Need some advice, wet sand?
10-07-12, 06:38 PM
#1
Rookie
Thread Starter
Need some advice, wet sand?
Hey guys, it seems that the clear coat on my front bumper has been destroyed due to lack of cleaning off bugs and whatever else from the previous owner. The surface is rough and looks like crap. My question is will wet sanding help my problem at all? I am not super familiar with wet sanding, so I don't know if it will help or not. Here is a picture of my car, it doesn't show it very well, but if you look close you can see little white looking spots all over it. You can also see where the front license plate used to be, its a rectangle in the center where it was protected by the plate, and there is no damage to the clear coat there. (for a reference to see the damage to clear coat.) Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.
10-10-12, 05:15 PM
#3
Driver School Candidate
I have a lot of experience with wetsanding and advise against it. With the age of the car there is a possibility, the clear coat may already be thin. Plus the front takes a beating from road debris. Closer photos with a light shining at the section would help better understand the condition. There's a good chance some compound will help restore the paint.
Where in WI are you? I just moved to Minneapolis a month ago.
Where in WI are you? I just moved to Minneapolis a month ago.
10-11-12, 06:41 AM
#4
From the photo and your description I'd suggest that you only consider wet sanding if the course of action you choose is a repaint. There are dings and chips visible. You probably will need to patch up the dings and plug the license plate holes with bond and respray it if you want it to look like new.
Might the white specks just be old dried wax caught in the paint chips? You could try a soft brush and some 50/50 IPA solution and see if the white is removed. If you have time and patience you can use touch-up paint and spot repair the most glaring blemishes. The photo doesn't show enough detail to see the extent of the damage.
Be particular on what products you use on the car as most wax products will dry white in any chips and leave white specks. Most sealants dry clear and don't show up in the small chips in that manner. After touching up and leveling the paint blobs, try a polish and sealant and it should look a bit better.
IMO, if you want to restore the bumper to like new you will need to have it repainted. The rest of the vehicle looks like it is in good shape and the investment to respray the front might be something you would want to at least consider.
Might the white specks just be old dried wax caught in the paint chips? You could try a soft brush and some 50/50 IPA solution and see if the white is removed. If you have time and patience you can use touch-up paint and spot repair the most glaring blemishes. The photo doesn't show enough detail to see the extent of the damage.
Be particular on what products you use on the car as most wax products will dry white in any chips and leave white specks. Most sealants dry clear and don't show up in the small chips in that manner. After touching up and leveling the paint blobs, try a polish and sealant and it should look a bit better.
IMO, if you want to restore the bumper to like new you will need to have it repainted. The rest of the vehicle looks like it is in good shape and the investment to respray the front might be something you would want to at least consider.
10-11-12, 06:59 AM
#5
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I agree with him... ^^^^^^^^
If the clear is already started to come off and chip, you do not want to wetsand no where near it. It will cause it become more thin, and cause it to come off even faster. The best thing to do in this case, is a respray. If people would only wax their cars more often, we wouldnt have to paint.. But then where would the detail and paint and body guys work? LOL
Sorry about the mishap, but thats your best bet... GL
If the clear is already started to come off and chip, you do not want to wetsand no where near it. It will cause it become more thin, and cause it to come off even faster. The best thing to do in this case, is a respray. If people would only wax their cars more often, we wouldnt have to paint.. But then where would the detail and paint and body guys work? LOL
Sorry about the mishap, but thats your best bet... GL
10-13-12, 11:17 PM
#6
Rookie
Thread Starter
Thanks for the input guys, what I am trying to fix is not from rock chips. Yes, there are chips in the paint here and there. But what I am talking about, I'm pretty confident is only in the clear coat. It honestly looks like bugs are splattered all over, and some how screwed up the clear coat. Making it really rough and bumpy. I know I'm doing a horrible job describing it. lol. But that's what it looks like. I'll try and take some better pics tomorrow to show you guys what I'm dealing with. Also, I'm not looking for a perfect paint job as of right now, but its the worst looking part of my car and I'm looking for a way to improve it for the time being.
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10-14-12, 09:35 AM
#9
Rookie
Thread Starter
10-14-12, 10:18 AM
#10
Lexus Fanatic
Thanks for the input guys, what I am trying to fix is not from rock chips. Yes, there are chips in the paint here and there. But what I am talking about, I'm pretty confident is only in the clear coat. It honestly looks like bugs are splattered all over, and some how screwed up the clear coat. Making it really rough and bumpy. I know I'm doing a horrible job describing it. lol. But that's what it looks like. I'll try and take some better pics tomorrow to show you guys what I'm dealing with. Also, I'm not looking for a perfect paint job as of right now, but its the worst looking part of my car and I'm looking for a way to improve it for the time being.
Wet sanding is the most aggressive method to tackling your issue, in detailing you should always go with the least aggressive and work your way up. Wet sanding will definitely take off and reduce your clear coat and should mainly be done by a professional or if you are definitely going to do a repaint. If you wet sand the clearcoat off your finish may look good at first but your paint exposed to the elements with no protection is going to start fading and degrading pretty quick and you are going to regret it, you will have to spray it then.
If I were you I would use rubbing alcohol, clean it as best you can. Then use a Porter Cable or some kind of decent orbital buffer and try to polish it with a medium polish and a orange pad. That tackles many paint issues. If it does not work then try a compound and orange pad. I am pretty sure after doing that you will notice a nice improvement. You can then decide on whether you want to keep it like that or that it really needs a respray.
