# Wet sand/polish my Impreza,



## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Well after claying my Rs Clio last weekend http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=266519 i decided to up the stakes on my Impreza, even though the paint was very very good with not a blemish to be seen, i just decided it would look even beter after a good old wet flat and polish to give it abit more depth and sharpen up the reflections, so yesterday evening i put paper to paint,

started on the boot lid,










And then a quarter panel,










A pic of the 1/4 before flating,










And one after, it started drizzeling before id finished, so i packed up for the night,










So today, after attending the Welsh motorsport festival at Pembrey circuit this morning then home to watch Wales v the Babarians i decided to have another crack at the 1/4,( machine compounding completed).










Next a door,










And after compounding,










Products used so far,










Only wish the light was better for the pics, once the machine work is done it'll be having the Blackfire treatment, Gloss enhancing polish followed by All finish paint protection and finally multiple layers of Midnight sun paste wax,
All comments welcome


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## stolt (Aug 29, 2011)

looks really nice...


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## Crash Master (Feb 5, 2012)

Would be awesome if you could wet sand 50/50 the bonnet, polish up to a high gloss both sides and show the real difference of wet sanding.


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## ABC Detailing (Jun 29, 2010)

Good job so far!


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## Lewisredfern001 (Apr 21, 2011)

it seems you have a very casual approach to such a daunting job. results speak for themselves tho. much better reflection and gloss. great work buddy


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Crash Master said:


> Would be awesome if you could wet sand 50/50 the bonnet, polish up to a high gloss both sides and show the real difference of wet sanding.


would'nt want to do this as a 50/50, i think there would be potential issues caused by overlaping.


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Lewisredfern001 said:


> it seems you have a very casual approach to such a daunting job. results speak for themselves tho. much better reflection and gloss. great work buddy


Its all about having the confidence to "Get stuck in"


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

nice work 
i wet sanded one side of my car last year and then on thursday i had to wet sand the boot after i had it resprayed a few months back. it made a big big difference on the boot


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## magpieV6 (Jul 29, 2008)

top job, but more pics of the nimbus please!


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## sebjonesy (Dec 15, 2011)

brilliant work! what grade wet sand did you use? ive got that 3M perfect it range, bloody brilliant stuff :thumb:


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## Gareth_197 (Mar 21, 2012)

I spy a nimbus!!


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

seb[LEFT said:


> [/LEFT]jonesy;3517520]brilliant work! what grade wet sand did you use? ive got that 3M perfect it range, bloody brilliant stuff :thumb:


Not having access to a DA at home i used 2000 & 3000 wet and dry.


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

magpieV6 said:


> top job, but more pics of the nimbus please!





Gareth_197 said:


> I spy a nimbus!!


:wall::lol:


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## ronwash (Mar 26, 2011)

Grear work,peel all gone,the paint looks smooth!


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Feels nice too


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## Lord Flashheart (May 5, 2011)

The clarity of the reflections really shows the difference in the before and after shots. Good work!!


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## Big Buffer (Jan 1, 2011)

Lord Flashheart said:


> The clarity of the reflections really shows the difference in the before and after shots. Good work!!


Yep what he said.

The image of the polished rear quarter and the sanded door you can see a massive difference between front and back door.

Will look pukka when finished


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## ercapoccia (Nov 14, 2008)

I do love wet sand write up. Thanks for sharing, amazing deep gloss reflection!


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Just having a coffee and its out for another panel or two:buffer:


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## Superspec (Feb 25, 2011)

That's cracking work mate, better than some Pro's work I've seen published on here.

I prefer block/hand sanding to doing it with a DA, you just get a better job. It's harder to remove orange peel with Abralon pads. I do like to use 4000 on a DA before polishing though.


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## martinclarkie (Apr 9, 2009)

Wet sanding is deffo the way forward, I've just finished my black clio 197, you on the clio197.net forum???

Martin.


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## mart. (Jul 7, 2008)

Look's great :thumb: !

wish I had the confidence to do that to mine!


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

martinclarkie said:


> Wet sanding is deffo the way forward, I've just finished my black clio 197, you on the clio197.net forum???
> 
> Martin.


