Color sanding
04-01-23, 01:53 AM
#1
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
Color sanding
Does anyone think these spots could be wet sanded / color sanded successfully?
I saw a video by @rdahm recently and it inspired me to look into restoring the paint I have, since it’s not THAT bad, and I don’t want to spend money on painting the car.
Last edited by Valkyrie; 04-01-23 at 01:56 AM.
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04-01-23, 03:51 AM
#3
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
My thinking is to dry sand with 1500, and then wet sand with 2000 and above until it’s ready to get protected.
04-01-23, 10:04 AM
#5
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you might try this before you go sanding stuff. https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...one-place.html
its a lot of work, but it does work
its a lot of work, but it does work
04-01-23, 04:15 PM
#6
FD RX-7 had single stage, base clear and tricoat paint.
Even the same color could be had with different paint processes.
Thankfully each color and process has a unique paint code so you can tell.
Example:
PX - Brilliant Black single stage
PZ- Brilliant Black clear coated
The paint code is on the bottom of the big driver's side door jamb sticker on US cars, IDK about location on other markets.
Even the same color could be had with different paint processes.
Thankfully each color and process has a unique paint code so you can tell.
Example:
PX - Brilliant Black single stage
PZ- Brilliant Black clear coated
The paint code is on the bottom of the big driver's side door jamb sticker on US cars, IDK about location on other markets.
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04-02-23, 03:03 AM
#9
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
FD RX-7 had single stage, base clear and tricoat paint.
Even the same color could be had with different paint processes.
Thankfully each color and process has a unique paint code so you can tell.
Example:
PX - Brilliant Black single stage
PZ- Brilliant Black clear coated
The paint code is on the bottom of the big driver's side door jamb sticker on US cars, IDK about location on other markets.
Even the same color could be had with different paint processes.
Thankfully each color and process has a unique paint code so you can tell.
Example:
PX - Brilliant Black single stage
PZ- Brilliant Black clear coated
The paint code is on the bottom of the big driver's side door jamb sticker on US cars, IDK about location on other markets.
I could only find one black code for JDM FDs: A3F.
That’s what I had my new headlight covers painted with.
04-02-23, 09:49 AM
#10
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i think Blue had it backwards, PX is Brilliant Black Hi Reflex (it was put on a turntable or something)
and PZ is just plain Brilliant Black.
i think it should be single stage, but RTFM http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/manuals/FD...p%20manual.pdf
04-02-23, 10:47 AM
#11
RX-7 Bad Ass
iTrader: (55)
Yeah that is clear coat failure. Can you make it somewhat better? Yes. Is it going to be perfect? Nope.
But, this is a great opportunity to try a few things. At this point you can't really make things worse. Yes you 100% need a repaint but maybe you can either make it look a bit better and have some fun/learn in the process or just go "boy I really need a paint job" and start committing to that.
Start watching some Youtube videos on the topic, there are TONS. You can get lost in a sea of products, but here's the long and short -
- CLEAN the car, get it all washed up and dried.
- Use a clay bar to get junk out of the paint. This should also get any large loose bits of clear.
- Get a spray bottle of water with a little Dawn dish soap in it. Get a block and wrap 1500 grit sand paper on it. Wet the paper, wet the surface, and go over it. This is where you are gonna do most of the work, take your time, go slow. If you are near anything you don't want sanded (like a rubber seal) put some tape on it, it's VERY easy to sand where you don't mean to. Light pressure, sand in a cross hatch pattern - one diagonal, then the other.
- One you get a nice uniform surface start working up in the grits. 2000, 2500, 3000. Always use a block. This should take less time, you are just polishing out those initial scratches.
- Get a random orbital buffer and some polishing compound and hit it up. TONS of videos on the process, see how the pros do it. Once done it should be a nice mirror. You may need to further use finer compounds to get any swirls from the buffer out.
- Apply wax to keep the paint protected and happy.
