New to polishing, need some help!

[mgill355]

Hi everyone.

I don't have much experience in car care when it comes to polishing paint. I have a 1986 Plymouth with original paint on it, but the paint was filthy. There was a lot of dirt stuck in the paint, and I wasn't able to get it out, so out of frustration I just did some wet sanding. This is just a temporary clean-up job, since it's getting painted again later this year, but I wanted to make it look nice for now.

I wet sanded the top of the vehicle (where it was dirty) and its not perfect, but looks much better. The finish is now extremely dull (like a matte finish). How do I go about polishing it up? I would prefer to use a product I can apply by hand.

What are the basic steps? I think I may need a finer grit wet sand first, but I'm not sure what to use afterward.

[Marc08EX]

Re: New to polishing, need some help!

to MOL!

Yikes! Wetsanding as your first detailing project?

What grit of sand paper did you use to wet sand your car? You are correct. It's best to use finer grit sand paper to make it easier to polish out. Most people use 1500 grit as their first step and follow it up with 3000 grit to finish it off.

I assume that you don't have a rotary buffer or a dual action polisher right? If you had these two machines then it will make your job a lot easier. Using a wool pad with M105 for the rotary buffer should clear things up. The microfiber correction compound along with the cutting discs will also work with the D/A. Anyway, the only product I can think of that can work best by hand is M105. Make sure to work on a small area and make multiple overlapping passes. If your paint is soft then you might have to follow it up with a finishing polish such as M205, M80 or Ultimate Polish.

So to summarize: 1500 grit -> 3000 grit -> M105 -> finishing polish of choice -> LSP/wax.

This thread should help you out: M105 by hand vs 2500 grit wetsanding marks

Hope this helps and good luck! Please let us know how it goes.

[mgill355]

Re: New to polishing, need some help!

Wow, thanks a lot for the help. I think I used something close to 1500 grit, it's still rough to the touch.

I'll get some 3000 grit and smooth it out, followed by the M105 like you said, and the Ultimate Polish should do the trick. I will take some pictures and photograph the results.