Wet Sanding

[DB87442]

So in pictures (and to most people), the finish on my car looks great, but to me I see a lot of "waves" for a lack of a better word, in the paint/clear. I was wondering if wet sanding would help take care of this. If so, is that something that is best left to a professional? I tried to get a picture of what I'm talking about but it's kinda hard to see. It's where the white reflection meets the color reflection. It's like that up and down both sides, not really on any of the top panels.

Any ideas on a fix or does it need to be painted?

 

[CopperNick]

Sometimes our fingers can tell us things our eyes miss or mistake. First, make sure your hands are absolutely clean because skin oils can contaminate the work being done, then lightly run your fingers over the panel and see if you can feel those waves. If they are present to your fingers then you have to sand the panel down to remove them/ get the panel shaped the way it ought to be.

If you can't feel them but are sure they exist, then what comes next is entirely up to you. If you can sand them out and reshoot, that is one option, the worst case would be having to take the panel down to bare metal and check it for damage or warping.

Do be absolutely certain that you are not dealing with some kind of optical illusion; getting the car outside into natural light can be one way to see if what you are looking at stays or disappears.

Change your work light to something more stronger or brighter. Go LED or use multiple light sources.




Nick

 

[57 Handyman]

Hard to say...maybe heat wave distortion or camera resolution causing what you claim to be seeing as waves or deformations in your paint. Also, did you enlarge the original photo in order to be able to show the defects? If you did enlarge the original, you're introducing/creating pixel issues in the photo.

Couple other thoughts: How old is the paint job? Who did the paint job? How many coats of clear were applied?

If you plan on doing some sanding and buffing...Be VERY careful especially along edges where paint and clear coats tend to be thinnest...you don't want to break through the top layers to any underlying coats. If you do break-thru trying to smooth the surface, the only way to fix it requires repaint/spraying the whole panel.

 

[jcelk]

handyman has it right stay away from body lines and edges ..wash car first any grit will ruin your day. wet sand with 2000 grit the follow up with 3000 grit horizontally on the sides i use a water bottle that i poke a hole in the cap to keep it wet ..but it;s best to have a pro do it

 

[69hurstolds]

If it bothers you, go get it professionally appraised by a seasoned detailer or knowledgable paint guy as far as what the best method is to flatten the finish better. Guys who have seen or done hundreds/thousands of paint jobs can tell you better on how to approach YOUR situation. They may give you some tips to do it yourself, but unless you're comfortable doing this sort of thing, you may want to go ahead and shell out the $$ to get it done professionally.

Check out this 86 442 with factory finish. It looks great at first blush, but closer inspection reveals a bit of orange peel evident in the reflections of the building and nearby vehicle. BC/CC wasn't the best in 1986, but you know that even this finish isn't glass smooth.

 

[bracketchev1221]

My experience and it may not be the same for others, is that this is something you will have to attempt yourself. When I had my car painted at Maaco, they did an ok job on the paint but not so great on the wet sanding. So when I tried to get it done anywhere else, nobody wanted to take the chance of wetsanding it not knowing how much clear was on it. One guy wanted to clear the entire car himself before he would attempt to wet sand it.