I have 120K on my black SE and time has taken its toll. Iv heard of wetsanding and buffing and all that. Whats the best way to get back that luster without getting a paint job, and how much does wetsanding cost?

 

Im getting my car completly Wetsanded, compounded, polish, and waxed for $125. The wetsanding added on $45 to the price, but I think its well worth it. Id say start there, and if that doesnt make you happy, then a new paint job is in order for you.

 

what is wetstanding?

 

wetsanding*

 

Basically its using a 1500 or 2000 grit sandpaper (kind to use with water), and you go over the entire car sanding out surface scratches or blemeshes. Just like regular sanding, but with water.

 

hey, I did it to my 96 infiniti with some help from my friend and let me tell you if you have small scratches its worth it. because it takes it out. then you buff it and you'll get the best shine you ever had.*******I had help from a supervisor of a detailing shop if you do not know how to don't do it******* to much wetsand can eat through the clear coat.

price wize don't know because it was a side job

 

well when my bro painted my car for me, after the paint job the whole car had orange peel. that is when you look at the car and the clear coat looks like a orange peel. so we took sandpaper and you add water to that and sand the whole car with water. you san only the clear coat so you have to be careful not to sand through the clear coat. so after you wetsand, you take a ploish machine and buff the whole car back so its shine. and it is worth all the extra work because it is the best shine. alot of work though. but i dont know how much it will cost cause my bro and i did it.

 

vsamoylov, your bro sounds hella cool, seems like he helps you a lot. My bro lives far away from me so i see him like once every other week. HEHE. What does your bro drive?

 

tell me about it. i wouldnt have this cool car without him. it was his car first. without him, i wouldnt have anybody to help me out with my car. he drives a 2k max with a vq35, a 98 maxima, and a 98 integra but thats for sale. anybody want it?

 

I don't know about 1500 or 2000 grit paper. I'd start with that and finish with like a 6k or 8k grit. I wetsanded my tails with 2k grit and it didn't really look too good. Finished with 4k and it looked much better.

 

sweet, i want to try it out, is there a site that tells you how to do it?

 

2000 grit wet sand with soap
Polish with rubbing compound
Buff with what ever you use
Wax!

 

just dont sand throught the clear coat and start out in a small area. i recomend using the 3m Perfect It 3000 system.

 

You could use a clay bar system. Worked well for me. It made the paint look good and shiny!

 

but dont you think that is kinda old aalready? shops use it still but i rather prefer wetsanding. IMO.

 

Maybe, But The Clay bar system is safer and it still gives a good shine.

 

Unless you truly understand the principles of wet sanding, I recommend against it. Sure, you'll get the paint to shine through very nicely, but if you do not apply even pressure throughout the process, your new mirror finish will cause reflected objects to become distorted - you're giving up a flush and uniform finish, for a shiney finish in such case. The negative result often causes the paint job's thickness to become disproportionate over the body's entire area.

Proper wet sanding is truly an automotive art form, and requires an incredible amount of concentration, time and patience in order to really get it right.

Do note, even pressure is a must! And, do not use your hand directly over the sand paper unless absolutely necessary, e.g. hard to reach contouring. A sanding block is a must, and again, the process must be done with even pressure - I cannot stress this enough.

Remember, since most factory paint jobs are quite crappy, a skilled hand can in fact, greatly improve a paint jobs overall uniformity, flushness and breathability.

Also, some of these recommended grits above are extremely high and a waste of time, as I've done custom work while finishing my last round of sanding with 1500-1800. After such grits, the real shine will come from after sanding products such as 3M's Rubbing Compound, Swirl Mark Remover, and Final Polish(I believe Swirl & Polish are concocted for both lighter and darker cars, so read the labels carefully). The compound and swirl remover should always be applied by buffer w/ a fresh bonnet as well.

If your paint job suffers from oxidation in some spots, I believe Meguier's (possibly 3M as well), has a compound that adds depth and dimension to the damaged area. It's better to add a nutrient rich compound to such areas rather than trying to sand through them, as you may be sanding down to the primer to rid the dullness!

Even buffers can wreak havoc on a nice paint job if used improperly. When you burn through paint or greatly lessen it's thickness in various spots, you're opening up the metal below to the elements. First and foremost, paint is used to protect the car's body, while beauty and shine are a secondary, albeit important, consideration.

If you have any doubts about my technique or product recommendations, seek out the advice of your local automotive paint seller - there's usually one or two in every big city.

Lastly, another caveat regarding clears - careful! It's what makes the pigmented paint below gleam brighter than those jobs without a clear. Burn some of the clear off, the paint jobs shine will be brighter in some spots than in others, i.e. you'll have some dull spots. Be sure to specify to your local paint dealer if you're dealing w/ a clear coat before purchasing products & tackling the job. Also, after you've picked the paint guy's brain at the counter, try and drag him out to the parking lot to have a look at the type, quality & condition of your paint for the best advice.

