Little Deuce Coupe - Hotrod Detailing

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Little Deuce Coupe - Hotrod Detailing


This is my buddy Doug's 1932 Ford 3-window coupe in the same vein of the Beach Boy's Song Little Deuce Coupe.

Each time I've seen this car it's been at the Tuesday night Stuart Car Show that Autogeek sponsors and it's usually around 5:30pm or later so the sun is low in the sky.

I thought the paint was in pretty good condition so asked Doug if I could use his car for a special project and Doug said "yes".

Looks pretty good in these shots...

Florescent Lights
Now let's inspect the paint using the overhead florescent lights


Sanding Marks Not Removed

After moving the 1932 Ford into the garage that's when all the paint defects starting showing up under florescent lights. In these pictures I'm going to point out all the sanding marks that were not completely buffed out during the wet sanding process.

These were hard to see at the car show but stand out like a sore thumb under florescent lights....

Scoured Paint
These look like wool pad scratches from the buffing step, the paint literally looks scoured....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Little Deuce Coupe - Using light to inspect paint

Continued...



Camera Flash
Now I'm going to use the flash from my camera to light up and reveal the holograms.

Holograms are a specific type of scratch inflicted into paint from the mis-use of a rotary buffer and usually a wool pad but it can also be done with a foam pad.

The type of compound used can also be a huge factor as to how bad the holograms are as well as how deep the holograms scratches penetrated into the paint.

The below picture is cropped out of the above picture, the wispy looking lines indicate the direction the rotary buffer was moved over the paint. These are holograms.

The below picture is cropped out of the above picture, the wispy looking lines indicate the direction the rotary buffer was moved over the paint. These are holograms.

The below picture is cropped out of the above picture, the wispy looking lines indicate the direction the rotary buffer was moved over the paint. These are holograms.

I don't see holograms in this shot just dull paint left after the buffing process....

The below picture is cropped out of the above picture, the wispy looking lines indicate the direction the rotary buffer was moved over the paint. These are holograms.

The below picture is cropped out of the above picture, the wispy looking lines indicate the direction the rotary buffer was moved over the paint. These are holograms.

The below picture is cropped out of the above picture, the wispy looking lines indicate the direction the rotary buffer was moved over the paint. These are holograms.

Just a cool shot of the monster fat tires on the back...

This is two types of light to help you inspect and document paint defects in the paint. A third way would be to use overhead sunlight and if the weather cooperates tomorrow I get those pictures too....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Little Deuce Coupe - Using light to inspect paint

Overhead Bright Sunshine
Now let's inspect the paint using the sun....


Car looks good and by default the paint looks good when taking pictures from this angle...

Now lets move around to put the sun in a position so the sun rays bounce back at our eyes....

In the below pictures you're going to see swirls and then "lines" in the swirls. The lines are actually holograms which mimic the direction a rotary buffer was moved over the panel. This car has holograms....

Back to the future....
Now the car is back into the garage for the makeover tonight....

One last thing...
The paint utterly fails the Baggie Test!

[video=youtube_share;UzleQ1YYmFs&hd=1"]The Baggie Test[/video]​

:xyxthumbs:

 

[ZimRandy]

Re: Little Deuce Coupe - Using light to inspect paint

Is that a small burn through on the body line, just below where the light is reflecting?

Great pictures to document what is 'really' there.

Randy

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Little Deuce Coupe - Using light to inspect paint

Is that a small burn through on the body line, just below where the light is reflecting?

It looks like it in the picture and it probably is but I'll take a closer look to find out.

I plan on taping off all the raised body lines and edges with the 3M blue vinyl tape as a precaution against the potential for what I call,

Whisper Thin Paint

Caused by the other guy....

Great pictures to document what is 'really' there.

Randy

Thanks Randy.... I just sent the link to this thread to the owner for him to see what I captured with my camera.

I was going to test out a new tool on this 1932 Ford and I still will but first I'm going to need remove all these sanding marks, tracers and scouring from the last buff job.

I've recommended machine wet sanding with the 3M Trizact #5000 discs as this will safely level the surface without having to do heavy compounding. Then just do light compounding as #5000 grit sanding marks are so easy to remove.


I'm scheduled to teach a class on machine sanding at Mobile Tech Expo next year and if I do I'll use the pictures from this project for the class.

I always use pictures from my own detail projects for my classes.

And for your listening enjoyment.... here's the Beach Boys singing their hit song,

[video=youtube_share;6Wklo_5AOLI&hd=1"]Little Deuce Coupe[/video]​

 

[allenk4]

Re: Little Deuce Coupe - Using light to inspect paint

Great Photography

Looking forward to the "Afters"

 

[Tato]

Re: Little Deuce Coupe - Using light to inspect paint

This kind of 'poor work' is becoming common sense, when it should be exactly the opposite, information nowadays is just a click away.

