cut & buffing 1yr old paint

[jvamagic]

Hi,

I had my car painted last year and did not get it cut/buffed. It needs to be wet sanded etc.

What products do I use? It's a black car.

Compound, polish, etc..

Thanks in advance.

 

[allenk4]

What is your experience level?

Wet sanding?

Polishing Paint?


What equipment and products do you have now?

 

[jvamagic]

Years ago a friend of mine was a hobby painter and taught me how to sand/polish a bit. He did custom paint (3 stage etc).
It should be about the same now right? I have a two stage paint (black).
Thanks for your time.

 

[allenk4]

Years ago a friend of mine was a hobby painter and taught me how to sand/polish a bit. He did custom paint (3 stage etc).
It should be about the same now right? I have a two stage paint (black).
Thanks for your time.

Custom Paint and OEM Paint and a re-paint can be very different Animals

Don't get bit

 

[allenk4]

What equipment and products do you have now?

 

[jvamagic]

Custom Paint and OEM Paint and a re-paint can be very different Animals

Don't get bit

I probably completed 10 projects with him back in the day. 7 out of 10 were 3-stage, the others being 2-stage.

 

[jvamagic]

What equipment and products do you have now?

I have a dewault 849 and a CP 7424. I bought some compound, polish, sealer from a local vendor but I'm not impressed. Looking forward to purchasing products from autogeek.

Recommendations pls?

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Looking forward to purchasing products from autogeek.

Here's some compounds that all use top notch abrasive technology, you will be impressed....


Wolfgang Uber Compound
Optimum Compound II
Meguiar's M100 (for wool pads on rotary)
Meguiar's M101 (for foam pads on rotary)
Menzerna FG 400
Blackfire SRC Compound
Mother's Rubbing Compound and Heavy Duty Compound
Rupes Zephir Gloss Coarse Compound


I'm done for the day but I could pull up threads showcasing all of these compounds on really cool cars.

Most of my write-ups for cars/products are here but not all....

Pictures from Autogeek's Car of the Week

 

[jvamagic]

Hi,

I'm uploading some photos of my 90' mustang. The paint is about 10 months old. It is rather dull (for lack of a better word) looking.

According to the painter it has 3 coats of clear (some type of PPG paint).

I have a dewalt 849 and a PC 7424xp.

I hear great stuff about Menzerna products and think I can get away with Menzerna fg400 and then go to sf4000. This after sanding by hand (w/ block) with 2000 (1500 if not flat enough w/ 2000). Do any of you recommend sanding with the PC w/ sanding discs instead?

I have been quoted $350-$450 to have someone from a shop do this for me but I'm not sure that they will take their time and do a job with pride.

It's been so long that I'm getting antsy to get this car on the road. It's no show car but I'd like to have this look half decent.


Thanks in advance

 

[The Critic]

Depending on the severity of the orange peel, you may want to try some CarPro Denim pads to start. If they are able to improve the finish to your satisfaction, it may save you a lot of trouble from having to wet-sand.

 

[jvamagic]

Ttt

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

This after sanding by hand (w/ block) with 2000 (1500 if not flat enough w/ 2000).


Do any of you recommend sanding with the PC w/ sanding discs instead?

To truly flatten out the paint the best way is by block sanding by hand. You really need to know that you have plenty of paint or film-build before starting this type of block sanding step though.

If you're unsure and you're happy to get really good results, not perfectly flat show car results then I'd machine sand with your Porter Cable and either Meguiar's Unigrit Disc or 3M Trizact Discs.

Meguiar's offers #1500 and #3000

3M offers #1500, #3000 and #5000

Tell you what... removing #5000 grit sanding marks is a walk in the park. Totally worth the extra coast and steps if you ask me.

I have been quoted $350-$450 to have someone from a shop do this for me but I'm not sure that they will take their time and do a job with pride.

At that price they would be using cheap wet/dry papers, probably rocks-in-a-bottle compounds and polishes and leave tracers and holograms everywhere in the paint not to mention burn-throughs.

It's been so long that I'm getting antsy to get this car on the road. It's no show car but I'd like to have this look half decent.

I did this in 12 hours from start to finish....


How to wet sand a car - Time Lapse Video



Check out the before and after pictures showing orange peel and NO orange peel.

Full sun shots too showing no holograms.