riceburner

iTrader: (66)

I'm sick of looking at my crappy GM paint job. there's way too much orange peel to appreciate a well detailed car.

I thought polishing would remove some of the haze marks the car came with, but alas, they were waxed over and sealed in.

I thought claybarring would smooth out the paint. no dice.

Along with having a few scratches i'm looking to fix, i'm seriously considering wetsanding the car... no i have not wetsanded before, and would have an experience person or two helping me out for sure.

BUT! i'm looking for experience here so you can maybes tell me how it went. how thick is the clearcoat? 3mm? 4mm? any pointers?

startingline05

iTrader: (3)

have you thought about trying a good buff and polish job first?

riceburner

iTrader: (66)

i sure have. i've claybarred/polished/waxed the car maybe 4 times now in the last year. i think, however, unless you're a really good polisher (i'm not) you don''t really get all the fine scratches out, and it doesn't realy smooth out your clearcoat either. but wetsanding kind of does both of these things, the paint on a good application looks like glass afterwards... i'm just kinda iffy on taking the risk, hence ==need pointers and helpers

rectorc08

iTrader: (16)

Yeah I was just about to suggest a clay bar before you wet sand your whole car. If you have done that, then I would try a buff/polish job before you go with a wet sand. I just got a new rear lip and I sprayed it with a fresh coat of paint and it looks like a factory job, all because of how I buffed it and polished the clear.

ssyellow

Clay is not even close to being aggressive enough to take out orange peel.

jrmotosports 88

hmmmmmm i will answer any questions you have but honestly its a big job.... do you think you can do it?

kdub1492

iTrader: (8)

Get a nice porter cable and buff/polish your car before you spend the $ wetsanding, cuz it will cost you a ton of money

rectorc08

iTrader: (16)

Also, I didn't read about the orange peal. A clay bar in fact won't help that. If it's that bad, I would just wet sand and possibly even spray a fresh layer of clear.

riceburner

iTrader: (66)

well whats so good about a porter cable? vs a random orbital buffer?

but yea, i'm doing it big here guys. idk how much wetsand paper i'd need to do this car, or atleast parts of the car. some parts are ok, like the hood, spoiler, roof, front fenders.. but the doors and plastic bumpers and trunk are just terrible. 'ill try to take some pics so you can see how bad it is.

riceburner

iTrader: (66)

oh and after this i'm starting fresh for taking care of this car the right way. getting a two bucket system for washing it and a foam gun. gonna be the cleanest cobalt ever.

68nova200

iTrader: (2)

I thought about wetsanding. But the stock paint is way to thin. If you plan on wetsanding i suggest getting some good practice in on a surface you dont care about. I.E. a junkyard door panel or something.

Micro

This video is the best I have seen to describe how to restore paint.
Paint Correction on 1958 Porsche Speedster - DRIVE CLEAN - YouTube

StevoElSupremo

well.. your car is silver, so even if you did fudge the buff job you'd never be able to tell haha!

and I think you brought this up before and the general consensus was that unless your a pro I wouldn't risk it.

I'd rather look at a little orange peel than a botched wet sand job

jrmotosports 88

110% agree with this......

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

My advice is use a super high grit...i tried 1500 once and its not even close to high enough...

68nova200

iTrader: (2)

the minor wetsanding i have done on wheels i didnt even get below 2000. 3500 first then 3000 then 2500 then 2000 and then stepped back up. The wheels came out awesome. If i remember i will post some pics.

riceburner

iTrader: (66)

well perhaps there's more to a good polishing than i thought... i don't know haha. like i said, its a risky job that i'm not too sure about tackling.

68nova200

iTrader: (2)

Yeah don't do it. If anything have a shop spray more clear on then have them wetsand it.

riceburner

iTrader: (66)

^the problem is with that is, i'd just be covering over existing little scratches and haze marks.

so i take it noones done this to their cobalt? i know, its no showcar... prob's not worth it

68nova200

iTrader: (2)

If you do a good polish job like in that video posted above it will look amazing and you will get over the orange peel. Silver sucks for reflections, if that's what you're going for.

riceburner

iTrader: (66)

that vid was very informative... i think the only polish i've used thus far is a turtle wax compound polish. i don't know too much about the right pads/polishes but perhaps, yeah, getting the right mix would do it right.

and dishsoap takes off ur wax? so thats what i've been doing wrong!

68nova200

iTrader: (2)

Yeah dish soap is a no no. go to We Are Car Care -- Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detailing Supplies, Car Buffers & Car Accessories Store they are super informative. They sell starter detail kits with really good explanations.

riceburner

iTrader: (66)

thanks for the link sir!

i'm uploading a few pics of said orange peel/shitty paint i just took so check back in! we'll see how good the camera did at picking it up...

68nova200

iTrader: (2)

Thats where i got started in detailing, although i havent done a car in over a year.

riceburner

iTrader: (66)

dammit i suck at taking pictures! fish eye option was on, on the camera... and it sucks at focusing. but! for what its worth... here it is. the 3rd pic shows really well whats going on under my drivers door handle, the orange peel is so bad the shine is like not there