Mike, what are your opinions on #5000 grit wet sanded by Flex 3401? I saw your thread on 3401 sanding, and I suspect it should work ok.

Any tip? My plan is using a 6" interface on the 5.5" standard backing plate, and 3M 6" #5000 grit disc.

Thanks in advance,

Good luck on this project.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Little Deuce Coupe - Using light to inspect paint

Great Photography

Thanks Allen, I appreciate the compliment...

Looking forward to the "Afters"

Me too! That will mean I've done!

The overwhelming scope of a project like this doesn't really sink in till that first moment when you start the sanding of the first section of paint... then the totality of what you just committed yourself too hits you like a ton of bricks.

This kind of 'poor work' is becoming common sense, when it should be exactly the opposite, information nowadays is just a click away.

I talk to "car guys" all the time about what's involved with painting a toy like this and what I tell them is you can hire the best painter in the world but it's the guy that does the wetsanding, cutting and buffing that determines the end-results.

And then in order to do their best work it helps a little to have the best products, that is tools like the 3M Trizact sanding discs not some cruddy generic, cheap wet/dry sandpaper. It helps a lot to have a GREAT compound and there are at least a half a dozen on the market now, etc. etc...

And it goes without saying that having the best tools like the Flex PE14 for the cutting step just makes doing the grunt work a lot more enjoyable.

Mike, what are your opinions on #5000 grit wet sanded by Flex 3401? I saw your thread on 3401 sanding, and I suspect it should work ok.

Here's what I always say about this topic because it comes up often....

You can use any DA polisher to remove sanding marks, especially now day with all the great pads and compounds on the market. But the fastest and most effective way to remove 100% of all the sanding marks is by using a rotary buffer with a wool pad.

It already takes a long time to do this type of work... why would a person what to make the project take longer by doing the cutting step with a less powerful tool?

No me... I cutting with the RB tonight....

Any tip? My plan is using a 6" interface on the 5.5" standard backing plate, and 3M 6" #5000 grit disc.

With that combo it will make removing the sanding marks easy, so easy you could do it with a Porter Cable 7424XP or even by hand as I've documented on this forum. But for me I would still use a rotary buffer.

The only reason I would take the extra time to remove the sanding marks using a dual action polisher would be for the sole intent of showing and documenting that it can be done.

Maybe another day, maybe another project I'll do this but not this car and not this day.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Little Deuce Coupe - Using light to inspect paint

So we begin....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: Little Deuce Coupe - Using light to inspect paint

Now it's time to inspect the finish to make sure all the contaminants have been removed. You can still see swirls, scratches and sanding marks in the paint, that's next.

Paint and glass feels smooth as glass and that was the goal.

"A glossy finish starts with a smooth surface"

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Here's the hood, sanded, cut and finished.

Three tools, 2 products.

:xyxthumbs:

 

[Chris@AutoCleanse]

Here's the hood, sanded, cut and finished.

Three tools, 2 products.

:xyxthumbs:

So what 3 tools and 2 products did you use?

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Looking good so far Mike!! I will be glued on here watching to see what happens with this classic street rod.

So what 3 tools and 2 products did you use?

If you remember from last weeks thread where Mike commented he had a street rod coming in to use the new proto-type Flex machine on.

For the new product im guessing one of them is from the thread where Nick was polishing the side of Mike's truck.

We will have to stay tuned to see what is realeased!

I have a really nice 1932 Ford Streetrod coming in on Monday for a show car detail using the new Flex Polisher. I'll post a picture of the car when it arrives and then Bob gave me permission to show the tool the week before SEMA.

Stay tuned....


:buffing:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

If you remember from last weeks thread where Mike commented he had a street rod coming in to use the new proto-type Flex machine on.

For the new product im guessing one of them is from the thread where Nick was polishing the side of Mike's truck.

Give the man a cigar....


:xyxthumbs:

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Give the man a cigar....


:xyxthumbs:

rops:

 

[guess23959]

hey mike, quick question: is the wax and grease remover a good or bad substitute for compounding to remove old wax before applying new? why or why not? thx in advance!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

hey mike, quick question: is the wax and grease remover a good or bad substitute for compounding to remove old wax before applying new? why or why not? thx in advance!

Not a good substitute in my opinion. But I'm not going straight to compound I'm going to machine wet sanding.

Was a little surprised at how much gunk I removed as this towel was for the most part fairly consistently blue before I started.