Feel free to email if anyone has questions, thoughts or concerns.

 

That is because, you are supposed to use compound and polish with a high speed buffer after using 2000 grit. Ive never heard of a 6k or 8k grit, must be expensive. Its just like if you were to compound a section of your car, it looks dull, just like wetsanding with 2000 grit. Compound is a liquid sandpaper basically, you just need to polish afterwards.

badmaxx summed it up perfectly. This is the exact reason why I am paying someone to do this. I dont have enough experience. The shop I am going to tomorow is having their most experienced detailer working on my car. They will be working from 7am-12pm(or even later) on my car, consisting of: Wetsanding 2000 grit, compounding w/ buffer, polish w/ buffer, and wax. I talked to them, and they said if im not happy, they will correct it for free, so basically they back all their work. Id say, find a shop that backs up their work, and you'll have no problem. If they screw up and go through the clear coat, it comes out of their pocket, not mine.

Id say, expect to pay anywheres from $100-200 for a decent wetsanding/compound/polish/wax job.

 

BlueC, are you having this done in the Cities? If so, what shop is doing it and are you getting a backdoor deal? It sounds very attractive to me - I have some swirls and marks put in the paint by the idiots at Wayzata Nissan that I haven't been able to get out. I like a really shiny car, but I lack the time to do it myself.

By the way, I decided not to get lowered springs until next spring. Sorry I never called...not that you were waiting by the phone or anything

 

Hehe, no problem, i was busy all week anyways.

Im going to Classic Auto Spa & Detail Center in Savage. The $125 (+tax) is their standard price, but they dont list Wetsanding on their menu. Its $80 for a high speed buff and wax, but the wetsanding added $45. I'll let you know if they do a good job or not. Good idea on waiting till spring on the lowering springs, no point in doing it when snow is around the corner.

 

2000 grit is almost nothing. I've never seen 6 or 8 k grit sandpaper. Besides a rubbing compound is the equivalant of about a 3000 grit anyway. Polishing compound is higher yet and finally the glaze etc..

A machine polisher running at max speed of about 3,000 rpm is much more effective than your hand sanding.

 

6 or 8k sandpaper would essentially be notebook paper. I've NEVER seen either in my 2 local automotive paint stores, nor would it help in transitioning from say, 1800 grit, to the rubbing compound stage. In fact, the rubbing compound is far more gritty than this alleged 8K sandpaper!

1500 grit is in fact, sufficient enough to transition to the rubbing compound, swirl remover and hand polish phases.

Like BlueC stated above, it's best to leave this mod up to the pros. Also, if you're being charged $45 for a wetsanding as I read somewhere in the thread, beware! For comparison, I have taken up to a full day to properly wetsand a freshly painted car. In terms of an older paint job, I'd probably spend 1/2 of a day if I were doing it myself. That said, a mere $45 to do the whole car leaves me suspicious of the workmanship.

Be sure to speak with the guy who will do your wetsanding and ask him the right questions. See my post above, and you'll have an idea. If he hasn't a clue about how to properly use a sanding block, choose grits or deal with clears, then go elsewhere.

Ideally, I'd want the same guy to do the work; from sanding to final polish (or waxing, if you choose such).

Much better to spend a little more $ with someone who is experienced than to compromise the structural integrity, evenness and shine of your paint.

 

I was wondering if I stuttered or something?

 

Merely amplifying your correct reply. Please, take no offense.

 

I talked with the owner on sunday, only one person will be working on my car, who is the most experienced. The fact is, If im not happy, they will redo it/fix it. So im not worried about the workmanship. 7am-12pm is 5 hours, and thats just an estimated time. They are doing everything except the rear bumper (replacing it), so I think they will be able to do a good job. The shop seems to have a great reputation, cause they were completly booked for friday, so obviously people like their work.

I'll find out thursday if they did a good job or not. Im not too worried though, they back all their work, and I dont think they'd do a sh!tty job and expect me to like it. I explained about my concerns about it coming out poor, and he said his detailers have a large amount of experience and he went over the car and he confirmed which type of scratches they could take out. But when i drop it off on wednesday night, Ill talk with them and go over the final details.

 

You're definitely on the right track, BlueC. I'm sure it will turn out beautiful!

 

Little update, looks like they are gonna be working on my car till atleast 2pm, they called me this morning explaining that I have alot of surface scratches (no ****), and its more work than the $125 would cover. So they said for the $125 they can get the majority of the scratches out, and still bring in a nice deep shine. All I care about is bringing back the color of the car anyways, but she told me their detailer is gonna be spending all day on it.

So it sounds like they know what they are doing.

 

and if you pay more, what will they do?

