General question: Are those flat/satin/mat finishes made like that from the factory? Like with flattening agents like they do in architectural finishes?
IDK about wet sanding the OEM finishes as they are very thin
Well.....I don't really know enough about the automotive paint industry to offer a technical answer? But....Flat Matte & Satin finishes have been available for years in rattle can and hobbyist form....and to best of my knowledge, when they first appeared in factory automotive finishes they weren't much more complex? But that was over a decade ago.
I consider this hobbyist level stuff: 2min long-
(WOW that POR matte black looks AWESOME) I have a drawer over here with 5 different "automotive finish" paint guns in it, and they all have a role, and I've used them all on different projects in last few years......but I am no pro when it comes to automotive paints!
At present, all non-gloss(non traditional) clearcoat finishes are a mixture of different types of clears and chemicals that change the way it flashes/dries/cures. It's a level of Alchemy that is over my head... Not over my head in comprehension, but in invention! How someone came up with this stuff baffles me!
This what I'm talking about: 4.5min-
and even that is 3yrs old lol....
As far as sanding the clear, that's standard procedure for repairing minor scuffs and scrapes. I scratched the ___ out of my old 2002 F150 FX4 when out testing it's off-road capaability about 15yrs ago. One of the guys with me that night had been doing auto body work for 20yrs. I didn't think it was too bad that night, but he knew better. He said bring it over Monday and I'll show you how to fix it. When I woke up the next morning, I about ____ in my boxers.....did I mention it was black.
Monday morning I rolled up at his shop and when I walked in shaking my head he just laughed, he knew how bad it was gonna look. He already had two buckets with water and sandpaper in them waiting for me. One 2000 one 2500 grit.
I was like NO WAY I'm sanding this. I'll have to the whole truck painted. He said "think if it like sheets of paper, there's 8-10 sheets of primer, over that is 15-20 sheets of base coat, and then 15-20 sheets of clear. 98% of those scratches only go about 5 sheets deep into the clear. Now, use a sponge behind your paper so you don't finger groove it to death, use even light pressure, and DONT sand any edges or body lines, you need to stop an inch or so away from them. Now get to sanding" About 5hrs later he brought me a bucket full of 3000 grit paper soaking in water, by closing time I finished all the wet sanding. My truck looked almost gray it was so dull. Went back Tuesday morning and he had a variable speed buffer, some rubbing compound, swirl mark remover, a polishing compound, and some high shine wax for black painted vehicles waiting on me. He showed me how to use the buffer, how to only use the 1/4 of the pad that was spinning off the surface and how to use big long sweeping strokes. By 6pm my truck looked like it had just rolled out of the spray booth.
I recently used some high end 3M Trizac 3000 and 5000 grit when restoring some headlights. It is incredible sanding paper. Has about a .1250 pad behind it. It's what I envisioned using, wet of course, on a DA if I were to attempt to pull off this DIY Flat/Matte Ceramic coated finish
