colorsanding/polishing paint... been a while

[Cal_gecko]

Years ago, I used to work in the automotive collision repair/refinishing industry, after graduating from WyoTech. I started working in the detail shop, and was responsible for colorsanding/buffing/polishing the paint on the cars after they had been painted.. (this was back in the early to mid 90's).. My process back then was to start with 1500 grit, then 2000 grit, then using a rotary buffer with a coarse pad and cutting compound - then a finer pad with a polishing compound, then a black foam polishing pad with a very fine polishing compound, then a nice glaze..

I know things have changed a lot since then.. there are finer sandpapers available now, there are better buffers available now (I have both a Makita rotary buffer as well as a Porter Cable DA polisher, which I haven't used yet) .. as well as different cutting/rubbing/polishing compounds...

So - I am looking to start the process of colorsanding/buffing the paint on my Dart - which was painted a year ago (yeah, I know.. the paint is going to be rock-hard).. it was painted with Omni single stage. There's a fair amount of orange peel as well as a few fish-eyes.. no runs, thankfully. I'm not worried about making the paint flat, as it would just make the bodywork look worse (it was a budget-minded paint job.. the bodywork is ok, but not great).. I simply want to cut down some of the texture as well as any of the pieces of dirt/dust in the paint so it's smoother.

My thoughts are to do a 'quick nib' with 1500 wet, to take care of the pieces of dirt/dust in the paint.. then go over more of it with 2000 to take out the 1500 scratches, and take down some of the texture.. then 2500 after that.. pretty much only from the mid-line of the car, up to the top surfaces.. no point in colorsanding/polishing the lower half of the car, as far as I'm concerned.

So then the question is .. should I just do what I know, and use the rotary buffer to remove the 2500 grit sandscratches, and then polish it - or should I use the Porter Cable? I really don't want to burn through any edges.. it's been a number of years since I've colorsanded/polished a car.. so I know that I won't be as good at is as I used to be..

What do you guys use (specific product recommendations would be great) for this process?

thanks

 

[pishta]

How long do you sand with the finer grits? I'm interested in doing some paint work myself.

 

[furyus2]

Your plan sounds good to me. I just got done wet sanding and buffing my Dart. I had to use 1000 grit to start since the jerk who painted my car left me with a lot of orange peel. I had to use a pad on my DA with 1000 paper attached by Velcro or I would still be wet sanding the car. Also tape your edges to protect them.

 

[19duster70]

Wetsand only the areas the don't conform. 1000 and then finer to 1500. 3M Compound 06070 will take care of it. Never use one bonnet for all. Fresh bonnet for each compound or swirl remover.

 

[CudaChris67]

I too worked at a shop a little over 10 years ago when 1500 and 2000 were "fine grits." I am sure the tried and true will work, but I was researching dampsanding to get with the times and bookmarked this site:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/wet-sanding-cutting-buffing/25915-dampsanding-tools-tips-techniques-mike-phillips.html

I am pretty sure I watched youtube videos by this author as well, and it was quite informative. it is amazing how the paint starts to shine as you get up to 5000 grit.

 

[Rocky_JS]

I use 1500 and 2k with block but have a 3/16 DA and 2k, 3k and 5k 3m trizact disc's for finish sanding. It IS expensive. They can get you to almost a polished finish without using compounds. It does cut fast so I use them on flat panels and block on the rest. I don't do it enough anymore to have developed a good technique with the DA yet.

I still use a rotary buffer some things you just cant change and I prefer to hand block sand as I get a better feel.
I first buff with a wool pad using the 3m 3-step perfect it compounds changing pads with each step. white, black, and blue also 3m.