Idiots guide to wet sanding please...?
 

My car has the mother of all stone (rock?) chips on the leading edge of the bonnet which has damaged the metalwork. I bought the car with the full knowledge that I would require a bonnet repair and spray, but in the meantime, and with a pint of touch up paint dolloped in the gouges, I was intending to try and sand it down flush with the body work.

Having never owned a clear-coat car, I am not sure how to go about this.

Any help appreciated.

Car is Ebony Black pearlescent.

Zip

Take a look here - not a bad article:

http://www.clean-image.co.uk/articles/wet_sanding.htm

Once sanded, you'll need to prime, paint and then apply the topcoat. It's not too hard provided you don't rush - just take a methodical approach.

I've only had to spray a couple of bits of trim on my 8, fortunately, but I've done both complete and partial panels on other cars before now

I love the footnote:

Footnote: I get an email every couple of months from somebody who has tried this, messed it up and asking how to fix it. The answer it to repaint the area which can be quite expensive. They must be gutted having to pay to have the whole side of a car repainted all for what started out as a tiny blemish. So, as it says at the top of the page, "Don't try this at home". Some things are best left to professionals.

<gulp> :D

By wet sanding I take it you mean recovering an existing finnish as oppose to sraying a new finnish.

I have just done my bonnet and as long as you are very gentle (2000 grade W&D maximum, 2500 recommended) you can match the surface of a chip or small scratch repair with your existing finish.

I'm at work at the moment so when I get home I will post up a guide to wet sanding to recover existing finish.

That's what I meant
 

I want to sand down the 'proud' touch-up blobs flush with the rest of the good paintwork to cosmetically blend as good as possible.

Zip

Here we go. Home now so here is a link to Detailing World and some videos on how to wet sand.

Detailing world is a mine of information on looking after your cars interior and exterior. Enjoy. +++

And another
and another

It might be worth looking at this Stone Chip Repair Guide too on detailingworld. I am so amazed by the results for this. Very thorough write-up.

There are also a lot of good reviews of a US product called Dr Color Chip. Take a look at their site here

http://drcolorchip.com/

-Oli