.

Jim

Depends on how aggressive you want to be. Start with nothing coarser than 1000. I would probably try to start with 1200 or 1500, and move to 2000.

Masking the edges is a great tip. You will burn through sharp edges.

I'm not sure the orbital will have the balls to polish a wet-sanded finish. I bought a cheap rotary polisher from Harbor Freight. But, I bought good wool pads from a local auto body shop.

I would go to a local auto body supply shop and see what they recommend for polishing products, and polisher. Mine recommended Meguiars Fine Cut or Medium Cut polish(depends how aggressive you want to be) with a coarse wool pad first. Meguiars Swirl Remover with a finer wool pad next. And finish with Meguiars Show Car Glaze by hand with diaper rags last. YMMV your shop may recommend 3M products and foam pads.

No substitute for a free demo. Wish I had one.

Get in the car and drive, Jason. I'll be giving a free demo tomorrow afternoon. I hate colorsanding and polishing so the more people that know how to do it eventually will decrease my share of it, like trickle down economics.

Umm, I'm not sure that my theory is correct.
I've been trying to educate bad drivers on a case-by-case basis on the highways but it seems that there are more idiot drivers every year.
Well, I'll still give a free demo tomorrow.

Do it while it's raining. You won't have to use the hose. Really, I did it myself a while back. A nice summer rain and a bathing suit. The surface was always wet and I didn't have to start and stop to rinse. It went very quickly.

I wish I was closer. I stop by my buddies detail shop regularly and learn a ton from him. It's always great to see it done by the pros.

I just realized that even though Ben came to my place and I taught him what to do and what not to do, I never answered his question for everyone else's benefit. Colorsand runs out with 1000, then 1200 and 1500. Colorsand heavy orange peel and dirt specs down with 1200 then 1500, and colorsand very light orange peel with 1500. Polish with a wool pad and a medium compound and then remove the swirl marks with a foam pad and glaze or swirl mark remover. You can polish out 1200 grit scratches, but it's faster to sand it again with 1500 and then polish.
Make sure that there isn't ANY dirt on the sandpaper or the paint and rinse your sandpaper often. Don't polish in the sun. Stay off of the edges or else you'll burn through the paint and have to repaint that panel. Make sure that your polishing pad is spinning OFF of any edges, not into the edge, or you'll burn through. Also, use about 1/4th as much glaze as you did compound or it will just smear everywhere.

Will an orbital buffer polish a 1500 surface Steve?

I haven't had any luck with an orbital polisher, they're just not aggressive enough and the pads are too soft. I think they're really designed for removing wax. I've used one for that and it was fine, but they don't ever get used in a body shop that I've seen.

The guys at the detail shop use them for final touches only. They use a rotary for everything else.