wet sanding? Or, just buff

[twenty2]

I've got a 2003 Black H2, I've gotton alot of scratches from towels, wax build-up with some spots of oxidation. I want it to look like a showroom finish. People have told me to get a wet sand on the truck to get ALL of the scrtaches off... and others have said to just get a buff with some good polish to finish it off.. and that will also do the job. Anyone out there have any suggestions if you guys have done this??

[Racer-X]

Anyone out there have any suggestions if you guys have done this??

Take it to a bodyshop that offers detailing. Not a detail shop - A body shop. Mines an 03 and I just had it done. It looks brand new...I take that back, better than new. It's smoother than when I bought it.

[tomp]

First try Meguiars Scratch-X with microfiber towel. Try this several times applying some pressure and by hand only.

I would not wet sand factory paint as you will go through clear quite easily. Let a body shop do it, if it really needs it. If they go through the clear, they will fix it.

Dealerships have good people on hand to get back new appearance if you are not comfortable doing this yourself.

[DH22G]

mothers clay bar... do that.. then wax. itll be better.. but still not perfect depending on the severity of the paint.

otherwise.. autobody shop

[OrangeCrush]

Obviously after being in the bodyshop business for over 20 years, I thought I would answer your question.

It depends on how deep the scratches are. If they are deep, you may need to have them wetsanded first. (that entails a combination or variation of any of the following grit wetsand paper...1000, 1500, 2000 and perhaps 2500 grit)


The scratches will be wetsanded and then the wetsand marks will have to be buffed. That will entail using either a coarser compound with a buffing pad

(There is a difference between a white buffing pad and a yellow polishing pad... a white buffing pad is made of cotton and the strands are twisted together. A yellow polishing pad is made of usually synthetic or combination of cotton but the strands are twisted and rolled back onto themselves, thus creating a loop). Also, a white pad will use a coarser compound and the yellow polishing will use a much milder compound. (of course you can use a combination of any of the above depending on what you're trying to buff)

Then, you'll need a foam waffle using some swirl remover.

All of these are done with a highspeed buffer. (part of the reason that one of the previous posts mentioned taking it to a bodyshop and not a detail shop) Most detail shops don't use highspeed buffers, they use orbital polishers. NOT THE SAME THING.

It's very difficult to buff without leaving swirls, burns, scratches and to top it off, the H2 is a difficult vehicle to buff because there are so many corners and variations on the panels.

My suggestion is if you're extremely anal and what it done right, find a reputable bodyshop to do the work and you'll be happy.

My shops charge 500 to wetsand and buff a black full size vehicle (an H2 is obviously much larger and more difficult) The lighter the color and smaller the vehicle, the less the price.

HTH's.

Mark

[Adam in CO]

I just spit-shine mine with an SOS pad.

[PARAGON]

Originally posted by OrangeCrush:
Obviously after being in the bodyshop business for over 20 years, I thought I would answer your question.

It depends on how deep the scratches are. If they are deep, you may need to have them wetsanded first. (that entails a combination or variation of any of the following grit wetsand paper...1000, 1500, 2000 and perhaps 2500 grit)


The scratches will be wetsanded and then the wetsand marks will have to be buffed. That will entail using either a coarser compound with a buffing pad

(There is a difference between a white buffing pad and a yellow polishing pad... a white buffing pad is made of cotton and the strands are twisted together. A yellow polishing pad is made of usually synthetic or combination of cotton but the strands are twisted and rolled back onto themselves, thus creating a loop). Also, a white pad will use a coarser compound and the yellow polishing will use a much milder compound. (of course you can use a combination of any of the above depending on what you're trying to buff)

Then, you'll need a foam waffle using some swirl remover.

All of these are done with a highspeed buffer. (part of the reason that one of the previous posts mentioned taking it to a bodyshop and not a detail shop) Most detail shops don't use highspeed buffers, they use orbital polishers. NOT THE SAME THING.

It's very difficult to buff without leaving swirls, burns, scratches and to top it off, the H2 is a difficult vehicle to buff because there are so many corners and variations on the panels.

My suggestion is if you're extremely anal and what it done right, find a reputable bodyshop to do the work and you'll be happy.

My shops charge 500 to wetsand and buff a black full size vehicle (an H2 is obviously much larger and more difficult) The lighter the color and smaller the vehicle, the less the price.

HTH's.

Mark

Do I wetsand or buff this first? Or just heatgun and dry ice? Or just leave it until the next one comes?

[OrangeCrush]

Do I wetsand or buff this first? Or just heatgun and dry ice? Or just leave it until the next one comes?

Paragon,

You obviously don't know anything about bodywork.

What you need is an alignment.



Mark

[Boss Hoss]

Originally posted by OrangeCrush:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Do I wetsand or buff this first? Or just heatgun and dry ice? Or just leave it until the next one comes?

Paragon,

You obviously don't know anything about bodywork.

What you need is an alignment.



Mark </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Marks right...might wanna check your tie rods too--good chance you have a broken/bent tie rod.

[MovinH2]

Originally posted by PARAGON:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by OrangeCrush:
Obviously after being in the bodyshop business for over 20 years, I thought I would answer your question.

