The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Wet sanding and compounding

35 year old body shop applied lacquer paint. Wanting to bring the shine back. I have been told by somewhat knowledgeable folks that I need to wet sand with 1500 grit then polishing compound followed by paste wax. The TV shows always show the wet sanding process as a very labor intensive manual project. The compounding is done with machines. My question is, can the wet sanding be done with a palm sander or DA? Should I attempt it myself or try to find a professional to do it? Your guidance is appreciated.

You don't want to wet sand with an electric DA. You my be able to do it dry. But I'm sure you would risk swirl marks. And no one says your have to stop at 1500.

Yeah, it's like the Karate Kid -- "Wax on - Wax off".
Or as my dad used to say: "It just takes elbow grease."
I haven't gotten to that part yet on my project, but I'll probably need to install zerks in my elbows first.

Try just using rubbing compound without sanding first, preferably on a somewhat inconspicuous area, to see how it looks. Wet sanding is usually only needed if there's orange peel or other surface blemishes to knock down. (Like the gnat that landed in the wet clearcoat on the Harley front fender I just painted!) If all you're dealing with is a slightly dull surface, rubbing compound and wax should be all that's needed. The white compound is a lot less aggressive than the orange stuff that we used to use on a fresh lacquer job.
Jerry

If you have a body shop supplier near you, you might want to see if they have a product known as 3M Imperial Micro Finishing Compound and another known as 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. I've used this stuff for 40 years or more and I've always had really good luck with it. Costly? Oh yes. But it will save you time and effort and as Jerry said if you don't have any orange peel, etc, you might get by with this. This is commonly used to knock down 1200 grit marks to give you an idea.

I agree with these experts...You don't want to wet sand at this point and if you were to wet sand (on new applied topcoat only) it would be with a rubber block and by hand only, BUT in your case you run the risk of cutting through the lacquer top coat into the primer. Lacquer is very soft.
Jon G nailed it. Use 3M Imperial Glaze. You could use a powered wool buffing pad, but be careful not to load up the pad thereby causing other problems.
3M makes some hi tech foam pads also.
Go slow,as I said lacquer is very soft. Not sure you can even buy automotive lacquer paint anymore.

Just want to caution you to stay away from any edges if your using a powered compounder as you will burn thru the lacquer really quickly. The edges can be compounded easily by hand using compound and a cotton or microfiber cloth.

Retired from a 3M Industrial Tape facility...thanks for using their products.

Yeah ..thinking more about this, considering you probably only have about .004" thickness of top coat ( thickness of a sheet of paper) you should stick to hand compounding. Harder and longer to do but provides a much lower "pucker factor" than putting a buffing machine to your beautiful lacquer paint job.
Whatever you use, 3M products or just plain cleaner wax, apply and rub with a light hand.

Martin, my experience has been that you'll have much less lacquer left on the tops of fenders, top of the cab, hood, bed top, etc than on the sides. The tough thing about lacquer is you have no idea at all what's left or how much was applied at the start. Everyone telling you to do this by hand is right. Once you've gone too far, you'll have created one of those "patina" trucks. Good luck!

If the paint job is only 35 years old, you're dealing with acrylic lacquer- - - - -not the more period-correct nitrocellulose lacquer that was used in the 1930's, 40's, and early 50's. There is s HUGE difference in the two products, both in the way they're applied, and how they're polished. Nitro lacquer consists of only two components- - - -pigment and solvent, combined with dissolved celluloid (wood). The original use for celluloid was in making movie film, of all things! A container of the liquefied wood product was accidentally left open to the atmosphere and it hardened into a tough, shiny substance that was eventually colored with pigment and thinned to a sprayable consistency that evolved into automotive paint. The extremely thin liquid was applied in multiple layers which each softened and bonded with the previous layer of paint, then it was buffed to a shine and protected with wax. Later on, "Alkyd Enamel" was invented, which was a thicker product than lacquer and it included a "binder" that had to oxidize and cure for about a month after it was applied before it could be polished. It was also known as "synthetic enamel". One of the painters Dad employed in the late 1940's called it "sympathetic enamel" LOL!

In the late 1950's Acrylic Lacquer was developed, and painters hated the stuff because it was extremely difficult to "spot paint" a repaired body panel. Acrylic forms a separate layer with each coat that's applied- - - -it does not redissolve and blend into the previous coat. No matter how carefully a spot repair was made, it usually showed a break line between the original paint and the repair.

If the lacquer you're working with is badly faded, you might consider scuff-sanding the finish VERY gently with ultra-fine wet sandpaper and clearcoating the whole vehicle to bring back the shine. That would be extremely labor-intensive, and almost as expensive as a complete repaint job.
Jerry

Jerry, not a bad thing if you hate spending money and have no deadlines.

Sounds like a typical hobbyist to me!

Well, after reading everyone’s helpful suggestions I’m still at a bit of a standstill. I do not require a show worthy final result. There is no orange peeling. Just dealing with faded paint. I’m well aware of the dangers of sand through on the edges but I do appreciate the reminder. I tried the white compound by hand and it didn’t really accomplish much. Clearcoat is not in the budget. One of the Oklahoma Bolters has offered the use of his polisher so I have options at this point. Feel free to keep the ideas coming. Thanks

Did you get a quote and/or advice from a local detailing shop?

No, not yet. Most, if not all, detail shops around here are not worthy of my time. I have first hand experience with them. The real professionals are proud of their work, and rightly so. A lot of the detailers are fly by night Facebook/Craigslist scam artists. I will try a couple of the local Body Shops for recommendations. Thanks

An oscillating power polisher with a sponge pad is usually more forgiving than one that spins in full circles. You're a lot less likely to leave swirl marks or burn through the paint, even though it takes a bit longer to get the job done.
Jerry