I decided it was time I wet sanded and polished the paintwork on my Anglia. I sprayed it in 2008 and, apart from washing it a couple of times, I've left it as it was straight out the gun. Essentially, it looked pretty shiny because I sprayed it in 2k and I got a pretty good finish, but the surface was quite rough feeling from the inevitable dusty overspray and a few years of ingrained muck. I thought the time was right because I've just got the car back from the hospital where I've had some crash damage repaired, it's also got some new tyres and it feels better than ever to drive. Time for a proper shine...
First up is the wet sanding. I've got a set of Flexible Sanders sanding blocks and I opted to use the 6" one with the soft base. I tried the one with the hard base and noticed that the paper clogged, presumably where it was applying localised pressure, so I stuck with the soft-faced one. I sanded wet, that means I dipped the sander in a bucket of water laced with a bit of car shampoo. Some people say to use washing up liquid, but whatever you use, a bit of suds helps the water cling to the surface and it helps wash away the debris away as you sand - ergo the paper doesn't clog as much and there's no dust. I sanded first with 1200 grade to knock the tops off the orange peel, then 2000 grade to flatten ready for rubbing compound. This is what it looks like after a bit of rubbing with 1200 grade on the roof:
In the middle of the picture you can see where I've almost reached the bottom of the orange peel. Ideally you want to sand all the way down, but I'm not looking for a show finish, so I just went most of the way, as you can see here:
After sanding, the finish is flat and completely dull. You bring the shine back with a selection of different grades of rubbing compound. I opted to use Farecla products but there are loads out there and everyone has their favourite. From dull, you start with Farecla G3 paste which partially shines it up, then you can either polish it with wax or move on to a finer compound like G10 and then a high gloss polish. I simply used G3 followed by Turtlewax. Here you can see where I've done half the front with G3 and it is partially shiny. I'm using a Makita sander-polisher, which makes life a LOT easier than doing it by hand:
Now this is the front completely done with G3 and Turtlewax on the left hand side - though you can see the difference:
And finally the whole lot waxed:
Timewise, it took me a couple of hours on Saturday to sand and G3 the roof and bootlid, then another 4 hours on Sunday to sand and G3 the front then wax everything. I've yet to do the doors and sides, but they are a simpler shape and shouldn't take as long, but you get an idea how long it takes even with the right tools and products. The polish also goes everywhere and you get it all over you. These are all reasons why I've been putting it off for so long
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the walk-through. I've not done a whole car before so I'm not professing to be an expert, nor is this intended to be a show shine because this is my daily driver and it tends to get bashed about in carparks and things dragged down it in the garage. There are also some good videos about how to use G3 with a polisher on Youtube
First up is the wet sanding. I've got a set of Flexible Sanders sanding blocks and I opted to use the 6" one with the soft base. I tried the one with the hard base and noticed that the paper clogged, presumably where it was applying localised pressure, so I stuck with the soft-faced one. I sanded wet, that means I dipped the sander in a bucket of water laced with a bit of car shampoo. Some people say to use washing up liquid, but whatever you use, a bit of suds helps the water cling to the surface and it helps wash away the debris away as you sand - ergo the paper doesn't clog as much and there's no dust. I sanded first with 1200 grade to knock the tops off the orange peel, then 2000 grade to flatten ready for rubbing compound. This is what it looks like after a bit of rubbing with 1200 grade on the roof:
In the middle of the picture you can see where I've almost reached the bottom of the orange peel. Ideally you want to sand all the way down, but I'm not looking for a show finish, so I just went most of the way, as you can see here:
After sanding, the finish is flat and completely dull. You bring the shine back with a selection of different grades of rubbing compound. I opted to use Farecla products but there are loads out there and everyone has their favourite. From dull, you start with Farecla G3 paste which partially shines it up, then you can either polish it with wax or move on to a finer compound like G10 and then a high gloss polish. I simply used G3 followed by Turtlewax. Here you can see where I've done half the front with G3 and it is partially shiny. I'm using a Makita sander-polisher, which makes life a LOT easier than doing it by hand:
Now this is the front completely done with G3 and Turtlewax on the left hand side - though you can see the difference:
And finally the whole lot waxed:
Timewise, it took me a couple of hours on Saturday to sand and G3 the roof and bootlid, then another 4 hours on Sunday to sand and G3 the front then wax everything. I've yet to do the doors and sides, but they are a simpler shape and shouldn't take as long, but you get an idea how long it takes even with the right tools and products. The polish also goes everywhere and you get it all over you. These are all reasons why I've been putting it off for so long
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the walk-through. I've not done a whole car before so I'm not professing to be an expert, nor is this intended to be a show shine because this is my daily driver and it tends to get bashed about in carparks and things dragged down it in the garage. There are also some good videos about how to use G3 with a polisher on Youtube
