whats the difference between wet and dry sanding? i painted my center tail light piece and it looked a little dull. a few people on here suggested i wet sand it with 1500...i was just wondering what the difference between wet and dry sanding was. thanks

wet gives you a nice clean smooth finish, as dry usually gives your a more coarse, ruff finish (depending on the grit).

Wetsand it with some 1500-2000 and buff it.

dry sanding will leave sand marks and also be more messy than wet sanding . you should always wetsand when using 600 grit and higher

clear coat the center piece before you do anything else to it.

it is clearcoated. how do i go about wet sanding? just get it wet and sand away?

Originally posted by LeakyMitsu
it is clearcoated. how do i go about wet sanding? just get it wet and sand away?

You are thinking about it too much. It is exactly what it sounds like. Just get a bowl full of water and keep the paper wet as you sand. You could also throw some polish on it after you are done sanding. That should make it look real good :)

just dont sand too much, if you start to see any color besides white coming from where your sanding (like the color you painted the light) then you sanded through the clear and you will have to reclear it. just go slow and take your time and be easy, dont push too hard, and i hope you know you will have to buff it when your done because it will be dull when your done sanding it.

I usually just run a hose over the area I'm working on while I sand, keeps fresh water on the surface and you know you aren't going to clog up the paper with balls of paint. Wet sanding this way is real nice in the summer-time, because you're able to keep yourself cool at the same time. Convince your girlfriend to help you with it and you get a nice show at the same time :thumbsup

haha yeah i liked the girlfriend idea. i used the mist setting on the hose and just kept it running while i sanded. it worked out great. i tried like 3 different polishing compounds i had here at the house but this stuff called "scratch out" worked the best. it looks great, thanks for the help!

you should buy yourself some machine compound , machine polish ,hand glaze and a good buffer . then it will come out real nice