Wet sanding help

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   Hey guys I'm at my brothers now wet sanding a section if the boat. I went at it pretty good today with heavy duty 3M with a buffer and it didn't really touch the old decal ghosting. So I started on a section with 600 then to 800. When its wet I can still see the old paint. Is this normal? When its dry its a cloud. 

So my question is. Should I go through the process and see how it turns out. Or do I need to stick with a certain grit until its gone? I'm really nervous about this and a little timid about messing it up. 

Any help is appreciated... 

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KTempleton Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: September-04-2013 Location: Houston, TX Status: Offline Points: 48	Post Options Post Reply Quote KTempleton Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Wet sanding help Posted: September-13-2013 at 8:28pm
	Hey guys I'm at my brothers now wet sanding a section if the boat. I went at it pretty good today with heavy duty 3M with a buffer and it didn't really touch the old decal ghosting. So I started on a section with 600 then to 800. When its wet I can still see the old paint. Is this normal? When its dry its a cloud. So my question is. Should I go through the process and see how it turns out. Or do I need to stick with a certain grit until its gone? I'm really nervous about this and a little timid about messing it up. Any help is appreciated...

62 wood Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Grand Poobah Joined: February-19-2005 Location: NW IL Status: Offline Points: 4527	Post Options Post Reply Quote 62 wood Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September-13-2013 at 9:03pm
	The cloudiness when dry is normal after wet sanding. You need to compound this to get your gloss back. What compound are you using to buff with? What color is the gel coat, how old is the boat? What is the decal ghost are you trying to get rid of? A lot depends on what the answers to these questions are. Depending on color, how long the decals have been on, etc, can make a difference. You may not be able to totally get rid of the ghosting. got any pics? .
	64 American Skier 62 Classic.. 73 Ski Nautique

Gary S Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Grand Poobah Joined: November-30-2006 Location: Illinois Status: Offline Points: 14096	Post Options Post Reply Quote Gary S Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September-13-2013 at 11:05pm
	Not anything you can do about ghosting.Get it as good as you can like Steve says,polish her up and put the decals back on. Hopefully the PO did not put any extra ones that you don't want. Gel is very forgiving but like paint do be careful on any edges, it can be or is thinner there. Also like Steve says it will be cloudy until you polish but before you do that you need to keep going down on grit,I ended up in the 1500 and 2000 range before polishing. If I remember right I think the 3m product I used was supposed to remove 1200 scratchs.
	69 Mustang HM SS 95 Nautique Super Sport

TRBenj Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Grand Poobah Joined: June-29-2005 Location: NWCT Status: Offline Points: 21138	Post Options Post Reply Quote TRBenj Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September-13-2013 at 11:43pm
	Steve is right- you can sometimes restore color fully (remove evidence of ghosting) if you sand down far enough... But not always. A little bit of sanding with 800 isn't very far- you'd have to spend some time with 400 or lower to have any sort of concern (I assume you're sanding by hand). As you've found, making the surface wet is a good indication of how it will shine back up once you're done polishing at the end. That is a good test to perform to tell if you've sanded far enough. If you see ghosting when wet, it will still be there when you're done. Are you installing original decals where they once were?

KTempleton Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: September-04-2013 Location: Houston, TX Status: Offline Points: 48	Post Options Post Reply Quote KTempleton Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September-16-2013 at 1:04am
	Sorry it took so long to respond. I worked on a section with 320. With some work I was able to get it gone. Looks like it will be LOTS of work to do the entire boat. Oh well. Thanks for your help and input. I've done wet sanding before but easy stuff. So going down to 300-400 made me a bit nervous

KTempleton Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: September-04-2013 Location: Houston, TX Status: Offline Points: 48	Post Options Post Reply Quote KTempleton Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September-16-2013 at 1:35am
	Sorry it took so long to respond. I ran into some motor problems that night too. I worked on a section with 320. With some work I was able to get it gone. Looks like it will be LOTS of work to do the entire boat. Oh well. Thanks for your help and input. I've done wet sanding before but easy stuff. So going down to 300-400 made me a bit nervous

BeeJay Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: August-21-2013 Location: Austinburg, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 34	Post Options Post Reply Quote BeeJay Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October-22-2013 at 11:23pm
	I have always started with #600 then to #800 and finish with #1200 grit. From that point on used a light duty rubbing compound (sometimes called Polishing compound). Then I finish up with the three step Mequires kit. Always been very satisfied with that procedure. Bad part was after a week of this, my arms were too tired to ski for several days, so just cruised around to show off my new refinishing job

Wet sanding help

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