What whould it look like after wet sanding?

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watson524

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Mar 24, 2008
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Hi all,

As some of you know, and have been so helpful with, I am working on a 1987 Chap. White bottom, gray sides, dark blue at the very top sides.

I have gone through 800 and 1500 grit on the whole thing and 2500 on the back and dark blue on the starboard side. The blue was somewhat shiny before but oxidized and since I was doing the gray, I figured the whole thing should get the same treatment (Megs HO and Buff Magic wasn't enough to deal with 23 years of neglect).

My question is this, even after the 2500, my blue is now dull and scratched looking. Should I freak or is it safe to assume the Megs HO, Buff Magic and Pro Polish will take that off? I haven't washed with soap yet, just a really good rinse and wipe down after each wet sanding step. It's a uniform dull/scratched look which I think is ok since I don't see the faded white spots anymore but I wanted to be sure...

thanks!
 
After sanding with the 2500 the surface should be smooth and I would think you should be able to see some reflection. The dullness will be very noticable. Buffing after this should be minimal and it should shine. Using the 800 grit should have gotten you down to good gelcoat. The 1500 grit should than get rid of the sand marks and make the gelcoat ready for buffing. Using 2500 just reduces the amount of time required to buff. If you see scratches after hitting it with Buff Magic, or any compound, that would indicate to me that you are seeing scratches from the 800 grit. 2500 grit is considered polishing and can be quickly brought to a shine by using a fine polishing product applied by hand.
In my opinion the key is to only remove the minimal amount of gelcoat needed by sanding with 800 grit. The 1500 and 2500 are fine enough that it would take a lot of sanding with either of them to hit fiberglass. You should have noticed a difference ecah time you switched to a fine grit. I assume you used a sanding block where feasable. The other thing is to rinse the area with clean water and keep the bucket of water you dip the sanding block in fairly clean.
When it comes to buffing I like the big, fluffy, flexible wool pads. If the oxidized gelcoat was removed, the pad will not pick up much gelcoat and should not get full of crap.
 
Ok this makes me feel somewhat better. It feels nice and smooth to the touch, just horribly dull. I used a sanding block at all times.

I have 2 wool pads all lined up and actually 2 more in the mail (I couldn't decide). If I still see scratches after buffing with Buff Magic, would I have to go back to 1500 and then 2500 again? And then re-buff?
 
After wetsanding to 2500 it should be scratch free and very dull. I wouldnt polish any of it unless I had sanded to at least 2000 grit. Too many scratches from anything else. After sanding, I like to polish with Finesse-IT to give it a shine. I've never worked with Buff magic.
 
Havin g used Buff Magic for a few years, I don't think it's going to be aggressive enough for what you are trying to do. You won't know until you try. There shouldn't be any scratches left after wet sanding.
 
I am likely going to put the Megs Heavy Duty on first, then the BM then finally the Pro Polish. So "clouding" after sanding is ok, just not scratches.
 
After a pass with the buffer any imperfections will be much more noticable. 2500 grit, and to a less extent 1500 grit, should not leave scratches deep enough that can not be buffed out. That is the purpose of using realy fine sand paper.

Buff a small area and take a close look. If there is no scratches, then continue with the buffer. If you're seeing scratches, it's from the 800 grit and you may have wet sand a little more.
 
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