I would just use products you can get at the auto parts store. There are WORLDS of detailing supplies out there, don't go too off the deep end, just keep it simple. I many times use Meguiar's products since you can get them locally, they are quality products, and they have been around forever. They may not be "the best" but they will be 98% of the best. And if you need more, run up to the store.
If the paint is really crap you can Plastidip it - https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...about-1146628/ - I've run for about 5 years with my car dipped and had fun doing a different color and also got to enjoy my FD that had SHOT paint. I'm now finally prepping for a real paint job but that bought me time, didn't cost much (a whole setup can be $500, tools and supplies, and take a Saturday to do), and turned out really sharp. Again, TONS of videos from dipyourcar.com on the topic.
There is also vinyl wrap which looks amazing but is EXPENSIVE to have done professionally and is VERY hard to do yourself. Like it's seriously getting in paint job pricing.
If you go down whichever route, make a thread (or use this one) and take some pics and share your experience and what you learned!
Dale
But, this is a great opportunity to try a few things. At this point you can't really make things worse. Yes you 100% need a repaint but maybe you can either make it look a bit better and have some fun/learn in the process or just go "boy I really need a paint job" and start committing to that.
Start watching some Youtube videos on the topic, there are TONS. You can get lost in a sea of products, but here's the long and short -
- CLEAN the car, get it all washed up and dried.
- Use a clay bar to get junk out of the paint. This should also get any large loose bits of clear.
- Get a spray bottle of water with a little Dawn dish soap in it. Get a block and wrap 1500 grit sand paper on it. Wet the paper, wet the surface, and go over it. This is where you are gonna do most of the work, take your time, go slow. If you are near anything you don't want sanded (like a rubber seal) put some tape on it, it's VERY easy to sand where you don't mean to. Light pressure, sand in a cross hatch pattern - one diagonal, then the other.
- One you get a nice uniform surface start working up in the grits. 2000, 2500, 3000. Always use a block. This should take less time, you are just polishing out those initial scratches.
- Get a random orbital buffer and some polishing compound and hit it up. TONS of videos on the process, see how the pros do it. Once done it should be a nice mirror. You may need to further use finer compounds to get any swirls from the buffer out.
- Apply wax to keep the paint protected and happy.
I would just use products you can get at the auto parts store. There are WORLDS of detailing supplies out there, don't go too off the deep end, just keep it simple. I many times use Meguiar's products since you can get them locally, they are quality products, and they have been around forever. They may not be "the best" but they will be 98% of the best. And if you need more, run up to the store.
If the paint is really crap you can Plastidip it - https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...about-1146628/ - I've run for about 5 years with my car dipped and had fun doing a different color and also got to enjoy my FD that had SHOT paint. I'm now finally prepping for a real paint job but that bought me time, didn't cost much (a whole setup can be $500, tools and supplies, and take a Saturday to do), and turned out really sharp. Again, TONS of videos from dipyourcar.com on the topic.
There is also vinyl wrap which looks amazing but is EXPENSIVE to have done professionally and is VERY hard to do yourself. Like it's seriously getting in paint job pricing.
If you go down whichever route, make a thread (or use this one) and take some pics and share your experience and what you learned!
Dale
04-02-23, 07:26 PM
#12
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
Yeah that is clear coat failure. Can you make it somewhat better? Yes. Is it going to be perfect? Nope.
But, this is a great opportunity to try a few things. At this point you can't really make things worse. Yes you 100% need a repaint but maybe you can either make it look a bit better and have some fun/learn in the process or just go "boy I really need a paint job" and start committing to that.
Start watching some Youtube videos on the topic, there are TONS. You can get lost in a sea of products, but here's the long and short -
- CLEAN the car, get it all washed up and dried.
- Use a clay bar to get junk out of the paint. This should also get any large loose bits of clear.