It depends on how deep the scratches are. If they are deep, you may need to have them wetsanded first. (that entails a combination or variation of any of the following grit wetsand paper...1000, 1500, 2000 and perhaps 2500 grit)


The scratches will be wetsanded and then the wetsand marks will have to be buffed. That will entail using either a coarser compound with a buffing pad

(There is a difference between a white buffing pad and a yellow polishing pad... a white buffing pad is made of cotton and the strands are twisted together. A yellow polishing pad is made of usually synthetic or combination of cotton but the strands are twisted and rolled back onto themselves, thus creating a loop). Also, a white pad will use a coarser compound and the yellow polishing will use a much milder compound. (of course you can use a combination of any of the above depending on what you're trying to buff)

Then, you'll need a foam waffle using some swirl remover.

All of these are done with a highspeed buffer. (part of the reason that one of the previous posts mentioned taking it to a bodyshop and not a detail shop) Most detail shops don't use highspeed buffers, they use orbital polishers. NOT THE SAME THING.

It's very difficult to buff without leaving swirls, burns, scratches and to top it off, the H2 is a difficult vehicle to buff because there are so many corners and variations on the panels.

My suggestion is if you're extremely anal and what it done right, find a reputable bodyshop to do the work and you'll be happy.

My shops charge 500 to wetsand and buff a black full size vehicle (an H2 is obviously much larger and more difficult) The lighter the color and smaller the vehicle, the less the price.

HTH's.

Mark

Do I wetsand or buff this first? Or just heatgun and dry ice? Or just leave it until the next one comes?

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>



OUCH

[tomp]

X2 on the alignment or a toliet plunger for one that size

Originally posted by OrangeCrush:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Do I wetsand or buff this first? Or just heatgun and dry ice? Or just leave it until the next one comes?

Paragon,

You obviously don't know anything about bodywork.

What you need is an alignment.



Mark </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[twenty2]

Originally posted by OrangeCrush:
Obviously after being in the bodyshop business for over 20 years, I thought I would answer your question.

It depends on how deep the scratches are. If they are deep, you may need to have them wetsanded first. (that entails a combination or variation of any of the following grit wetsand paper...1000, 1500, 2000 and perhaps 2500 grit)


The scratches will be wetsanded and then the wetsand marks will have to be buffed. That will entail using either a coarser compound with a buffing pad

(There is a difference between a white buffing pad and a yellow polishing pad... a white buffing pad is made of cotton and the strands are twisted together. A yellow polishing pad is made of usually synthetic or combination of cotton but the strands are twisted and rolled back onto themselves, thus creating a loop). Also, a white pad will use a coarser compound and the yellow polishing will use a much milder compound. (of course you can use a combination of any of the above depending on what you're trying to buff)

Then, you'll need a foam waffle using some swirl remover.

All of these are done with a highspeed buffer. (part of the reason that one of the previous posts mentioned taking it to a bodyshop and not a detail shop) Most detail shops don't use highspeed buffers, they use orbital polishers. NOT THE SAME THING.

It's very difficult to buff without leaving swirls, burns, scratches and to top it off, the H2 is a difficult vehicle to buff because there are so many corners and variations on the panels.

My suggestion is if you're extremely anal and what it done right, find a reputable bodyshop to do the work and you'll be happy.

My shops charge 500 to wetsand and buff a black full size vehicle (an H2 is obviously much larger and more difficult) The lighter the color and smaller the vehicle, the less the price.

HTH's.

Mark

Thanks for the detailed info!!! Now, do you know if this will look like a showroom finish when this is done? And, do you know anyone here in Chicago that is reputable? There are alot of body shops here and I'm sure one will try to talk down about other shops to get the business....

[OrangeCrush]

Thanks for the detailed info!!! Now, do you know if this will look like a showroom finish when this is done? And, do you know anyone here in Chicago that is reputable?

Not a problem. This process will give it a showroom finish for sure. It won't make it a show car... meaning, it will still have orange peel from the factory.

If you're trying to make it look like a show car, you will need to refinish the entire vehicle. It's not that you can't wetsand and buff the clear to make it slick but a) there's not an overly large amount of clear on a factory paintjob (4 mils) and b)with the difficulty of the body on an H2, it'll be extremely difficult to slick it out without taking it apart.

Sorry, don't know anything about Chicago but here's my suggestion.

First, find an independent shop, not a dealership. Dealerships don't historically have the best reputation because they're like mills, "get it in, get it out"

Secondly, I would find a shop that is word of mouth. My shop is word of mouth and referalls only. That's what you are looking for.

When a customer comes into our shop, they're doing US a favor, not the other way around, they are choosing to spend their money at my shop. Too many shops think they are doing the customer a favor by working on their vehicle.

As I mentioned in another post, I had a customer show up at my house the night before last at 4am. He drove down from Maryland to North Carolina just for us to paint his hood on his Corvette. Again, word of mouth.

HTH's,

Mark

[twenty2]

I just want it to look nice and clean again.I've got alot of towel scratches and some other stuff going on.

[OrangeCrush]

If that's all you need, it's highly unlikely you need the truck to be wetsanded... sounds more like a buff to me.

A good detail shop should be able to do that if they use high speed buffers.

Mark