TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun Mar 23, 2003 7:13 pm

Ok, I know very little about paint. SO what types of paint can one color sand? And how long after a paint job can one color sand?

And Then. How can you tell what type of paint is on a car? You can't really can you??

I was thinking this. Say I buy a used car. One with some imperfections in the re-paint. I don't know when the car was re-painted, and I don't know what type of paint is on it. I was hoping to buff the paint up with a color sand. Any other ideas.....

Thanks
Erik

Mon Mar 24, 2003 8:46 am

color sand? You mean wet sand? You want to get it re-sprayed I would strip it down to the metal. If you want to shine it up wax polish it up.

Mon Mar 24, 2003 9:23 am

What you are getting at is that you can't sand soft paint.

The car is almost certainly painted with either synthetic enamel or urethane. I have not color sanded/buffed enamel, but I believe that once it is months old, it should be hard enough to sand and buff. The urethane sets hard immediately and should be able to be sanded and buffed right away. Be careful with metallics. If you cut into the lay of the metallic, you will mess it up. Some cheap shops mix their clear into the color coat so you don't have that nice layer of clear to work with.

Mon Mar 24, 2003 10:20 am

The paint is not metalic, and I don't plan to repaint either, just take out some of the minor flaws and shine it up. I think buff may be the more appropriate word, as opposed to color sand.

Thanks for the replies.

Mon Mar 24, 2003 5:47 pm

I wouldn't try to color sand a used car because you have no idea what youre sanding or how thick it is. Careful buffing should bring the shine back if theres any to be had.

Mon Mar 24, 2003 9:39 pm

I've done it, but carefully. Before sanding, use Macquire's 3 step paint polish system, preferebly with an electric polisher. You only need to use Step 1 to get started. Do the whole car, and then buff and wax. Pick out the really bad sections and think.. Is it that bad, or do you want to "improve" it?
If so, try test sanding with wet 2000 grit. Use one of those black rubber sanding blocks, and keep dipping it in a bucket of water with a couple of drops of liquid detergent.
Pick an area which you don't care about first. If the paint is over a year old, it should be pretty hard.
Then polish with turtlewax red car polish, the the mcquires Step 1, then buff and wax.

Good luck.

Tue Mar 25, 2003 9:52 am

Thanks for tje info guys. J.Pickens I will give that a try. Maybe I can just do the Mcguires thing and it will be good...

Wed Mar 26, 2003 8:11 pm

We used to use rubbing compound. Cheap and works. Takes lots of elbow grease.

Wed Mar 26, 2003 8:38 pm

The Step 1 is less abrasive than rubbing compound, which will leave swirl marks. I would try it first.

Wed Mar 26, 2003 9:35 pm

I thought this was called "Wheeling it out"

Am I right?