- Get a spray bottle of water with a little Dawn dish soap in it. Get a block and wrap 1500 grit sand paper on it. Wet the paper, wet the surface, and go over it. This is where you are gonna do most of the work, take your time, go slow. If you are near anything you don't want sanded (like a rubber seal) put some tape on it, it's VERY easy to sand where you don't mean to. Light pressure, sand in a cross hatch pattern - one diagonal, then the other.
- One you get a nice uniform surface start working up in the grits. 2000, 2500, 3000. Always use a block. This should take less time, you are just polishing out those initial scratches.
- Get a random orbital buffer and some polishing compound and hit it up. TONS of videos on the process, see how the pros do it. Once done it should be a nice mirror. You may need to further use finer compounds to get any swirls from the buffer out.
- Apply wax to keep the paint protected and happy.
I would just use products you can get at the auto parts store. There are WORLDS of detailing supplies out there, don't go too off the deep end, just keep it simple. I many times use Meguiar's products since you can get them locally, they are quality products, and they have been around forever. They may not be "the best" but they will be 98% of the best. And if you need more, run up to the store.
If the paint is really crap you can Plastidip it - https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...about-1146628/ - I've run for about 5 years with my car dipped and had fun doing a different color and also got to enjoy my FD that had SHOT paint. I'm now finally prepping for a real paint job but that bought me time, didn't cost much (a whole setup can be $500, tools and supplies, and take a Saturday to do), and turned out really sharp. Again, TONS of videos from dipyourcar.com on the topic.
There is also vinyl wrap which looks amazing but is EXPENSIVE to have done professionally and is VERY hard to do yourself. Like it's seriously getting in paint job pricing.
If you go down whichever route, make a thread (or use this one) and take some pics and share your experience and what you learned!
Dale
But, this is a great opportunity to try a few things. At this point you can't really make things worse. Yes you 100% need a repaint but maybe you can either make it look a bit better and have some fun/learn in the process or just go "boy I really need a paint job" and start committing to that.
Start watching some Youtube videos on the topic, there are TONS. You can get lost in a sea of products, but here's the long and short -
- CLEAN the car, get it all washed up and dried.
- Use a clay bar to get junk out of the paint. This should also get any large loose bits of clear.
- Get a spray bottle of water with a little Dawn dish soap in it. Get a block and wrap 1500 grit sand paper on it. Wet the paper, wet the surface, and go over it. This is where you are gonna do most of the work, take your time, go slow. If you are near anything you don't want sanded (like a rubber seal) put some tape on it, it's VERY easy to sand where you don't mean to. Light pressure, sand in a cross hatch pattern - one diagonal, then the other.
- One you get a nice uniform surface start working up in the grits. 2000, 2500, 3000. Always use a block. This should take less time, you are just polishing out those initial scratches.
- Get a random orbital buffer and some polishing compound and hit it up. TONS of videos on the process, see how the pros do it. Once done it should be a nice mirror. You may need to further use finer compounds to get any swirls from the buffer out.
- Apply wax to keep the paint protected and happy.
I would just use products you can get at the auto parts store. There are WORLDS of detailing supplies out there, don't go too off the deep end, just keep it simple. I many times use Meguiar's products since you can get them locally, they are quality products, and they have been around forever. They may not be "the best" but they will be 98% of the best. And if you need more, run up to the store.
If the paint is really crap you can Plastidip it - https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...about-1146628/ - I've run for about 5 years with my car dipped and had fun doing a different color and also got to enjoy my FD that had SHOT paint. I'm now finally prepping for a real paint job but that bought me time, didn't cost much (a whole setup can be $500, tools and supplies, and take a Saturday to do), and turned out really sharp. Again, TONS of videos from dipyourcar.com on the topic.
There is also vinyl wrap which looks amazing but is EXPENSIVE to have done professionally and is VERY hard to do yourself. Like it's seriously getting in paint job pricing.
If you go down whichever route, make a thread (or use this one) and take some pics and share your experience and what you learned!
