Any advice for wet sanding and polishing??

[scherp69]

Hopefully on Monday I will get a chance to start wet sanding and then polishing the firewall. I'm probably going to get the Makita 7" variable speed buffer. I have wet/dry paper starting with 800 grit going up to 2500 grit. Does anyone have any advice/tips for doing this. I've never done either before so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Here's a pic of the firewall I'll be doing.

[GregWeld]

Mike

There are some paint experts on here - so they should have some good advice... but I'll say the little bit I know.

I add a couple drops of dish soap in my sanding water - this helps keep the water/wet in place and helps to keep the paper unglogged. I use a 5 gallon bucket and dip the paper (with the block and all) in the bucket constantly to float away the sanded particles - and to add new water. I also use a small squirt container - like a plastic ketchup bottle, if you know what I mean.. to rinse the area.

BE REAL CAREFUL to WATCH the high and low spots -- you'll see the high spots go "dull" and the low spots will stay shiny.... you do not need to get the entire area "dull" because you will also "cut" some of the high spots down with the buffer.... ALSO -- don't sand near edges - tape them off so you don't cut into them. Ditto that with the buffer.... you can clean them up by HAND when you're done with the bigger area.

Depending on how much orange peel you're dealing with - I'd go with the finer papers -- unless it's got lots of clear on it. Being a "newbie" you'll tend to sand off too much I think... better safe than sorry.

Just my .02 worth...

[wiedemab]

I would just reiterate - keep your paper really clean. One little spec of dirt can wreak havoc.

I would take your time and dry it off for inspection frequently until you get the hang of how quickly it cuts. I use a waterblade to quickly check the larger areas.

Good Luck!

[scherp69]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I ended up using 3m perfect-it pads and 3m compound and polish. It's neat how when you're wet sanding you can actually watch the orange peel in the clear disappear. I think it turned out pretty good. Here's some pics:

After wet sanding to 2500



After buffing with 3M compound



After final polishing with 3M swirl remover/polish

[GregWeld]

good job!!

[tones2SS]

Looks good.
What color is that?!?!

[scherp69]

Thanks guys. The color is House of Kolor's apple red.