Wasup CL, I need some help or tips on wet sanding bird spots on my hood. When I bought the car it came with them, and now I'm trying to get them off. What type os sand paper do I use, and are there any DIY videos on wet sand and buffing lexus is250 2010 or similar ? Thanks

 

I would use some rubbing compound or something like Mequiars 100 and then 200 compound with a high speed buffer. I would stay away from wet sanding, especially if you are asking for advice on how to do it and what to use. You would be able to find all the information on Mequiars website.

 

Yeah start with compounding first. Wet sanding will require a high speed buffer once done.

 

http://www.autogeek.net/prewaxpolishes.html

Autogeek has excellent auto polishing and detail products. They also have good tutorial videos, which explain the type of polishing compounds and application techniques needed to get the best results.

 

You would be surprised at the amount of correction you can get with a DA polisher and the right pad+product combo... wet sanding may be quite extreme. Plus, Lexus paint is quite soft and most OEM paints are pretty darn thin, so it would be pretty easy to remove too much material by wet sanding. I would limit your chance of permanent damage by sticking to machine polishing.

If your bird bomb marks look like this, it is clear coat failure and there is no way to fix it except for a respray.

 

Whatever you do, just be careful not to go too aggressively on any type of spot correction. Using a rotary on a tight area can be very dangerous in anyone's hands, especially when you don't know how much paint you are working with.

 

The paint film on your Lexus is about as thick as a sheet of 20 lb. printer paper. The very top layer of that paint is the clear-coat and it is quite thin. It is the very top part of the clear-coat that provides UV protection and is the densest and glossiest. Removing paint with wet-sanding to the level of the bird damage may easily cause early clear-coat failure or worse, you might just sand through it. If you damage the clear-coat, the repair can be very costly. Wetsanding is easier on repainted vehicles that have a thicker paint film but not so much on factory paint. I'd strongly suggest only using a compound and polish. While you may not be able to completely remove the damage, you likely will not make things worse.