It's a bit worrying when you start wet sanding your car...

[RussZS]

DSC01955 by RussZS, on Flickr

Luckily, I was being trained by the best so it turned out rather well.

I have 1000 pics to sort through and 30 hours hours went into it, removing all of the orange peel from my cars clearcoat, making it as flat so therefore reflective as possible.


DSC02098 by RussZS, on Flickr

Full write up coming soon...

Russ.

 

[nick197]

As i said on DW, Your car is stunning. Looking forward to the full write up

 

[jase]

Wow russ.
Will it not cause problems maybe later in the cars life now, such as possible laquer pealing now the clearcoat is so thin.?

 

[Ashton]

so i shouldn't try this on mine with some sandpaper i found in the shed? lol

 

[BenW]

I did some wet sanding on my first car and can appreciate the worry when you see all those sanding marks in your paint!! Was it Kelly at KDS who did it for you?

 

[RussZS]

I did some wet sanding on my first car and can appreciate the worry when you see all those sanding marks in your paint!! Was it Kelly at KDS who did it for you?

It was Kelly who taught me yes, then we did it together.


DSC01949 by RussZS, on Flickr

I had Roy from Pro Valeting, who is one the best in the country, give us a hand too which was pretty cool!


DSC02061 by RussZS, on Flickr

(Kelly is on the right)

Russ.

 

[RussZS]

Wow russ.
Will it not cause problems maybe later in the cars life now, such as possible laquer pealing now the clearcoat is so thin.?

I thought the same too Jase but now its been explained to me it makes sense.

If you can imagine that the orange peel is just a load of uneven bumps with high and low spots, like a valley of hills. The bottom of the hills is where the even layer of clearcoat is (and always has been - at the low points) so all I am doing is flattening the hills off to see to the main, flat layer of clearcoat. So what was always the 'lowest point' is still there, it just becomes the flat top layer.

To put what I did into context in terms of removal:

- 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 & 4000 wet sanding = removes 3-4 microns
- Megs MF System to remove swirls = 6-7 microns
- Rounded off a deep scratch with a rotary = 15 microns

It's hard to explain without pics, but I'll start on the full thread (we have 1000 pics!) today. It should hopefully be very informative for people.

Russ.

 

[Willis]

Looks fantastic, I wouldn't have the balls to do that to Nicole without some heavy supervisoin!!!

Good explanation too, makes sense.

 

[Graeme GTR]

have seen this done on an M3 online, the result was like a mirror finish. Sure whoever it was charged around £800 for the full valet and detail and this was part of it. Looked amazing. The finish on the paint was incredible.

Well done for having a go, will you be offering this to clients lol?

 

[RussZS]

have seen this done on an M3 online, the result was like a mirror finish. Sure whoever it was charged around £800 for the full valet and detail and this was part of it. Looked amazing. The finish on the paint was incredible.

Well done for having a go, will you be offering this to clients lol?

Yes I think I will tbh.

I need a few more under my belt for friends and family first, to be completely happy with what I'm doing before charging, but I certainly will. It will take a realistic 50 hours to get perfect so won't be cheap, but Kelly charges £3000 to do an M3, but tbh after seeing my car, its a bargain for how good the car will look compared to other M3's. It depends how much you love your I suppose!

Clio's are quite bad actually... any donors?

 

[Foxspeed]

looks great :thumbup:

and if anyone has been round say the aston martin factory or seen american hotrod they will have seen this being done...

 

[RussZS]

Cheers

The problem with Aston Martin is that they often use sanding machines, which can result in pig tailing when a grain of dirt gets on the panel then between the panel and the disc on the machine. It's all too easily done and not easy to rectify. Working by hand is harder and takes far longer, but it reduces the risk a lot.

I've taken a lot in, I need to sleep I think lol

 

[Foxspeed]

Cheers

The problem with Aston Martin is that they often use sanding machines, which can result in pig tailing when a grain of dirt gets on the panel then between the panel and the disc on the machine. It's all too easily done and not easy to rectify. Working by hand is harder and takes far longer, but it reduces the risk a lot.

I've taken a lot in, I need to sleep I think lol

theres a really good episode of american hotrod were they spray a car red and they wet sand it and finally polish it...goes on show and its like a mirror!!!!

 

[RussZS]

The full thread is here:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=244507

 

[Craig_B]

insane reflection!!

Would'nt have the balls to do that! Still a bit 'iffy' using a rotary!! lol

:thumbup:

 

[luke3]

Any donors?

Me!

Looks excellent russ

 

[neil]

you can practice on my clio

 

[930Tech]

You must have balls of steel.

 

[Robo_#1]

Just read the write up Russ. The car looks amazing! Another asset to add to your always growing collection. Things seem to be going well for you mate and its great to see

 

[james_h]

AMAZINF STUFF mate!

Can't wait to get my Clio back to you in the early new year hopefully. :cloud9: