[Ghetto Jet]

My paint job is a two year old base/clear, it looks good but the clarity isn't perfect. My quartpanels are going to get repainted to fix the minuet rust spots I have on my wheel wells so I thought I would pick up some 2000 grit sand paper and what ever else I need and see how good of a job I can do before the new paint is sprayed. I don't have anything to loose. I just want to know if wet sanding is something you should only do while the paint is fresh or if it's ok for me to do it on my two year old paint. Also specifically what type of polishing compound do you use/recommend for a clear coat.


Thanks

Mike

[BarryK]

Any wetsanding on a 2 year old job will shorten the life of the paint job as the UV'S will float.

If your talking about playing on the quarters that are getting repainted before they get repainted, great idea for practice.

[willys36@aol.com]

Originally posted by BarryK
Any wetsanding on a 2 year old job will shorten the life of the paint job as the UV'S will float.

Explain please.

[BarryK]

In a clear coat (a good one) there are two different kinds of UV protectors used. One protects the fasting of the color (fading) the other protect the clear. (from self destructing under the sun)

The problem is the uv's float and after time will seep out of the clear and at that time the color will fade and the clear will start breaking down. You have seen clears on deck lids at lights that are white and Peeling in the center like old lacquer use to do. These are normally real cheap clears and since the uv's are the most expensive part of the clear this is the part they cut out to save money.

Now once the clear is in the process of curing it should never be wet-sanded and buffed after 30 days as a rule of thumb. If done
the uv's will exit at a very fast rate. Two things will happen, you will notice the car now needs a buff job every 6 months to keep a shine and the color of the base will be fading but hard to tell unless parked next to the same color or you re-shoot a section with left over paint and it don't match.

If the UV'S are blended with a reactor (very expensive) than you can buff at anytime in automotive refinishing section none of the companies do this except one because of cost.

Its a lot more complicated than how I explained it but tried to simplify.
Barry

[willys36@aol.com]

What keeps the UVs from migrating out of the paint even if you color sand and buff early? What are the UVs? A solvent? A solid? If the latter, how do they migrate?

[Ghetto Jet]

Well after two years of baking in the sun or being covered in salt all winter it's still looks as good as the day I got it back from paint so it's probably a good product, the painter did tell me that he sprayed a whole gallon of clear coat on it, I don't know if that would be considered a thick coat or clear coat or not.

Again any recommendations for a clear coat safe polishing compound?

And willys thanks for asking questions in my thread, it draws more attention and I learn more.

[AngliaBob]

What has worked for me is : sand it down with 1000,1500,
Use 3M Perfect-It III on a wool pad,
Then use 3M Finesse-it on a foam pad..
Check out the product at:
http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/e...e_aftermarket/

PS: I have absolutely nothing to do with 3M, except I use their products.

[Ghetto Jet]

No need to worry about being accused of trying to sell 3M products, they make good stuff. Thanks for the tips AngliaBob.

[willys36@aol.com]

Originally posted by AngliaBob
What has worked for me is : sand it down with 1000,1500,
Use 3M Perfect-It III on a wool pad,
Then use 3M Finesse-it on a foam pad..
Check out the product at:
http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/e...e_aftermarket/

PS: I have absolutely nothing to do with 3M, except I use their products.

Ditto except I use sponge pads exclusively. And I wait longer than 3 months a lot of the time and except for the paint being so stinkin' hard having cured that long, have never experienced Barry's UV depletion problem. But then I never use cheapie clear (stuck w/ PPG until they priced themselves out of my reach now use Nason), so maybe they don't have the problem as bad.

[BarryK]

Originally posted by willys36@aol.com
Ditto except I use sponge pads exclusively. And I wait longer than 3 months a lot of the time and except for the paint being so stinkin' hard having cured that long, have never experienced Barry's UV depletion problem. But then I never use cheapie clear (stuck w/ PPG until they priced themselves out of my reach now use Nason), so maybe they don't have the problem as bad.

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I have not followed the paint companies recommendations for this in years. It use to be some said 30, 60 days, 90 days. Most likely some where around 6-7 months would be as far as you would want to stretch it for safety sake but that just depends on the product. Thats base/clear, single stages would be a shorter time frame.