mortman

I cant figure out what products i need to cut and buff my new paint job. I have sanded the imperfections out with 1000 grit wet paper, now haw do i bring out the shine? what products have you used? what should i avoid?

Nick.Simonds

Do you have a good polisher first and foremost? Not one of those cheap *** ones for the parts store.

Starfury

Yeah, a good buffer is key.

I like Meguire's products. They have several levels of polishing compounds that work very well. The heavier cutting compounds are designed to break down into a finer grit as you go to make the job go quicker. I've usually been able to get away with only #1 medium cut and the #9 swirl remover

cfd2bc

I use 3M Perfect it III rubbing compound with the white Stick-it pad and then Perfect it III glaze/swirl remover with the black pad. A few words of caution no matter what you use...watch out for the corners and edges. Make sure the pad is spinning away from the edge and not toward it. Don't stay in one place too long. Also, don't use the same bonnet or pad with two different compounds (rubing and glaze) Even if you wash them out there will be residual left in there.

Jeff

chris66dad

I am using Perfect it also
Using McGuire's stick on pads on the buffer (3 different ones)
1000 may be a little aggressive.
I used 1500 then 2000 wet dry from 3M. 3M last along time did the entire care with 2 sheets of each. Tried other brands but not nearly as good

pnandy

use meguiars new products either ultimate compound or swirl x they are made for da polishers and dont require anymore polishing steps basically wax ready afterwards check out the meguiars forums

65rangoon

first thing i would ask is how old is the paint job? if its less then say 45 days old you dont want to use anything but a cutting agent and polish. you dont want to use an actual wax or sealant as the paint isnt cured out yet.


i like meguiars over 3M. from my experience meg is very very very hard to burn where 3M will burn rather easily when using a high speed rotary to actually cut.


If you went over it with 1000grit id go back over with 2-3k paper as well. youll get a lot better finish. only thing is if theres any orange peal and you only wet sanded spots you will notice it if you really look at it (orange peal that is)

To pull the shine back out youll need something to do 2K rpm that is NOT a random orbital (so not something like the porter cable 7424)

Once you pull the shine back out you can go over it with something like the PC thats a random orbital polisher.


You shouldnt really go over anything but a medium cut compound. Then if you wanted megs #3 is more of a fine cut cleaner.

You can also find polish's with zero cutting compound in them. wolfgang has a nice one although its about $30 for a bottle of it.

Pending the color i love pinnacle souveran carnabua paste wax. its about $80 for a 8oz tub but its amazing stuff. ive put it next to megs gold class paste and theres a visual difference in the paint between the two. the pinnacle is a nice deep wet look.

granted if i just went over the car with a compound, swirl remover, polish and sealant you dont see much of a difference when you put the pinnacle on.

mortman

Thanks for the advice, I did try McGuire's 85 compound on the top of the car with a random orbital. It pulled the color out but you can still see sand scratching. Should i get a high speed and try again or move to 2000 grit paper then try again?

65rangoon

if you have access to a high speed & wool or foam pad you can try that first. It doesnt hurt to try.

If you are still having a lot of issues getting rid of the sanding marks you can try a heavy cut cleaner or a more fine sand paper.


The finer sand paper will make the sand marks smaller/flatter and theoretically easier to buff out.

The issue with the random orbital is you dont generate the speed to to polish out the scratches. they are great for doing a standard polish but not so great for getting rid of scratches.



****i am no professional, im just simply speaking from my experience and trial & errors. the last one i wet sanded & polished was my black DD trunk lid as i removed the key latch and welded it closed/filled it in and then painted the lid. talk about a pain haha black will show every little minor blemish

Starfury

Yeah mort, definitely get a high speed buffer. The Meguiar's stuff is designed for it (hardly works if done by hand). If you still have sanding marks, go over it with 2k grit.