My paint is about 2 1/2 yrs old and I was too lazy back then to get it wet sanded and polished. It is a tri-coat paint job with 2 coats of clear. I wanna wetsand my car MYSELF to get rid of the orange peel and then take it into a body shop so they can buff it out.

What grit of sandpaper would I use? Can I sand curves or only flat surfaces because there are some runs in the clear around the nose?

Finally, What is a fair price to pay to get a shop to buff it out?

Thanks.

 

Yes you can do it all your self. You will want to use a block to sand the flat parts, especially the area with runs. It will take a while since the paint is so hard, as opposed to the day after it is painted, but it is possible. You will want to be especially careful on the edges so that you dont sand through the paint. I would assume that a body shop would charge $150 or $200 or around there to buff it out.

Tim

 

2 coats of clear is not that much. I usually put around 4 coats of clear sprayed from light to wet coats. Anyways, use a stiff 3"x5" foam pad starting with 1000 grit. 1 paper folded in 3 sections should be able to sand one panel unless the clear is too hard. Use lots of soapy water and dry each section off with a towel and check your work with a light to make sure there are no pits or missed spots. Next use 1200 grit paper folded the same way but, sand with the palm of your hand (no foam pad) not with your finger tips. Every inch of the surface must be sanded completely with each grit or the missed spots will show up in the final buffing. Also, I would leave the runs in the clear to the body shop since getting them out is kind of tricky. If you sand any part of the car with a block (even if it looks flat) chances are you will put ridges in the paint if you don't have any experience using a block.

 

Everyone has their own way of doing things and the thickness of the clear per coat depends on the quality of the clear....

Personally.. the grit of starting paper depends on how bad the orange peel is. My bud's truck came out faily smoothe so I used 1500 with a firm(one side) soft (other) foam block. 1500 knocks the high spots down faily quick w/o scatching & 2000 just makes buffing easier (my opinion). I like to use lots of just plain water as opposed to soapy water as well.. just what I've always done. Either way works.

The main thing is start somewhere inconspicous to get a feel of what you're doing & save sharp edges for last (easiest spot to cut thru the clear). For runs, use something small (about 1"x1") and hard (like a piece of wood) and use a bit heavier grit of paper to cut faster (like 6-800 grit). Using something solid will keep the paper to conforming to the run & take the high spots out 1st (flat surfaces are easier) as opposed to a foam sanding pad.

Here's some of the fruits of my labor...
(love those 3m Perfect-It products )

 

so $150 - $200 is around the price a shop would charge to buff it out?

 

Red, that is just a guess. I am not sure, but most shops charge around 50-60 per hour for bodywork so it could be more like 400-500 if they charge like that because it is a time consuming process. I would hope though, that they would not charge that much per hour. The best thing would be to ask around, or you could just buy a bufer yorself and do it or borrow one. It is not that difficult with a little practice.

Tim

 

well....im going to spray laquer and not basecoat clearcoat