Yeah, im on there too i did see your thread on here, top job, infact seeing your roof is making me concider doing mine the same:argie:


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## tansel (Sep 26, 2010)

Cant wait to see the finished article :thumb:

Btw did you paper it via hand or machine?


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

a_tansel said:


> Cant wait to see the finished article :thumb:
> 
> Btw did you paper it via hand or machine?


2 minutes, all sanding done by hand.


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## martinclarkie (Apr 9, 2009)

oh really ye I'm chuffed to bits with my carbon roof, cost £39.99 inc p&p off ebay the proper 3m stuff. if you want the link just let me know. you should see the water beading on the roof with this gtechniq EXo on. Some people might say the roof looks very chav with fake carbon effect, but it doesn't really bother me what others think, also you got your dash strips and centre console wrapped, 

if you want any more pics just let me know mate.


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## tansel (Sep 26, 2010)

hmm it looks very nice for hand sanding :thumb:


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Forgot to say that the boot lid isnt the one that came on the car, that one still has the STI spoiler attached, the one on the car now was removed from an STI so when i got it i had to remove about 12 holes used to fit the spoiler so obviouslly i had to paint it too,










did'nt want to use my boot lid because i wanted to keep all the paint on my car original as long as possible, and i'll be going from spoilered to spolerless as the mood takes me


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

So next onto the front door, went for 3m blue tape this time as i was fed up of masking twice

flatted










And machined,










And a nice reflection shot,


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

And a wing,

Before,










flatted,










Machined,










*AT THIS POINT I DECIDED I'D HAD ENOUGH FLATTING AND MACHINING FOR ONE WEEKEND*


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

But really only because i wanted to use my blackfire kit,

So i washed it using a hose, 2 buckets, a wash mitt and some Autosmart "Duet"

Then applied stage 1 of the Blackfire "wet ice over fire kit" this being the "Gloss enhancing polish" this was applied a 1/2 to a full pannel at a time with a micro fibre applicator and then buffed off straight away with a buffing towel,



















Next was a layer of Blackfire "Wet dimond all finish paint protector" applied all over with a foam applicator and buffed after 15 minutes cure with a buffing towel,



















And finally, the Blackfire "Midnight sun paste wax" applied with a foam applicator to 3 or 4 pannels at a time, 5 minutes cure and buff off with a buffing towel, (this will be layered when i get the chance  )



















And thats all for now, until i get round to doing the bonnet and O/S,


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## Miguel Pestana (Feb 16, 2012)

looks awesome, well worth the effort :thumb:


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Looks superb.
Going to wet sand my Corsa in summer


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Nice job, really lifting the detailing bar up a few notches there. I love wet Sanding out orange reel and is so easy realy, just time consuming.


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## Londoner (Apr 25, 2012)

Stunning finish! This might sound a stupid question - but was it polished back to gloss with a machine, or was that all by had too?!

How easy are the 3M Products to work with?


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

magpieV6 said:


> top job, but more pics of the nimbus please!


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Londoner said:


> Stunning finish! This might sound a stupid question - but was it polished back to gloss with a machine, or was that all by had too?!
> 
> How easy are the 3M Products to work with?


Machine polished, hand prepped, 3m perfect-it range is very user friendly, but Subaru paint is quite soft and sticky.


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## subarutim (Apr 5, 2012)

very nice. the results speak for themselves,great work and a lovely hawk you have there,been following this on scoobynet


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## craigblues (Jul 24, 2011)

Fantastic Job! I'm planning on finally getting round to wet sanding the van this week or next.

How did you find the 3M perform well or did you keep staging up and down?, did you go with the matching 3M pads?


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## Jav_R (Apr 2, 2011)

that is factory paint?


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## Red_Stafford (Aug 22, 2008)

Nice work, is there a tutorial on here for newbies, my avant is in need of tlc

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

craigblues said:


> Fantastic Job! I'm planning on finally getting round to wet sanding the van this week or next.
> 
> How did you find the 3M perform well or did you keep staging up and down?, did you go with the matching 3M pads?


Used a farecla compounding foam with the fast cut plus and extra fine plus and a farecla polishing foam with the ultrafine se.


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Jav_R said:


> that is factory paint?


Yeah, the cars never had paint, only the donor boot lid has had paint.


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## Wested (Jun 9, 2006)

Great work on the panels. Looks flawless.
Love the spolierless boot look too.


