hey guys im thinking about wetsanding the orange peel out because i go to school at a technical college where my main class is autobody. we always wetsand the orange peel out after clearing it and usually use 1500 grit and then buff it 3 stages. you guys think i should do it? im looking at an 07 dg coupe and about to buy it in a few days.

 

i dunno about wetsanding factory paint jobs. it might make your paint too thin and leave it susceptible to failure in the future. best bet would be to use a thickness gauge and measure first.

 

yea i might just buff it and wait til i do a paintjob down the road and then wetsand it.

 

yeah just get in and really clean off the clear coat dont sand it unless its reallllly bad.

 

WHosrich is right. Wetsanding factory paint job to eliminate orange peel is asking for a lot of trouble. Unless you've resprayed a new layer of clear coat.

Show cars spray extra layers of clear so when they get it detailed they can take a layer off to have that glass like finish.

 

Its safe. Just make sure you know what your doing. Thinking and knowing are two different things. A guage is not going to tell you squat. You are sanding clear and its telling you how much total mil thickness is there (paint & clear). Those are best saved for those that don't know how to buff cars with high speed buffers or dealers trying to find paint work.
Not sure I would go for a mirror finish though. A little peel helps hide inferfections or small low spots.

 

yea i was just thinking since we do it so often in our bodyshop..why not with the g35, but we do this after each paintjob unless its single stage. we usually paint..clear it and then sand it with 1500 lightly(going with the contour of the panel) until most of the orange peel is gone. then buff it with a good high speed buffer.

 

^yes sanding and buffing after paint is ok when done right. Wet sanding a oem paint to take out a scratch is one thing but the hole car?! I would not because they did not put as much as a body shop would because the body shop knows there going to sand and buff. The clear coat is there for resions like UV protection, there will not be as much there so your paint will dull out or fade faster then normal.

The best time to sand and buff a paint job is in between 4-48 hours of it being painted. Dont tell mw every one is not like that, im just giving averages. Some are faster and some all ways buff geat. But the oem finish would take some time to sand and buff it and I dont think you will like what it looks like at the end imo.

 

oh yea that makes sense, good point man.

 

Why not prep it and spray more clear. Then wetsand the clear you added. You
said your main course of study is autobody so the equipment is free and possibly
the materials. I would spend money and get Megs Unigrit 1500 for a DA sander
or 2000 if doing it by hand. Will take a long time but if you take your time and
do it right it will look great.

 

07 shouldn't need wet sanding....

 

^the year has nothing to do with orange peal Yes its a 07 so the paint still looks good but all oem paint has orange peal, some more then others. If thats what he wants then good for him. When I paint my cars I make sure to get rid of all the orange peal Want it flat like glass


Cars in 87 had orange peal and cars in 07 have it to.

 

Like PPGFreak said, the year has nothing to do with it. My buddy
has an 04 VW GTI with factory paint that is in great shape
as far as reflection, no scratches, no spiderwebs. However it
is orange peeled. Came from factory that way. Orange
peel is basically dimples in the paint/clear coat just like
an oranges peel. You have high spots and low spots.
Building up the clear with give you more room to work
with as far as sanding. You wet sand to get the high
spots even with the low spots so that it is perfectly
flat. when you are done you wash, dry and then use
a DA or Rotary to buff it to a mirror like shine. I do it
a all the time to touch up scratches and chips. I build up
the paint inside the scratch so that it is higher than the surrounding
paint. Then wet sand so that it is flat and then polish. I have to
point out where the scratch was for you to find it. Freaks the owner
of the car every time when they see the sand paper and how dull
it is when I am done sanding and rinsing the area.

 

Very true your right.......