 

Basically, she told me, their detailer would be working into tomrow to remove every surface scratch on my car. So the only benifit for paying $180 would be that all the surface scratches would be gone. I dont care quite frankly, I just want the majority gone, and allthe bigger ones gone too. My main goal in the wetsanding is to have it bring back a deeper shine and reflect the paint more. So im happy with the $125 i will be sanding. I talked with her around noon, and she said its already looking brand new, and it will be done at 3pm. Looking good and 3 more hours of work from then. I cant imagine how good it will look.

So basically, $55 more, is just the extra wet sanding they'd need to do. 7am-3pm for $125 is already a great deal. 8 hours of labor.

 

post pics of it when it is done and you got any pics before the wetsanding?

 

Can't wait to see the pix, BlueC.

 

Im not too happy. They did an excellent job in removing alot of big scratches, and actually hid some really deep scratches (ones that go into the paint). But they did more damage than good. Im seeing alot of swirl marks, and some holograms on the hood. Deck lid seems hazy and many scratches. I didnt say anything when i picked it up cause I was in a hurry to get to work. But im going to be going by there right away in the morning tomrow to talk with the owner. It almost looks like they skipped a step, cause its not any of a deeper shine than what it originally was. It is very shiney from some angles, but when you look directly at it, it looks like ****.

I dont know what happened, but im not too happy. Im not going to blow up at them or anything, but its not acceptable for $125. I told them, i was worried about holograms and swirl marks, both which were applied in this case. I think maybe they tried to rush through it, but im not gonna say "oh well" or anything, $125 should have made a difference. They did the worst job on the decklid, cause its WORSE from what it originally was. Im not going to avoid this place or give them a bad rep, aslong as they fix it and do an acceptable job to correct it, ill be happy. I just think the detailer was rushed or maybe ran into a problem, they are very nice people over there and have great service.

Ill give you guys an update tomrow. But note, they did an awesome job on covering up the scratches on the hood, basically the ones that went through the paint, and got rid of some big surface scratches.

 

ask how many stages they did because when i wet sanded there was the wetsanding part, then buffing the car with 3 products. the first was to bring back the clear so the car didnt look like matte. then there was another step which i forgot was and the 3rd step was finishing laze/ paint protection. all were applied with a buffer. and after it was done, i couldnt wash a car for a month and after that, i only wash it with water with soft materials when washing the car and drying it so i dont scartch anything or leave swirl marks. good luck though. post pics when possible.

 

Yea it looks like the polished once after the wetsanding. But good lord, the buffing job looks terrible. I just feel really down right now, cause I expected a big difference, and it seemed to turn out almost worse than it was. Im just sick of getting the opposite of what I expect.

I hope they fix it, or Im getting my money back. Im not losing $125 over this if they wont fix it. They know id could spread a bad rep for them, so I hope they are smart.

 

If they truly did a good job on the sanding, the three step; rubbing compound, swirl remover and hand polish stages should remedy the situation. If they went from sanding to polish, it should look like $h!t. The rubbing compound and swirl mark removing stages should be done with a buffer and polish should be applied by hand. Anything less, and your paint will remain quite dull.

I'm sure it can be fixed. Good luck, man.

 

Yea, looking at the hood last night when i was filling the max up with gas, I could see a sh!tload of swirl marks and holograms. Looked like a 5 year old buffed it. I was depressed all night, cause I was so excited for the max to be beautiful again.

Ill be talking with the owner today, hopefully they will fix it.

 

not true. the last satge could be applied with a buffer or hand. and i would rather use a buffer than a hand cause your hand cant spin at those rpms that the buffer can

 

Damn, BlueC. That sucks. I'm really sorry to hear it.

From what I've gathered, they should have wetsanded, compounded, then a swirl remover, rough polish, fine polish, then wax. I think they definitely skipped a step or two - kind of like when I did a paint cleaner, then right to wax. The wax covered up and filled in the big stuff, but under the light you could still see the swirls from the cleaner.

We really do need to meet. I bought over $200 worth of stuff from Autopia yesterday so that I can learn to detail my own cars. Maybe in the future we can work on it so you don't have to waste money on a subpar job. I actually made this purchase after I talked to a few detailers and got wildly different quotes from each. I just don't think that you can take the "one size fits all" tact with restoring finishes, and if anyone's going to ruin my car's finish it's going to be me.

I have a couple other friends interested in this, too. Economies of scale on products are always good.

 

Thats awesome. I got roughly $150 or so in detailing stuff in my garage. So we should combine stuff one day and detail both cars.

What all did you buy?

 

I bought the Sonus DAS polisher kit that includes a PC 7424, Sonus flexplate, and all the Sonus buffing pads. I also picked up some more Einzsett products because I heard they're really good, especially for dark cars.

As far as your dilemma, I hope they take care of you. Red cars are the toughest to keep shiny - my old Jeep was red, and that color oxidizes so fast if the wax wears off. Just take a look at older NWA planes to see what I mean - red is beotch to keep looking good.