The Purpose of Wet-Sanding Ft. The Shelby GT500 KR

We recently completed a super in-depth paint restoration project through ABE Bodyworks on the Ford Shelby GT500 KR (King of the Road). Out of all iterations of the Ford Mustang, this ‘King of the Road’ is of the highest caliber, pushing 140 BHP over the standard GT500 that it's based on, delivering over 900 total BHP.

Performance upgrades include a new Whipple supercharger, a new intake system, new intercooler, adjustable springs and a Borla exhaust system. Other Shelby enhancements include a new carbon fiber ventilated hood, 20-inch forged wheels, a carbon front splitter, rear diffuser and massive spoiler. You can even get a full widebody version which is the one we had the pleasure of working on.

This customer was super excited to get his vehicle protected in full body PPF through ABE Protect Plus and on the road as soon as possible. But, he noticed the aftermarket paint job on the vehicle had significant texture (orange peel) and irregularities which would otherwise be sealed in with Paint Protection Film over top leaving the issues unresolved & permanent in the finish. So we got to work.

The purpose of wet sanding is to bring a perfect level of clarity and smoothness to the finish of the paint. Using water as the lubricant, and with extreme care, we wet sanded this beautiful “Mischievous Purple” paint until all texture, scratches and imperfections were gone. Once everything was sanded down to a perfect smooth finish, we polished & jeweled the paint back to life before sealing it in with full body PPF & Ceramic Coating. Check out the final results below!

Once the project was all wrapped up, we pulled the KR outside for photos and this "Mischievous Purple" looked unreal in the sun. All panels were incredibly smooth with zero texture and there was significantly more depth to the metallic paint. Our client was thrilled with the final finish and was able to drive off worry-free knowing the paint will stay looking this way year-round thanks to the paint protection. We will be dropping a video on this project in the coming weeks on our Instagram, stay tuned!

Enjoy your weekend!
- Ali Ushak, CEO.