I was just following my own advice in post #5 of this thread,

Damp Sanding Tools, Tips and Techniques by Mike Phillips

Chemically Strip Paint

Important: You don’t want any chemical substance bonded onto the surface to come off while sanding as it can interfere with the cutting process, load up on the face of your sanding disc and cause your disc to wear-out prematurely.

Common products for chemically stripping the finish include Prep-All, Orderless Mineral Spirits, Automotive All Purpose Cleaners, Isopropyl Alcohol.

You can dampen a microfiber towel and wipe the surface clean or use a spray bottle with a chemical resistant spray head to spray directly onto the surface and then wipe the paint dry using clean microfiber towels.


Prep-All

​

Most sanding discs on the market, at least all the high quality sanding discs are a tick on the expensive side at least compared to generic wet/dry sandpaper.

Before I start machine sanding I simply want to follow good good protocols or you could use the term best practice and that's to remove any waxes, silicones, polymers, etc.

Next I mechanically decontaminated the paint using the Nanoskin products and after using Nanoskin products both by hand and machine I wiped the entire car down with a 12% dilution of IPA to remove any residues left by this process.

After that... the paint was ready to sand. I've taken lots of pictures to show the entire process. Anyone attending Mobil Tech Expo will probably see pictures of this car in at least three of my classes, the Flex 3401 class, the new Flex tool class and machine sanding.

I have pictures of the new Flex tool in action on this car and I really like it. I'll share the pictures the week before SEMA.

I also really like this new Menzerna product, I think they're going to hit a home run with this product.

Back to work.... need to get this car finished today and it takes extra time to set up for pictures when working by yourself. Basically I have the camera on a tripod, I frame up the shot and then press the shutter button and then run, (as good as I can run), to the car, grab whatever the tool is and get to work before the shutter click.

:laughing:



Good question, thank you for asking.


:dblthumb2:

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

hey mike, quick question: is the wax and grease remover a good or bad substitute for compounding to remove old wax before applying new? why or why not? thx in advance!

If you are only trying to remove an old wax, starting with the least aggressive method such as CarPro Eraser would be safer than using Prep All.

I would only use Prep All as a last resort as long as a good polishing session follows suit. Remember, there are no lubrication agents in Prep All.

 

[Tato]

Dear Mike. Thanks for answering.

In fact, my question was the following:

May I use a Trizact #5000 disc with the 3401 for sanding? My plan is to use a sanding interface in 6" and the 5000 6" disc, to sand with the 3401.

Do you have any tip for this proceed? Sorry, I don't have a PC anymore for sanding, just a Flex and Rupes.

Thank you very much in advance.

Kind Regards.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Dear Mike. Thanks for answering.

In fact, my question was the following:

May I use a Trizact #5000 disc with the 3401 for sanding? My plan is to use a sanding interface in 6" and the 5000 6" disc, to sand with the 3401.

You'll never guess.... I have an article on this with some really good pictures showing what happens when you machine wet sand with the Flex 3401


Can the Flex 3401 be used to wetsand?


Here's the deal though.... when I did the above testing and then wrote the above article it was before 3M introduced their #5000 Trizact sanding discs.

In the above article the question and answer were,

Question: Does the Flex 3401 work to machine wetsand?

Answer: Yes.

Then I added a comment to go with my answer,

My comments...
Would I use it to sand down a car? Not as long as I had a PC type DA Polisher available or a air powered orbital sander. Just too aggressive feeling for my risk taking level.

I would still choose any Porter Cable style or air powered DA sander before using the Flex 3401 to sand Automotive paint UNLESS that was all I had. I'm a huge advocate of machine sanding over hand sanding and with the #5000 Trizact, it's such a safe sanding disc I think a person would be pretty safe to use it with a Flex 3401 and get better results than hand sanding any day.

It would help to be very experienced with both the Flex 3401 and sanding, especially if the project at hand is a car with a factory thin finish.

Do you have any tip for this proceed?

Sure, here's 9 tips off the top of my head...

1. Stick with the lower speeds, between 1-3 on the Flex 3401.
2. Definitely use a interface pad.
3. If using 3M Trizact brand use a few drops of car wash soap in your spray bottle of water.
4. If using Meguiar's Unigrit the do not recommend using car was soap and the lubricating is built into the medium that embodies the abrasives.
5. Tape off any raised body lines and edges.
6. Focus on the task at hand.
7. Sand for 6-8 passes and then inspect. #5000 sands pretty NON-aggressively but it is incredibly safe. If you 're going after some major defect you might want to start with #3000 first but be uber careful.
8. Of course it goes without saying, wash the vehicle first.
9. If the paint needs to be clayed then mechanically decontaminate the paint instead of wasting expensive sanding disc to sand the contaminants off.