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Just noticed ive gone from an "unwashed member" to a "sponge jockey" does this mean im loosing my :newbie: status?


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Thanks to everyone that commented on this thread, i thought i may get some negative comments from people who'd of done it differently but not at all, im blown away by some of the comments, cheers all:thumb:


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## edthedrummer (May 30, 2007)

Spot on chap, what a beautiful pair of cars


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## Kane. (Feb 5, 2011)

Big balls. Mine needs doing badly, with it being yellow reduces reflections so much.


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

edthedrummer said:


> Spot on chap, what a beautiful pair of cars


Cheers mate, my 3rd car is the best, a 2001 fiat brava 1.2sx costs buttons to run, the other 2 are bleeding me dry:lol:


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Just wanted to put thes three pics together to se the three Blackfire stages next to one another,


























:argie:


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## burtz (Apr 14, 2010)

Wow amazing work!


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

Nice one Jarvis!

Looking forward to seeing it at the next meet/ show


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## OCDDuncan (Apr 13, 2012)

fantastic job mate.

as stated subaru paint is mega sticky. 

did you just jump straight in with the 2000 grit or did you use a paint depth gauge?


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Ti22 said:


> Nice one Jarvis!
> 
> Looking forward to seeing it at the next meet/ show


Probablly be rallyday in August Mate.


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

OCDDuncan said:


> fantastic job mate.
> 
> as stated subaru paint is mega sticky.
> 
> did you just jump straight in with the 2000 grit or did you use a paint depth gauge?


Started with 1500, checked paint depth first, 100 microns +/-2


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Cracking job there mate :thumb:


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## CJC (Sep 3, 2011)

Looks Great love the blackfire range works well :thumb:


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## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

Awesome work Black-hawk


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

CJC said:


> Looks Great love the blackfire range works well :thumb:


Yeah, the bebefits of buying a kit like this is you know all the components work together for best results, takes the stress out of it


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## Phil_b88 (May 18, 2008)

Looks amazing! I've wetsanded after filliing stone chips but still building up the courage to do the rest!

Out of interest have you measured the paint thickness after the sanding?


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Do a panel at a time, its not so daunting then not measured depth since, to late now anyway will do at some point though:thumb:


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## tomwrx (Sep 19, 2010)

that is stunning, been watching it on scoobynet.

amazing work.im not brave enough to do this to mine.


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Cheers mate, its not as easy as it looks and there's potential to go wrong if not carefull, leave it to the experts i say


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## Chuffy (Mar 5, 2008)

Looks good mate, love the Rota's


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Cheers mate, I'm still not 100% sure about the grids and kinda wish id gone for the force drifts instead, had Matt anthrasite inovite redline's on before and liked them but it does sit better on the grid's


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## darren1229 (Jun 8, 2012)

whats the advantages of sanding? apart from the obvious.  why wouldnt you just go straight to machine polishing? does sanding help achieve a better finish?


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Machining on its own won't remove the factory orange peel and that's what i set out to do.


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## traplin (Feb 22, 2012)

looks superb mate!! Lovely!!!!


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Cheers mate, glad you like it:thumb:


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

WTF happend to my pictures:wall:


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## Mickwrx (Jun 15, 2012)

Great work there doing my impreza type r at the minute have to admit lot of work but there is amazing difference in it as you can see here love the hawk to lovely car oh and I can't see the pics to anymore


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Niether can i


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

You need to upgrade your account bud - Photbucket is cheap though


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

I'll look into it


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Tell me about it:wall:


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## Lemongrab (Jul 27, 2009)

Gah, I've been trying to see these pics for so many days!


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## GJUK (Aug 7, 2007)

I want to see....lol


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Me to


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## daver555 (Mar 5, 2009)

Imageshack is very good and free


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## GJUK (Aug 7, 2007)

If you have the pictures on your PC I can host them for you ;-)

Gary


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)




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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

worth a try:wall:


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Their back


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

Looks like fun


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## si_lock (Mar 7, 2010)

Can't beat abit of wet sanding! I just brought an old "R" reg corsa to have a play on. Obvioulsy with it being old it's got no clear coat. It's red aswell so majorly faded and when machined it looks awesome. So simple to do aswell. Great work mate


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Any pics of the corsa?


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