Dale
I would much rather put the money into track time.
I had considered vinyl wrap, but the only shop nearby charges *insane* prices for labor (5X that cost of materials, from what I can tell).
The FD is apparently one of the hardest cars to wrap, because it's a mess of seamless complex curves.
I am not willing to risk many hundreds of dollars worth of materials on learning how to wrap (if you're going to go with wrap, it might as well be an iridescent pearl metallic...).
I would also need to do quite a bit of body work before I would even be willing to try.
Would doing the whole job with a random sander be a bad idea? I saw some AMMO NYC videos, and they actually start with 1500 *dry* sandpaper using a sander.
Some cheap carnauba wax made a world of difference on the carbon hood. Not as much as when the hood is wet, though. But way better than it was.
So, I might just go ahead and give the entire car a polish using rubbing compound before I attempt to sand those white spots.
The polish I bought dries out ridiculously fast, though...
04-02-23, 08:52 PM
#13
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
I also need to sand, filler, and paint one of the fenders, because I sent the car into a crash pad a few years back and bent the **** out of them, causing the paint to crack.
I might just go and take the fenders off, so I can work on them at home.
There are some used black fiberglass aftermarket fenders sitting in an UP GARAGE shop nearby. They are tempting me, but I'm not sure how much value they would actually add.
There's also a matching rear bumper, but aftermarket rear bumpers have always seemed like the most superfluous kind of aftermarket aero parts.
I might just go and take the fenders off, so I can work on them at home.
There are some used black fiberglass aftermarket fenders sitting in an UP GARAGE shop nearby. They are tempting me, but I'm not sure how much value they would actually add.
There's also a matching rear bumper, but aftermarket rear bumpers have always seemed like the most superfluous kind of aftermarket aero parts.
04-03-23, 09:17 AM
#14
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04-03-23, 05:37 PM
#15
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
04-04-23, 01:24 AM
#16
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
Anyone know if there’s a way to take these cracks out of my hood? I assume it will require sanding and applying new resin, if it’s possible at all.
I also have a weird fitment issue between my bumper, hood, and light covers. Not sure what the issue is.
04-04-23, 08:30 AM
#17
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more pics would be better, but it looks like the bumper is pushed in on the side, which has made it curve more/bow a little. its not hard to fix
not sure about the hood, although you could always paint/wrap that. actually a good thing to practice wrapping might be the headlight lids
and paint the damn wiper arms!
not sure about the hood, although you could always paint/wrap that. actually a good thing to practice wrapping might be the headlight lids
and paint the damn wiper arms!
04-04-23, 10:00 AM
#18
RX-7 Bad Ass
iTrader: (55)
The cracks in the hood are the epoxy resin that is bonded to the CF being cracked. It may be fixable but that's not gonna be easy.
Really, try my technique - pick ONE spot, try it out, see the results.
Also remember Ammo NYC is a top notch shop but they are PROS that have done it for many years.
Dale
Really, try my technique - pick ONE spot, try it out, see the results.
Also remember Ammo NYC is a top notch shop but they are PROS that have done it for many years.
Dale
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04-04-23, 05:15 PM
#20
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
more pics would be better, but it looks like the bumper is pushed in on the side, which has made it curve more/bow a little. its not hard to fix
not sure about the hood, although you could always paint/wrap that. actually a good thing to practice wrapping might be the headlight lids
and paint the damn wiper arms!
not sure about the hood, although you could always paint/wrap that. actually a good thing to practice wrapping might be the headlight lids
and paint the damn wiper arms!
Also, yeah, my bumper doesn't have anything structurally supporting the sides, so they might be a bit pinched. Might need to fabricate some bumper stays to things to move around at high speed.
Last edited by Valkyrie; 04-04-23 at 11:23 PM.
04-04-23, 05:18 PM
#21
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
The cracks in the hood are the epoxy resin that is bonded to the CF being cracked. It may be fixable but that's not gonna be easy.
