3000 grit sanding on the clear coat?

Has anyone tried 3000 grit sanding on the clear coat?

I have scratches and swirls I tried to remove with DA buffer took some of the swirls and scratches away, I stopped cause I was worried about buffing away the clear coat.

I saw vids on using 3000 grit sandpaper that looked like it will work but like to find if anyone has tried and the outcome of your Tacoma.

 

Cleaner Wax, rubbing compound and sandpaper all work the same way when used to remove scratches.... they remove clearcoat. So, buffing or sanding, you still remove it and there is not much there to start with.

 

Don't do this as I can tell you have no idea what you're doing. Read detailing forums and have someone help you

 

If I read you question correctly. I Think your wanting to only use 3000 grit to remove the swirls and scratches? You can. But you will still have to buff out the scratches from the 3,000 grit paper.

I have wet sanded and buffed paint before. Usually 1,000 then 2,000 grit paper gets the job done. Then medium then fine cut polishes.
Then possibly a swirl remover if on a darker color.
But, you'd better know what your doing.

 

Put the sandpaper down.
Check out the Detailing sub here, or some of the other detailing forums like or Meguiars online



You should be just fine with a DA and some Ultimate Compound. You won't hurt anything and should get decent results.

 

A good detailer is worth every penny.

 

You'd have to use some pretty aggressive pads and compounds to hurt something with a DA polisher.

How bad is your swirl?

Without knowing more, my go-to would be an orange cutting pad and Menzerna Intensive Polish, followed by a white cutting pad and Menzerna Final Polish. This is a middle ground setup that won't take out heavy swirl, but also can't really burn your clear. The next step up (more aggressive) is starting with a yellow cutting pad and Menzerna Power Gloss, followed up with the previous suggestion. That's pretty aggressive, though.

If you're paint is in that bad of shape and you're not familiar with polishing, you would be best off hiring the job out. The materials get expensive at that level since you have to buy the aggressive stuff as well as the lower stuff to finish it, and you won't be using it all of the time to get your investment back.

 

Big no no.

Best you can do is cut polish with DA buffer. If the scratches went passed the paint and into the primer, there is no way of removing them.

I recently spent 10 hours doing 2 stage cut polish, followed by 2 coats of 10h and 1 coat of topcoat. Most scratches were gone and the truck looks awesome even though I take it into the bush.

 

Big NO to the sandpaper.

Pay someone who knows their stuff to rectify your damage.

This is after ~20 hours of work (without any sandpaper) on a very well used 2017.

To start, entire truck was covered in these:

Wills Truck Detail by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Wills Truck Detail by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Ended like this:

Wills Truck Detail by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

DSC_2588 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

DSC_2596 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

You have to be familiar with the tools and techniques to make transformations like this occur. And they definitely don't involve sandpaper!

 

But your name is "get-er-dirty".

Just keep her dirty.

 

haha!

 

When it comes to wet sanding seek out some videos that feature a guy named Jason Kilmer. Pretty sure Obsessed Garage has a vid series featuring him that covers his very precise wet sanding technique.

He sells these tiny sanding blocks that you wrap the paper around and with the right touch you can remove less clear overall than if you had tried to mow that down with a compounding pad. Not to mention all the area that pad is removing that is not part of the otherwise small scratch.

https://theragcompany.com/products/kxk-dynamics-rid-stix-pack?variant=37726115201207

 

Nicely done sir! You saved yourself lots of money, right on!

 

Wait, are you saying wax and polishing compound is equivalent to 3k sandpaper?

 

Before using sandpaper post some pictures along with letting us know what DA, compounds, and pads you are using. You may be able to get the scratches out without sanding!

EDIT- just reread your post. If the DA is working do not use sandpaper. It will be more aggressive

 

Thanks for the info peps. I will just part the truck ... I will stay away from wet sanding the biatch and try some different waxes.