Wet sanding ?

Has anyone brought their car to get wet sanded . I understand the process pretty much restores the paint to a new finish and is fairly inexpensive. Your thoughts? What are the disadvantages? Cheers and safe driving.

I wouldn't, the clear on these cars is very very very thin. Pretty easy to go right through it.

you should try a small spot that you dont see first. After paint is so old, if you sand it, its too hard to buff out. You wont be able to buff off the sand scratches. I would make a guess that it will be the case with your paint and its not going to work.

Actually I was thinking of getting it professionally done but I too was concerned about the clear coat. I have a black c2 2000 and it pains me to see those fine scratches on the surface. No matter how much you wax and buff they just don't seem to go away. Cheers

It sounds like you don't need wet sanding. I suggest Menzerna Power Gloss Polish and Menzerna Intensive, followed by Menzerna Final. To purchase and for advice go to www.properautocare.com . If you call and ask for Jon, he will tell you exactly what to do. I have used this method on three Porsches. On the above website you will see a picture of my black 2004 C4S cabriolet.

Just reading the title to your post made my stomach drop and my teeth hurt!!!!

Whoa take it easy partner that there wet sanding is for the Earl Scribe jobs after the paint hardens up a bit.

Wet sanding is for big and slightly deep scratches. I have had it done on a MB sedan which had scratches from tree brush. It worked out fine but I used a very professional detailer. I would not wet sand to get rid of swirl marks. A high-end detail shop can get rid of the swirl marks wihout much problem.

Pick a nice day and grab some paste Polishing Compound. A liitle time and elbow grease is all you need. No risk of cutting through the paint on the edges when done by hand. I use it on my Black 740 every couple years and it looks showroom shiny when done. Most of the car is quick and I spend more time on areas that have been scratched, such as around door handles. Severe damage is removed using paste Rubbing compound. Try the hood one day. You may be surprised how shining it gets and you'll feel great that you did it yourself. Have fun.

Are there any red or black cars out there without swirl marks? I think red and black cars are beautiful, but I have never bought one because they are so tough to take care of. I saw a beautiful black 997 on a dealer's showroom a couple of weeks ago, and it already had swirl marks. The swirls were probably made by the lot guy when he dusted the car.

Most likely there is no need to wet sand. A good polish will more than likely take care of the problem. A Porter Cable Random Orbital sander/polisher (PC) with a couple of foam pads, a good polish, a Saturdday will go a long way to restoring the car to a like new finish. The PC is perfectly safe (unless you drop the thing on your car) and will not "burn" through your clear coat. The polish choices depend on your intentions and final protection product. If you are going to use something like Klasse, Zaino, Rejex or FMJ then I would suggest the menzerna products Frank mentioned above. Their polishes do not contain any fillers or oils that hide the swirls and don't interfer with the bonding processes of the polymers. However, if you are going to use a carnauba based wax then any polish will work and something like Einzett's Paint Polish may be better because it contains some fillers and oils to help hide the swirls along with fine abrasives to reduce the swirls. Einzett also makes a synthetic wax called Glanz that has similar characteristics of Carnauba but with much durability (for those is hot climate it will not melt like traditional carnauba based products). I use Glanz on my wife's daily driven black car it does a great job of hiding swirls.

bet has got it down right. must be a fellow autopia member. Wetsanding is really for removing orange peal, and maybe to lower raised touch up. The way to go is do a total detail, clay, compound, polish, then seal and or wax. A rotary will give better results in experienced hands then the PC but there is risk of inducing rotary buff marks and burn or going right through paint with rotary that is not really present with the PC.

My black C4S cabriolet came from the dealer with swirl marks and rain spots. It is one year old now and it no longer has swirl marks. I use a Porter Cable random orbit buffer and Menzerna Polish products. It is very difficult to take swirl marks out by hand. You really need to use a buffer and good polish. After that you can apply wax or one of the new polymer products.

Nice job, Frank!! I agree. Wet sanding is not necessary (yet). Take your car to a good professional detailer, and he'll have it looking like Frank's in a few hour's time, while preserving your clearcoat.

But Frank....you've got GIANT white SWIRLS in that hood. Oh....those are cloud reflections. Awesome.