Really, try my technique - pick ONE spot, try it out, see the results.
Also remember Ammo NYC is a top notch shop but they are PROS that have done it for many years.
Dale
Really, try my technique - pick ONE spot, try it out, see the results.
Also remember Ammo NYC is a top notch shop but they are PROS that have done it for many years.
Dale
It doesn’t need to look really good standing still. Looking ok while moving is enough. Haha.
04-05-23, 05:27 AM
#22
You’ll have quite alot of work and some money into something that won’t even look all that great moving. Especially after a few weeks. The car really deserves new paint. If you’re ambitious and patient you could probably save some labor R & R’ing all the lights, trim, and bumper covers (which have to be prepped and painted separately). But new paint should be in your future.
A good shop using modern materials and and a two-stage paint will look amazing. Todays stuff stands up to UV and will probably outlast the car.
If money is tight and you’re not super OCD, you might also check with the local trade schools.
Last edited by Sgtblue; 04-05-23 at 05:45 AM.
04-05-23, 07:01 AM
#23
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
^ This.
You’ll have quite alot of work and some money into something that won’t even look all that great moving. Especially after a few weeks. The car really deserves new paint. If you’re ambitious and patient you could probably save some labor R & R’ing all the lights, trim, and bumper covers (which have to be prepped and painted separately). But new paint should be in your future.
A good shop using modern materials and and a two-stage paint will look amazing. Todays stuff stands up to UV and will probably outlast the car.
If money is tight and you’re not super OCD, you might also check with the local trade schools.
You’ll have quite alot of work and some money into something that won’t even look all that great moving. Especially after a few weeks. The car really deserves new paint. If you’re ambitious and patient you could probably save some labor R & R’ing all the lights, trim, and bumper covers (which have to be prepped and painted separately). But new paint should be in your future.
A good shop using modern materials and and a two-stage paint will look amazing. Todays stuff stands up to UV and will probably outlast the car.
If money is tight and you’re not super OCD, you might also check with the local trade schools.
04-05-23, 10:01 AM
#24
Full Member
If you sand it, there is a high chance it will be much worse. Maybe even go through to primer. Try to remember paint layers are measured in microns. Clear coat is typically the thickest layer. Once it is compromised it needs to be repainted. If you polish it, it will appear to spread further because you will be "chasing" the failure. It has happened to me before when I was buffing a car.
By the way you are talking, it sounds like you really don't want to have the car repainted. Only other options.... wrap or plastidip. Herblenny is a big fan of plastidip. I am sure you can find a photo of one of his cars around here.
By the way you are talking, it sounds like you really don't want to have the car repainted. Only other options.... wrap or plastidip. Herblenny is a big fan of plastidip. I am sure you can find a photo of one of his cars around here.
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04-05-23, 07:16 PM
#25
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
If you sand it, there is a high chance it will be much worse. Maybe even go through to primer. Try to remember paint layers are measured in microns. Clear coat is typically the thickest layer. Once it is compromised it needs to be repainted. If you polish it, it will appear to spread further because you will be "chasing" the failure. It has happened to me before when I was buffing a car.
By the way you are talking, it sounds like you really don't want to have the car repainted. Only other options.... wrap or plastidip. Herblenny is a big fan of plastidip. I am sure you can find a photo of one of his cars around here.
By the way you are talking, it sounds like you really don't want to have the car repainted. Only other options.... wrap or plastidip. Herblenny is a big fan of plastidip. I am sure you can find a photo of one of his cars around here.
Hopefully nothing big breaks this year.
Also, to get it street legal I have to buy an (expensive) special catalytic converter, find and install a stock driver's seat (will involve some welding), change the muffler, return the wastegate exit back to the downpipe (no idea what this will cost), and probably do a bunch of other things.
This will all end up costing much more than a paint job.
I also need to take car of some underbody rust.