Help with wet sanding the clear coat!

Hey guys! After about 500 hours of work into this car, I finally got it to my high school and got some paint onto it! Took about 8 hours from start to finish getting it painted and it turned out great! I did have a few trouble spots were it dripped so this is basically the would reason why I wanna wet sand the car, if I do that one spot, why not do it all? Anyway could someone please just give me a quick rundown on what to do to wet sand the car to a glass finish? I'll tell ya right now that I've never done any of this before, but none the less I'd be more then happy to learn! I did 2 coats of clear putting it on as heavy as I possibly could.

Thank you all and I know how you all are about threads without pics so here ya go!

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs295.snc3/28417_1218528883723_1843924880_430714_5299873_n.jp g
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs315.snc3/28417_1218528723719_1843924880_430712_8017947_n.jp g
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs202.snc4/38416_1254201135507_1843924880_507685_6083224_n.jp g
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs413.ash2/69183_1315972839761_1843924880_636284_2884343_n.jp g
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs458.ash2/73108_1334114093281_1843924880_664714_6699201_n.jp g
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs833.snc4/69383_1334116773348_1843924880_664718_4567908_n.jp g
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs898.snc4/73169_1338317118354_1843924880_673114_2508967_n.jp g

Looks pretty darn good for a first time effort...check through the forums here, this topic has been talked about alot. It does require patience and skill, but it looks like you are well on your way. Check out youtube...polishing or color sanding as search terms. Take some close up pic's of the runs and post them so we can see what you're up against.
Good job bud!

Amen to that. That's a slick finish for 1st time out.

Here's what I'm looking at, do you think I could go right too 2000 or would that be not a good idea?

http://oi52.tinypic.com/24et7ab.jpg
http://oi56.tinypic.com/155kygy.jpg
http://oi52.tinypic.com/s3knkx.jpg
http://oi55.tinypic.com/j9avcy.jpg

The runs should be knocked down with 1200 to get rid of the majority of them, but be careful here...1200 can put deep scratches in the surrounding paint. Use a firm sanding block and focus on only knocking down the run itself...once 90% of the run has dissapeared, you can switch to 1500 to level the area, then 2000 to remove the 1500 scratch. Stepping up from 2000 to 2500/3000 is never a bad idea before compounding. If you have minor dust nibs etc. you can do a quick 1500 then 2000. Never sand in a straight back and forth motion and use tons of clean water. Feel for any errant sand/debris that may get caught in between the paper and the clear...sand a little, dry the area (a rubber squeegee works great) and proceed with caution! Polishing is a bit of an art and requires patience...btw, stay away from any edges, the paint is always thinnest there!!!

Alright man, thank you so much! I appreciate it! I gotta say, I have no clue how you guys did this back in the day seeing that the internet (Or computers for that matter) weren't around to learn about all this stuff! Thanks again, I'll be sure to post some pictures with how it came out. Once I get this sanding done I'm going to start to put it back together, those rice burners ain't got shit on me :D

Good luck, we all learned from someone. Nice colour on your 'net!

Alright, I'm having a bit of trouble with this. I know for a fact I haven't gone though that clear coat since all I see is the haze of a sanded clear coat, but I'm having this issue that I'm not getting that clear coat to shine!

I wet sanded it to 1500 then down to 2000. Dried it. Then I tried polishing it with this Meguiars "Clear Coat Safe" Polishing Compound. It does nothing to the clear coat and really doesn't even bring the shine back! Is it because of this new compound that isn't mean't for this or ?

Thanks.

Once you start using a power buffer, work a small section of a panel, keep the buffer moving, and keep polishing that area with the buffer, applying more polish as is necessary until that area starts to shine. Keep it moving or you will end up burning thru the paint in a spot. A few drops of water dribbled onto the car as you buff will help bring the shine out. Make sure it's a low speed buffer, not a grinder or you will do damage to the finish.

Once it's sanded, it's more patience, just keep at it. I generally use a 3M polishing compound, can't remember the number right off, but I'm sure Meguiars has stuff that is at least as good, if not better for the purpose.

Looks nice.

Alright, I'm having a bit of trouble with this. I know for a fact I haven't gone though that clear coat since all I see is the haze of a sanded clear coat, but I'm having this issue that I'm not getting that clear coat to shine!

I wet sanded it to 1500 then down to 2000. Dried it. Then I tried polishing it with this Meguiars "Clear Coat Safe" Polishing Compound. It does nothing to the clear coat and really doesn't even bring the shine back! Is it because of this new compound that isn't mean't for this or ?

Thanks.

You may be using a 'consumer grade' polish meant more for removing oxidation than for polishing. Polishes (compounds) are just ieke sandpaper, and come in various grits. Just like sanding you should start out with a coarser grade...I use Farecla as an example and after sanding to 2000-2500 I start with G3 with a blue foam pad on a Makita polisher set to the 2-3 speed (about 1000-1500 rpm I believe) until I have removed all the sand scratches and I have achieved a good shine. Now it's time to take out the coarse compounding scratches so I switch to Farecla G10 and a white foam pad and continue to polish until the clear looks like glass and no scratches/swirl marks are visible. Once the surface looks like glass, apply a final sealer like Carnauba wax or glazing material. You can buy smaller quantities of this stuff I think, good polishes/compounds are expensive but worth the investement. Don't use the same pad for different polishes even if they are 'clean' as the abrasive tends to cling pretty good to the pads and can cross contaminate...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A56acHlFQ8


Check out the videos!

Good luck and let us know of your progress