First time wetsanding clearcoat.....ooops!

[Guest]

Looks like I'll be repainting this piece.

My girlfriend took a very low speed fall on some gravel and scratched up a couple pieces on the Burgman. I repainted a hand guard, lower leg shield, and this part of the fairing. Bought my paint/clearcoat through Colorrite. 3 coats of color, 3 coats of clear. Waited a week to cure, then started sanding with 1200 grit and this happened. Should I have started with a higher grit paper? Or do the photos point to evidence of issues with the paint before I even started sanding? I don't want to make the same mistake the second time around.

Sorry for the crappy lighting. It was late last night and I just wanted to snap a couple photos.

[Nessism]

What is the problem? Can't tell. Looks like color sanded paint that now needs to be polished.

[tkent02]

Looks perfect, perhaps a little too much sanding in a couple spots, but it should polish up beautifully.

[Nessism]

Use a medium cut polishing compound on a DA polisher. Follow up with a fine grit polish and glaze. Don't hammer on the edges or you may cut through the clear and hit the color. That's the thing to avoid.

[growler]

Thank you so much for the feedback/advice. I thought I had done something REALLY wrong.

What compounds would you suggest? I don't mind spending a little bit of cash for decent stuff, as I will be painting my GS as well. Meguiars? Something better?

[growler]

I can pick these up. Are these along the lines of what you'd recommend, Nessism?

[jbird7262]

Looks fine, a few small nibs of dirt still, but should buff fine, you could go over it lightly w/ 1500. 3M makes an excellent micro finishing compound (white) and their Imperial compound, followed by a hand glaze the wax. both are available at any bodyshop supply, I used to only use meguiars #3 to remove swirl marks after cutting, but have been using 3M products over 35 years. And yes, be careful around the sharp edges.

[growler]

Would you mind posting links to these products? (or photos?) I have a pretty large auto paint & supply store that I can visit tomorrow. My brother swears by 3M as well, so maybe I'll try them instead.

Looks fine, a few small nibs of dirt still, but should buff fine, you could go over it lightly w/ 1500. 3M makes an excellent micro finishing compound (white) and their Imperial compound, followed by a hand glaze the wax. both are available at any bodyshop supply, I used to only use meguiars #3 to remove swirl marks after cutting, but have been using 3M products over 35 years. And yes, be careful around the sharp edges.

[Nessism]

Those Mirror Glaze products are fine. I used the same stuff on my bike. You should be able to go straight to the 2 and then finish with the glaze or a micro fine polish.

[jbird7262]

This should be available

[jbird7262]

And this as well.

[jbird7262]

Both of these were designed for foam pad use but I still like a wool pad though they are messy. Just take your time, try a small area to see how the product cuts your clear.

[SVSooke]

You are not done sanding yet if you have only done 1200.You should lightly sand with 1500 then 2000.I got some 3000 as well but that stuff's expensive.I have used the Mirror Glaze and it works good,sure the 3M would be good to but I never used it.Doubt you'd go wrong either way.

[growler]

Any tips on blending the clearcoats? I'm fine with there being some sort of visible line, and I don't expect it to be perfect. I'd just like to get it close, ya know.

I went out and picked up some more sandpaper (1500 & 2000) as well as the compounds. New pads for the polisher. Ready to get this project done and back to my GS850.

[jbird7262]

Leave the "blending" to the painters, either take the clear completely over the whole panel, or to an edge thats hidden, blending is a whole different monster where solvents are used to "melt' the overspray into the existing finish and when you try to buff back a blend usually the repair edge becomes visible. Just paint the complete panel.