If you still feel you need to wet sand as a last resort then you should use the finest grit like 2500 on a small section to see what can tackle your problem with doing the least amount of damage to your clearcoat. You will still have to polish your bumper afterward to get rid of the sanding marks. If you need a more aggressive grit like 1500(Lexus clearcoat is soft, I don't think you will need anything more aggressive), you will have to then use 2000, then other higher grits to around 3000 or more to get rid of as many scratches as you can before you polish. You should look for videos and tutorials how to wet sand before you start and if you have to use more aggressive sandpaper you should expect it to need to be repainted soon. Once you are done you probably want to put a very tough semi permanent sealant on it like Opti Coat 2.0 because you will have removed a fair amount of what clearcoat is left.
10-14-12, 10:51 AM
#11
Rookie
Thread Starter
Here are some more pis, sorry for the shotty photography. lol
My car is a little bit dirty right now. But can you guys see what I'm talking about? Actually after taking these pics I kinda think the clear is just totally shot. Let me know what you think.
My car is a little bit dirty right now. But can you guys see what I'm talking about? Actually after taking these pics I kinda think the clear is just totally shot. Let me know what you think.
10-14-12, 10:54 AM
#12
Rookie
Thread Starter
Clearcoat is pretty tough, bugs generally don't destroy it or screw it up unless it is some kind of bug has some kind of strong acid and it is left in the sunlight. Large bird droppings left in the hot sun is probably the most destructive natural thing to damage a clear coat.
Wet sanding is the most aggressive method to tackling your issue, in detailing you should always go with the least aggressive and work your way up. Wet sanding will definitely take off and reduce your clear coat and should mainly be done by a professional or if you are definitely going to do a repaint. If you wet sand the clearcoat off your finish may look good at first but your paint exposed to the elements with no protection is going to start fading and degrading pretty quick and you are going to regret it, you will have to spray it then.
If I were you I would use rubbing alcohol, clean it as best you can. Then use a Porter Cable or some kind of decent orbital buffer and try to polish it with a medium polish and a orange pad. That tackles many paint issues. If it does not work then try a compound and orange pad. I am pretty sure after doing that you will notice a nice improvement. You can then decide on whether you want to keep it like that or that it really needs a respray.
If you still feel you need to wet sand as a last resort then you should use the finest grit like 2500 on a small section to see what can tackle your problem with doing the least amount of damage to your clearcoat. You will still have to polish your bumper afterward to get rid of the sanding marks. If you need a more aggressive grit like 1500(Lexus clearcoat is soft, I don't think you will need anything more aggressive), you will have to then use 2000, then other higher grits to around 3000 or more to get rid of as many scratches as you can before you polish. You should look for videos and tutorials how to wet sand before you start and if you have to use more aggressive sandpaper you should expect it to need to be repainted soon. Once you are done you probably want to put a very tough semi permanent sealant on it like Opti Coat 2.0 because you will have removed a fair amount of what clearcoat is left.
Wet sanding is the most aggressive method to tackling your issue, in detailing you should always go with the least aggressive and work your way up. Wet sanding will definitely take off and reduce your clear coat and should mainly be done by a professional or if you are definitely going to do a repaint. If you wet sand the clearcoat off your finish may look good at first but your paint exposed to the elements with no protection is going to start fading and degrading pretty quick and you are going to regret it, you will have to spray it then.
If I were you I would use rubbing alcohol, clean it as best you can. Then use a Porter Cable or some kind of decent orbital buffer and try to polish it with a medium polish and a orange pad. That tackles many paint issues. If it does not work then try a compound and orange pad. I am pretty sure after doing that you will notice a nice improvement. You can then decide on whether you want to keep it like that or that it really needs a respray.
If you still feel you need to wet sand as a last resort then you should use the finest grit like 2500 on a small section to see what can tackle your problem with doing the least amount of damage to your clearcoat. You will still have to polish your bumper afterward to get rid of the sanding marks. If you need a more aggressive grit like 1500(Lexus clearcoat is soft, I don't think you will need anything more aggressive), you will have to then use 2000, then other higher grits to around 3000 or more to get rid of as many scratches as you can before you polish. You should look for videos and tutorials how to wet sand before you start and if you have to use more aggressive sandpaper you should expect it to need to be repainted soon. Once you are done you probably want to put a very tough semi permanent sealant on it like Opti Coat 2.0 because you will have removed a fair amount of what clearcoat is left.
10-15-12, 02:14 PM
#13
Driver School Candidate
I would say that definitely looks like etching from acidic bug guts lol. Machine polish with or without wetsanding will help clean up the area, but won't repair or remove it.
10-15-12, 03:44 PM
#14
Welcome to the "wonderful" world of etching, where even the strongest polishes won't remove that safely 
. You are better off getting it repainted unfortunately. You could say that the organic compounds have eaten their way through quite a bit of the clear coat so wetsanding it will only make it much much more prone to failure. Just leave it as is for now until it really bugs you enough to get it redone. No pun intended of course
. You are better off getting it repainted unfortunately. You could say that the organic compounds have eaten their way through quite a bit of the clear coat so wetsanding it will only make it much much more prone to failure. Just leave it as is for now until it really bugs you enough to get it redone. No pun intended of course
10-15-12, 08:52 PM
#15
Rookie
Thread Starter
Welcome to the "wonderful" world of etching, where even the strongest polishes won't remove that safely . You are better off getting it repainted unfortunately. You could say that the organic compounds have eaten their way through quite a bit of the clear coat so wetsanding it will only make it much much more prone to failure. Just leave it as is for now until it really bugs you enough to get it redone. No pun intended of course
. You are better off getting it repainted unfortunately. You could say that the organic compounds have eaten their way through quite a bit of the clear coat so wetsanding it will only make it much much more prone to failure. Just leave it as is for now until it really bugs you enough to get it redone. No pun intended of course
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