wet sanding?

[84merc951]

this will be myfirst time wetsanding the tudor here . i just painted it 48 hours ago. how long do i have to wait till i can wet sand and polish her. also what grit do i use as ive head of using 1000 grit or 1500 grit. the clear that i put on is not very thick as it went down pretty thin. i also have some particals that flew into the paint while it was wet. i just want to doit right the first time. i never had to do this before as the other cars are satin black but this is my first time laying down gloss. thanks matt

[shorty]

You can buy a nib remover tool, its like a small file for the larger pieces in the clear. then you can wet sand with 1200 and buff. don't use any wax for 120 days, polish is ok

[84merc951]

how many days does the paint have to cure till i can wet sand? thanks

[sly]

usually a day is plenty. if it's hot out... an hour or two usually does the trick.

[ford man]

Your essentially adding scratches with wet sanding so starting with the least aggressive method is best. The paint is not fully cured yet either so it should be faster to sand. You can start with 2000 first and always go back to 1500 if needed. I wouldn't go to 1000 because the scratches are deep and hard to buff out. You also want to take the least amount of clear off as possible especially because you say it's thin.

[87gtVIC]

Stay away from all edges with your sandpaper and only after everything is sanded out lightly run the buffer over them. I also suggest starting with 2000. Stay away from 1000. Make sure to use a block pre-soak your sand paper and sand in an x pattern. Have a squeegee handy to see your progress.

[1980c10]

Depends on how good of a clear you used as to how long it will take to fully cure. The best clear we have at work which is the best clear you can buy (highest solids by volume) takes almost a year to fully cure if the car sits outside or in a large garage with air moving, even longer if it has a car cover on it or is in a small garage with no air movent. Anyway curing is not what you need you just need it to be dry to the touch. You can usually sand and buff a normal clear within 4-5 hours. So you're fine.

I always nib out the large pieces, then I hand sand with 1500 all the flats of the car. Stay away from edges or any spots that will be hard to get a buffer into ( up next to trim, around body lines, small corners, stuff like that). Then once I have all the orange peel out and am satisfied with the product from 1500, I switch to trizact on my DA. It's 3000 grit, I also have to large pads that go on the DA before the paper to keep from leaving and sanding edges. Now go over everywhere with the trizact you just did with 1500, being careful to use plent of water and a fairly low speed on the DA, and change paper often, fresh paper cuts a lot cleaner than worn out paper.

Once you're satisfied with the product after trizact. Give the car a bath, let it dry really good, then go to town buffing.

Let me know if you need any pointers for buffing.

[84merc951]

Depends on how good of a clear you used as to how long it will take to fully cure. The best clear we have at work which is the best clear you can buy (highest solids by volume) takes almost a year to fully cure if the car sits outside or in a large garage with air moving, even longer if it has a car cover on it or is in a small garage with no air movent. Anyway curing is not what you need you just need it to be dry to the touch. You can usually sand and buff a normal clear within 4-5 hours. So you're fine.

I always nib out the large pieces, then I hand sand with 1500 all the flats of the car. Stay away from edges or any spots that will be hard to get a buffer into ( up next to trim, around body lines, small corners, stuff like that). Then once I have all the orange peel out and am satisfied with the product from 1500, I switch to trizact on my DA. It's 3000 grit, I also have to large pads that go on the DA before the paper to keep from leaving and sanding edges. Now go over everywhere with the trizact you just did with 1500, being careful to use plent of water and a fairly low speed on the DA, and change paper often, fresh paper cuts a lot cleaner than worn out paper.

Once you're satisfied with the product after trizact. Give the car a bath, let it dry really good, then go to town buffing.

Let me know if you need any pointers for buffing.

thanks for the replys. yes i will do what you guys have said and stay away from the edges and will start with 2000 grit. i will greatly appreciate all pointers on buffing like what compond should i use etc... thanks again matt