Wet Sanding
 

I just got my car painted this week and getting it back today....the painter used The Econo Body AC from NAPA with hardner.Paint #49801.
His garage is not the best condition for painting so the finish has lots of what I guess are dust particles in the paint and a few paint runs.My son and I did all the prep work and he only charged me $300 so for the money, its a really good job.
My question to you is,can I wet sand acrylic enamel metallic? If so , when can I do this....can anyone kinda give me an insight on how to go about doing this.....What grit paper and procedures
Thanks for any help you can give me,
Jeff

I wouldn't... It will end up blotchy looking. When you block it the metallic will be uneven because you will take more paint off of any high spots leaving it in the lower spots and it will look sorta like it does when the painter doesn't get the metallic even.
I guess if doesn't have much orange peel to sand out and all you have to do is lightly sand it you might get away with it but I would be careful.

If you do do it I would use 1500 if there is orange peel and end with 2000, but if it's slick and you are just knocking the top off I'd use 2000 .Also put some soap in the water and be very gentle with it.
I have color sanded and buffed the very next day many times and never had any trouble...just be careful not to scratch it with grit that comes loose from the paint or paper.

If you're going to just knock off the DUST tops, wet sand as per Tod's advise but use a constant supply of water to wash away the 'grit'. I use an old water/garden hose section with the brass end cut off and a slow flow of H2O. It's important to use a flexible 'block' wrapped in your 2000 grit so that you don't end up with 'finger streaks' in your sanding pattern. LIGHT pressure with many strokes is better than too much pressure to just blast through the job and risk sanding through the top layer of clear. Straight metallics are touchy so take your time and it'll look great. The buffing and polishing process will be critical also as you don't want to use too aggressive of cutter compound and break through that clear. Use lots of finer compound instead of less heavier grit, just like in the sanding process. You'd have a ton more latitude if it was a basecoat clearcoat system. Good luck and TAKE YOUR TIME.

Can you get rid of those kinds of imperfections in the paint just with rubbing compound and buffing? :?

In a word- no
Dust/dirt in the paint is a solid when it's dry. It takes pin pointed physical action to remove/reduce it's visual presence which is above the paint surface. Knocking off the 'nubs' is what this is called. To use a buffer you'd have to use an agressive compound and you'll end up breaking through the surface clear and into the metalic which can have disastrous results.

Depending on the temperatures Acrylic enamel will still be releasing solvents for over a month. Untill they have excaped you will have less than satisfactory results in sanding and buffing. The down side of waiting for a couple months is, it gets harder than superman's knee cap. I would wait and spend the extra effort or you will see that shinny buff job die back.

All sanding should be done with a block. NO FINGER SANDING. The runs, you can use a very small chunk of wood or even part of a paint stir for your block. you will be using a courser grit 400 600 to level run. using the little block a lot of soapy water, sand only the high spot by turning the block to a 45* angle and sand lightly. If you use rubber block you will sand material around paint and go threw. When it is just about level switch to finer paper. Keep paper clean with lots of water. If it gums up you will have big scratches. Depending if you have any orange peel, will decide if you sand the whole car. Don't try to do anything but level the dirt spots. You don't want very shiny spots here and there. 1500 should work for you then buff with a good compound. 3M has a great 3 step system. Keep buffer as flat as possible. If you tip it up it may look like it works faster but you will learn what buffer burn is.

I would suggest 1/4 inch tape on all edges for buffing and sanding. When buffing make wheel travel off the edge not come on it on final buff.

Main things Block and buffer flat as possible, keep it clean even to washing in between and don't press hard, let sand paper and rubbing compound do the work. Hope this helps.

defiantly use a lot of fresh clean water to rinse with or it will digg the dirt in the sanded pain as you work
i havent had any luck with wet sanding paint unless it was cured! it gums up the paper ,and splotches the paint

use water on the floor next time.,and keep your hose in back of you or over your neck
and a drip rag for the cup, no matter how expensive the cup there is always a chance of a drip on that expensive new paint

if you can live with the paint ,and want to buff out the orange peel , maybe a couple more coats of clear to sand evenly would help

I HAVE SEEN SOME GREAT PAINT JOBS RUINED BY A LEAKING GUN OR A DROPPED HOSE
:oops: :oops:
I ALWAYS PUT THE HOSE ON MY SHOULDR WHEN PAINTING HOODS AND TOPS :?: :?:
LIVELY

:oops: Take your time and have some patience.Try straight water and lookup the Eastwood Company website for some of the high quality products for final finishing of metallics.

Sorry for the late reply Jeff. If the car does not have any clear coat, I wouldn't touch it with anything. If the painter reduced the paint as he was going, there may be shade variances in every coat. It will show up once you start. Wet sanding without clear coat can destroy your paint job. Only uncleared straight colors (no metallic) can you get away with it.
Mark Adams