I'm the second owner of an '01 SCrew (toreador red), now with 95k on the clock. It looks like the fine fellow who owned the truck prior made a habit of driving through rose bushes or something, judging from the volume and severity of the scratches on the hood, fenders, and doors (I'm eggagerating, but only a little). Anyway, suffice it to say that the paint isn't in the kind of shape I'd like it to be. I keep a decent, but not compulsive detailing schedule of clay/cleaner-polish/wax twice a year, but the scratches persist and the paint's starting to look a little dull. I'm thinking the best way to bring it back is to wet-sand the whole truck. The next decision I need to make is whether to do it myself or have a body/detailing shop do it for me. Can anyone help me with this? Anyone done this before? I'm assuming that if I do it myself (and do it correctly), it'll take me every bit of two to three full days. I don't have a polisher - just a crappy orbital buffer - but would buy one before I undertook the project. Would a body shop even do this kind of work? If so, how much could I expect to shell out to get it done professionally? Also, I've got a couple spots where the clearcoat is starting its infamous spider crack routine, would sanding help this any? Would it worsen the problem? Thanks for any help you can offer & sorry for the long post.

Aaron

 

Well I think it Meguiars that sells a kit to wetsand your vehicle. I can remember much about it(i saw it on Trucks TV) But it came with the paper and all the polishes/waxes etc.

Doing it yourself would take a hellish long time IMO. But getting it done professionally might cost a ton.

sorry it wasnt much help but I just though I would let you know about the kit.

 

Hmm... not a product that I've ever seen but they might have it.

Wet sanding is something that should really only be done by someone who is experienced, not only with a sanding block, but also with a rotary buffer and abrasive compound.

Rather than going after the entire truck with 2000 grit, I'd hit it with an agressive polish like Meguiar's #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish.

Wetsanding, in my opinion, should be the LAST resort and maybe should only be used on smaller sections to deal with surface imperfections that couldn't be handled by the polish.

RP

 

Thanks guys. I think I was flipping channels and saw the same episode of "Trucks," and I agree that it would take a long, long time. Pretty much the whole hood has scratches on it of varying severity, tops of the front fenders too, couple bad ones on the doors (tree branches, shopping carts), around the gas tank is pretty bad, and the tailgte has seen better days as well. So, my worry about only sanding the worst areas is that I'd end up with really shiny polkadots all over the truck. Maybe I'll call some local body shops today and get a few quotes. I'm not confident that I could 1) devote the time necessary to do it right, or 2) do it right at all, no matter how much time I spent. Will post some $$ when I find out. Regardless, I haven't used #83 on it before, so I guess I'll try that first and see what happens.

Thanks again.