I don't understand the concept of wet sanding. Sounds like you take some 2000 grit sandpaper or better, soak it in water, keep the car wet, and just sand away on the paint finish?

My mother-in-law's old maroon Toyota looks pretty nasty, so I thought I'd take a shot at it. Hand application only. Should I try wet sanding the finish to get rid of years of paint contamination?

 

You have to buff heavily after wetsanding, and it's quite easy to mangle a paint job. Try just claying, buffing, and polishing, i imagine you'll get the results you're after.

 

is this the same as color sanding? just wondering.

 

Buff, as in machine buff?

 

If you don't know what's needed or what you are doing, wetsanding is a good way to 1) ruin the pain job and 2) create a TON of new work.

A) Evaluate how bad the paint is.
B) Determine the least abrasive method of getting the shine back

But if the clear is all worn off, nothing will bring the shine back (if it's a metallic base)

I'd do a ton of reading and searching before laying a finger on her car.

 

Okay, sounds like I'll stick with clay, paint cleaner, polish, glaze, and sealant. Thanks.

Edited to add: I did test rubbing compound on part of her car, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. The Maguiars paint cleaner did help a lot.

 

What grade of rubbing compound did you use? If you used a light one, I could see you not getting results.

Also, are you doing this by hand or machine? For heavily oxidized finishes, I would break out either my PC or rotary.

 

Doing this by hand.

I think the rubbing compound was by Turtle Wax. They had "rubbing compound" and "polishing compound" next to each other, each in the same sized container. The grit in the rubbing compound was very noticeable.

In the days before clearcoat, rubbing compound was a good way to move paint over a scratch to hide it. My rag would have the car's paint color on it when I was done. Now, the rag just has the compound on it. Don't think I'm really getting down into the color paint itself.

 

Correct. Most modern vehicles are basecoat/clearcoat. There are some Lexus paints that are still single stage.

 

PrinzII, your gf's Dodge Neon looked great!

 

Thx. The challenge is going to be teaching her how to keep it up since she is not accustomed to doing that sort of thing.