Brushed past a 4x4 with big plastic wheel arches and marked my 2 doors. Luckily a bit of  flatting with some 1000 grade wet & dry quickly had all the marks and ****e removed.

 

I then set about buffing using a foam mop on a drill to bring back the shine but the shine wont come. It looks like what I’d call blooming or flat.

 

Is it because it needs re-laquering (metallic paint) or do I just need to buff some more? Must admit ive only done it lightly.

 

Advice much appreciated thanks

Sounds like you've gone through the lacquer.

You need to use a paint thickness gauge when wet sanding paint.

Best to show a pic, could be you have gone through the clear coat as already suggested.

Pictures ppease

As said...Doesn't sound good at all

Photographs would help

What grade pad and polish are you using...'Mop' is an old fashioned valetors description in the world of detailers

I'll get some pics tomorrow. The mop is a Farecla G-mop standard compounding head. And been using Meguires ultimate compound and water.

 

If ive gone through the laquer coat will it be impossible to get a shine on the paint coat without re-sparaying with laquer again?

Yes... it will need a fresh Lacquer Coat if that's the case

Your compounding head and polish is possibly a touch harsh

However, I fear the damage was done with the sanding

Was there any colouring on your pad?

Thanks guys, no, no colouring on the pad. Ive only buffed it using a drill at a slow speed so wondering if I havn't buffed it enough. I only sanded enough to remove the marks which were mainly a build up of **** off his arches which seemed to be lying on the top of my paint.

Definitly  no colour on the mop so havn't got into the paint coat really I guess

Did you refine up with anything beyond 1000 ?   If I am flatting I go up through 1500 2000 2500 before thinking about polishing by machine.  You might still be looking at sanding marks.

No I didn't. 1000 grade was the finest I had and I am wondering if that's the case that they are still sanding marks that have not yet polished out. Not sure if pics will show it up but will try and get some tomorrow.

 

How many coats of laquer would normally be applied to a car from new?

Its not the coats that count..Its the thickness

Personally, I'm not an expert at wet sanding. Jason (Devonutopia) is....I would not wet sand without the correct grade wet & Dry and a paint gauge and some instruction or practice on a spare panel

I wouldn't say I am an expert but have done a lot of it (95% on my own vehicles) and most important (to me) is having a paint depth gauge to know how much I am removing.

These days cheaper paint depth gauges are becoming more redundant as cars start to move more and move to plastics then you will be more looking at a positector in the region of £2k.  I had one of them, was ok but got rid as i wasnt working on the cars i was expecting to use it on....until i got rid now all i do is work on cars made of carbonfibre and plastics.

 

Even if you had sanded it to 1000, you really do need to go through the stages to refine, but refining will take out the sanding marks.  If you went from 1000 to polishing then it wouldnt really be opaque as such, but starting to gloss and you would only see the sever sanding marks...obviously this is not guaranteed to the be the answer, but a picture speaks a thousand words.

I've been trying to find photos but I haven't got any of "half polished" sanding, but this is kind of a 3 stage 1) scratch 2) flatted 3) polished I did a while back.  A lovely kid had drawn on the car with a stone.....  Nice.

The issue with you is whether you are still seeing some of picture 2 in picture 3.  If you're dull area is fairly well defined, as in clear edge between dull and shiny, I fear lacquer blow through is a lot more likely.

 

 

 

When you've finished buffing and are happy with the outcome do you then thoroughly wash the area with hot soapy water to remove any residue of the compound before adding wax?

 

When I'd done the buffing first time it looked much better there were just a few marks left. I went over these again and it looked like I'd done a good job. I had good sunlight on that side of the car and viewed it from every angle and it looked great.

 

I then cleaned it all over with a dry towel till it sounded squeaky clean and applied some wax. The next day was when the blooming was clearly visable as though I'd never even started the job.

I wipe down with CarPro Eraser or 50/50 Alcohol

I've been trying to find photos but I haven't got any of "half polished" sanding, but this is kind of a 3 stage 1) scratch 2) flatted 3) polished I did a while back.  A lovely kid had drawn on the car with a stone.....  Nice.

The issue with you is whether you are still seeing some of picture 2 in picture 3.  If you're dull area is fairly well defined, as in clear edge between dull and shiny, I fear lacquer blow through is a lot more likely.

 

 

 

Well the good news is they were scratch marks from the sanding which I hadn't buffed out enough. Seeing your second pic was what put me on the right track thanks. A good mornings buffing and now its as good as new.

Appreciate all the help guys. Many thanks

Nice one

Glad you've sorted it