Wetsanding my 13 GT500

[blue 07]

One of my winter mods was to wet sand and buff out my Shelby. As you can imagine, putting sandpaper to your ride is pretty nerve racking, but knowing the results I could achieve with it, I could not wait to get started. It took 40 hours I would say over a two week period to sand and buff it out. I used 3M 2000 and 3000 grit sandpaper with a rubber block, it was buffed out with a Flex 3401 orbital polisher and shined up using Adams Brilliant Glaze and topped off with Adams Patriot wax. Do not attempt to do this with your car, this is not a "lets try it and see how it comes out" project ! The before and after pics are pretty revealing. Wet sanding really brought out the depth and clarity in the paint leaving it with a mirror finish. I will post up pics in two different posts since only 10 pics allowed at a time.Here's some pics for ya.

 

[Skitzerman]

That takes a lot of skill and patience. The results are undeniable, great job by you.

 

[tones_RS3]

That takes a lot of skill and patience. The results are undeniable, great job by you.

+1

 

[Kevinbonds]

Wet sanding is painful. Any reason you did not use a DA?

 

[gimmie11s]

Amazing work!

 

[LuuisHernandez]

Man, I know the results are amazing, but if I ever tried this, I’d start crying thinking I destroyed the paint once it was sanded down. Looks great though!


Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com

 

[COOL COBRA]

Looks great!
I did this very thing on my black Mach 1. It came out slick as glass.
When I got my new Shelby in '13, the orange peel was terrible. Even showed bad on white. We tried to block the clear down to fix it. No worky. The orange peel was from the paint, the clear was just magnifying it. Ended up block sanding all the way to the grey factory sealer just above bare metal & went with a full repaint with the OEM color & high quality clear coat.
Was a lot of work but well worth it in the end.
Glad to hear you were able to save it!

 

[StrayBullitt]

LOL'd at that License Plate

Car looks great too !

 

[blue 07]

Looks great!
I did this very thing on my black Mach 1. It came out slick as glass.
When I got my new Shelby in '13, the orange peel was terrible. Even showed bad on white. We tried to block the clear down to fix it. No worky. The orange peel was from the paint, the clear was just magnifying it. Ended up block sanding all the way to the grey factory sealer just above bare metal & went with a full repaint with the OEM color & high quality clear coat.
Was a lot of work but well worth it in the end.
Glad to hear you were able to save it!

I will agree with you on the orange peel from the factory. The car always looked great, but the orange peel got the better of me and it needed to go. I did take it down to where it could probably be done one more time in the future with 3000 - 5000 grit, but it looks pretty damn good with out going to the level you did. The Deep Impact factory blue seemed like it changed color like most paint does when wet sanded. There is still plenty of clear left for buffing out scratches etc for years to come.Your car looks great by the way !!

 

[blue 07]

Man, I know the results are amazing, but if I ever tried this, I’d start crying thinking I destroyed the paint once it was sanded down. Looks great though!


Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com

Like I mentioned, not for the faint of heart to put sandpaper to their car but I knew what the results would be in the end. Actually a little better than I anticipated. My 2007 was done also and that car just screams perfection so with newer paint on my Shelby I was expecting the same if not better.

 

[blue 07]

Wet sanding is painful. Any reason you did not use a DA?

I wanted to be able to "feel" the wet sanding/clear come off with my hands which you don't get with a DA plus I was in no rush to finish. Some areas I did without the block too, just have to be careful one way or the other.