Wetsand, cut, and buff - how to?

[thethee]

Don't worry, the trim is actually quite easy to remove. Just posted that pic to illustrate the general surface finish

 

[1970FuryConv]

Don't worry, the trim is actually quite easy to remove. Just posted that pic to illustrate the general surface finish

Amazing work around the rear window, Theo.
I'm blown away by the talent that took. Well done!

 

[thethee]

Thanks for the kind words Ben, really appreciate it.

 

[1970FuryConv]

Thanks for the kind words Ben, really appreciate it.

You're welcome. Compliment deserved!

 

[tbm3fan]

Before I had my Air Advantage I would hand sand my cars. Started off wet sanding with 1000 grit on a hard block in an X pattern. Followed that by 1500 grit, 2000 grit and 3000 grit. With the Air Advantage I could start with 1500 trizact discs, then move to 3000 discs, and last to 5000. Always washed off and wiped each section with a squeegee to assess how much orange peel was left. Never shot to eliminated since all cars have some from factory and older ones sometimes more. Then I used my Makita polisher with wool pad with polishing compound. After that the foam pads came out on either another Makita using forced orbital or my Flex orbital-polisher. The link below I read back in 2012 and actually had a phone conversation with Robert who does the top ends cars seen at Monterey. Oh, and I always had three coats of SS.

Read this:Polishing has always scared me Questions on Orange Peel

 

[thethee]

Before I had my Air Advantage I would hand sand my cars. Started off wet sanding with 1000 grit on a hard block in an X pattern. Followed that by 1500 grit, 2000 grit and 3000 grit. With the Air Advantage I could start with 1500 trizact discs, then move to 3000 discs, and last to 5000. Always washed off and wiped each section with a squeegee to assess how much orange peel was left. Never shot to eliminated since all cars have some from factory and older ones sometimes more. Then I used my Makita polisher with wool pad with polishing compound. After that the foam pads came out on either another Makita using forced orbital or my Flex orbital-polisher. The link below I read back in 2012 and actually had a phone conversation with Robert who does the top ends cars seen at Monterey. Oh, and I always had three coats of SS.

Read this:Polishing has always scared me Questions on Orange Peel

Thank you, looks like I have some more reading to do.

What was your preferred polishing compound? I'm guessing that with the foam pads you used a finer compound?

 

[marty koirtyohann]

Recently I painted my 1975 Imperial myself. It was the first time I did something like that so while I'm super happy with the results, the finish could be better. There's bugs, dust, overspray, and orange peel. It was recommended to me that with wetsand, cut, and buff the finish could probably be greatly improved. These things are also completely new to me so I started reading up on them online and that's when I got a little lost...

So I thougth it best to seek some advice from the hive mind that is FCBO.

For now, what I understand is that I should sand the orange peel out starting with 1500 grit then 2000 and follow that with maybe 3000. I take it that should be done by hand or can I use a DA? And it's probably best to take out all the peel on the 1500 pass and just refine the surface with the 2000 (and maybe 3000) right? Then after that is clean and dry comes cutting and buffing and as I understand it, that should be done with a machine to get the best results. Aside from what machine to get (there's so much of them) it's a maze of different cutting compounds and polishes. I assume that it doesn't really matter what you get and it's mostly down to preference. But what I would really like to know are the practical things like, how much compound do you typically need for a four door? And how many pads can I expect to go through?

Any and all tips, tricks, pointers, and personal experiences will be appreciated, I'm here to learn. Thanks in advance!

was it done in clear coat base coat?i would have the body shop do the wet sand buffing . my cousin had his 70 plum crazy cuda repainted i watched the painter do the wet sand then buff it turned the paint job into a mirror finish

 

[tbm3fan]

Thank you, looks like I have some more reading to do.

What was your preferred polishing compound? I'm guessing that with the foam pads you used a finer compound?

Wizards as Len suggested on the link.