Wet sanding grille surround

Gotta give you thumbs up for giving it your first try.

 

Yup, I'm probably better off taking it low and slow. But, I'll see what the local store carries.

Thanks for this advice, I will find something other than what I have on hand.

When I gather all the supplies for the next steps, I'll check back in with the results.

 

Thanks man

 

Start with 1500 soaking in a bucket of water with one drop of liquid dish soap. Get a waterproof foam sanding pad. Wrap the paper around the pad. Sand with medium light pressure until the orange peel is removed. The finish should be an even dull. Then rub it out with buffing compound, followed by polishing compound. I personally like wizards turbo cut buffing compound and 3M polishing compound.

 

Keep in mind that some compounds/polishes are diminishing abrasives (start with large abrasive particles and must be broken down to achieve a nice finish) and some are super micro abrasive (uniformly sized super small abrasives that don't need to be broken down). The SMAT abrasives (super micro abrasive tech) are nice because you can quit buffing anytime you want to. With diminishing abrasives you have to complete a "buffing cycle" and break down the product.

SMAT might be easier to work with for your project. SMAT is a Meguiars trademarked term, but there are other products/brands that work the same way. The Menzerna is a diminishing abrasive.

 

1500. That will smooth out any texture. I know Meguairs makes a DA that will attach to a drill, but I personally have no experience with one. I have used pneumatic handheld types. They work good for small areas or headlights. On compound, just anything labeled as Rubbing compound. Some brands will have numbers on them for their steps. 1: coarser compound, 2: finer, etc. I am thinking 3M does that, but everybody has a brand preference.

 

Make sure you do enough clear coats. I did this on my 2nd gen and it held up totally fine for several years, but I could tell that the clear was slowly fading away. Definitely wasn't as thick when I traded it in as it was when I first did it.