Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

[chrisrefaei1]

I was wondering if this will clear up things. If you look into the photos especially where the leaves are in in the trees you can see they're not that clear. Thou I must say there is no polish or wax on the vehicle since I'm currently letting it settle and cure. So the big question is do I wet sand it then compound and polish and wax this baby or skip the sanding and go straight to compounding and then apply the polish and wax?
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[Murr1525]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

Looks like orange peel to me.

Would have to sand it if you wanted to try to improve it.... 1500 is still fairly strong. But have you ever wet sanded before? If not, then the answer is probably no....

[Daniel Kinder]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

What's the reason your letting it cure, is this a repaint?

[Christopher.Brown]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

Looks like orange peel to me.

Would have to sand it if you wanted to try to improve it.... 1500 is still fairly strong. But have you ever wet sanded before? If not, then the answer is probably no....

1500 is VERY strong for OEM clear which is approximately 2mils clear, which is equivalent to a post it note.

As Murr said, if you dont have much sanding experience i would not attempt this because you would most definitely compromise the integrity of the clear.

Also you need to consider the rest of the automobile. Im 99.9% convinced that the rest of the vehicle has some level of orange peel from the factory. There will be a large discrepancy in the continuity of the finish if you remove the orange peel from this area and leave it on the rest of the vehicle. Even if no one else notices, this will bother you once you remove it from this single area, get used to looking at the clarity then use the same eyes to look at the rest of the vehicle.

IMO i would not sand OEM clear with 1500 grit as it is too invasive, especially if you do not have much experience doing so..

IF you had to do this i would start with 3000/or 2500 grit and not get any more coarse than 2000.

However, my general overall recommendation is NOT TO SAND OEM CLEAR TO REMOVE ORANGE PEEL.... especially since i dont know the climate conditions in which the car is stored...

Not to mention the curing time to allow the paint to cure and gas... but that is a whole nother paragraph im not gonan get into at this time...

[Detailing by M]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

Yes you can. But I don't think YOU can.
Wet sanding is a very advanced skill that you can't just pick up in an afternoon.

My recommendation would be to use the DAMF System, polish and protect it.
Also there is no reason for you to "let it cure" it's already cured.

[CCC4me]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

Everybody read the title, right? NEWLY PAINTED HOOD.

Generally, there is much more paint to work with than the fears over the factory clear expressed above. That said, if you're just learning to sand, I don't think your freshly painted hood should be your first lesson. How much buffing experience do you have? The Car Pro velvet (~3000 grit) or denim (~2000 grit) pad with some 105 would probably handle it. If you're not an experienced buffer, find some help near you.

[scapegoat]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

If the paint was baked on at the paint shop , it is cured by now . If it wasn't , you need 30 days of 70 degrees or above to cure the paint . You don't need the paint to be cured for wet sanding and buffing . The only reason paint needs to be cured is for waxing or sealing . Then the paint can't breathe . Thus causing the paint to possibly crack . Fresh paint needs to release all the gas . That is why you can't seal the finish . You need a breathable polish . I found that using 2000 grit sand paper will pretty much leave you with just the right amount of orange peel to match the factory finish . Also if you have no experience doing this , I would recommend after sanding , let the car sit in the sun . This will help the fresh (open top coat ) to re skim ( cure ). This will aid in your buffing and polishing .

[Daniel Kinder]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

What's the reason your letting it cure, is this a repaint?

Sorry, I applogize to you chrisrefaei1, I didn't read full title like I should! but I do now know that you use a G100 and have a very nice looking 04' 350Z. Why the repaint, if I may. the added strips?

[Christopher.Brown]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

Everybody read the title, right? NEWLY PAINTED HOOD.

Generally, there is much more paint to work with than the fears over the factory clear expressed above. That said, if you're just learning to sand, I don't think your freshly painted hood should be your first lesson. How much buffing experience do you have? The Car Pro velvet (~3000 grit) or denim (~2000 grit) pad with some 105 would probably handle it. If you're not an experienced buffer, find some help near you.

Youre right, its almost guaranteed that a respray is more clear than OEM...

but my comments are aimed at somone who doesnt have much sanding experience as the point you made. Would rather have someone be safe and keep their paint safe then tell them yea do this ADVANCED PROCESS and such over the net...

If the paint was baked on at the paint shop , it is cured by now . If it wasn't , you need 30 days of 70 degrees or above to cure the paint . You don't need the paint to be cured for wet sanding and buffing . The only reason paint needs to be cured is for waxing or sealing . Then the paint can't breathe . Thus causing the paint to possibly crack . Fresh paint needs to release all the gas . That is why you can't seal the finish . You need a breathable polish . I found that using 2000 grit sand paper will pretty much leave you with just the right amount of orange peel to match the factory finish . Also if you have no experience doing this , I would recommend after sanding , let the car sit in the sun . This will help the fresh (open top coat ) to re skim ( cure ). This will aid in your buffing and polishing .

This is also great information. I was recommending the OP to wait because the drying process at the body shop was omitted. Again, to be safe i said to wait just to let it cure, because most anyone after doing all of that sanding then buffing would want to protect it with an LSP.... its only natural...

[scapegoat]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

Youre right, its almost guaranteed that a respray is more clear than OEM

Not really . Todays bc/cc systems are designed for 2 wet coats of clear . When all is said and done , you have the same mills as factory clear . This keeps the paint manufactures in the correct window for warranty .

[CCC4me]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

Not really . Todays bc/cc systems are designed for 2 wet coats of clear . When all is said and done , you have the same mills as factory clear . This keeps the paint manufactures in the correct window for warranty .

The human sprayer on a repaint can never come close to spraying as thin a coat as the robot in the factory. The two coats will be thicker.

[chrisrefaei1]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

Sorry, I applogize to you chrisrefaei1, I didn't read full title like I should! but I do now know that you use a G100 and have a very nice looking 04' 350Z. Why the repaint, if I may. the added strips?

Yep I was hit in the front. so I got a new front and bent the hood back into shape and repainted it. also added the new stripes

[chrisrefaei1]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

This is how she looks now from front now.

[chrisrefaei1]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

I'll be doing this to the Rear soon, (The spoiler and Rear Bumper)

[chrisrefaei1]

Re: Should I use 1500 Grit wet sanding paper on my newly painted hood?

Thank you everybody for the speedy response. I'll just try my luck and hit her with the Ultimate compound, Ultimate Polish, and finally a good dose of Ultimate Wax and then a top coat of Gold glass and see how she'll do.

Thou I Have wet sanded her this past weekend cause some of the clear looked as if the put too much in place when cause it to run almost looking like candle wax running down the side, got rid of those with the 1500 and then a nice polish.