Difficult first car to buff/polish?

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pontoon

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Hi all! I just helped my wife buy a 2006 Honda CR-V from an auto auction. It looks like a really nice car. We did notice the paint is pretty rough. There’s a lot of:

- Scuffs/scratches that can be felt with the fingernail
- Previous touch up which was glooped on and not sanded/polished smooth
- Paint chips/scratches revealing black primer

I’ve had my eye on a Flex 3401 in the past and see this CR-V as a great excuse to get the polisher.

My plan for the chips and scratches going down to the primer is to use Bondo red spot and glazing putty.

Then there’s also the scratches that just go to the base/clear (not the primer).

Given the types of repair I need to do, what products should I get?

Flex 3401?
What pads?
What compounds?
Any accessories for the 3401 like sanding pads?
Any other products I need?

I already have a bunch of sheets of all grits of regular and wet/dry sandpaper.

Also any tips on the best source for Honda touch up paint (Taffeta white) and clear would be much appreciated.

I want to order all the stuff I need and then learn the techniques needed while I wait for the stuff to arrive. I hope to order soon given all the Black Friday sales.

Pics below show the glorious condition I’m dealing with. Any tips on where to start would be super helpful.

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I would start with a thorough wash and decon of the paint. The areas with the goop of touch up paint I'd sand down as much as possible without trying to achieve perfection on a daily driver. The other marks look like other car paint and should come off with some light polishing and being a white car the results should look great.

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As previously mentioned, the wash-decon first. I'd probably go full retard, and do an Iron-X decon, then clay.

Not sure how good your expertise is with sanding papers, but I know I got in trouble with trying to remove paint blobs with such, no matter how fine.

I'd likely try other means if I could to remove the blobs, some have used Mineral Spirits, and some even say Acetone will work to remove such, without harming factory applied paint. Of course test such a chemical in an inconspicuous place, and definitely wear gloves and be in a well ventilated area as Acetone is a pretty dangerous and aggressive chemical, eats plastics like acid.

Much of the damage I'm seeing might likely polish out, but of course not likely any damage that is down to Primer.

Sure, if you have your heart set on a Flex 3401, or the Supa Beast, go for it. But keep in mind the Flex is not adaptable to run much in the way of various sized backing plates.

Not sure what else you may have on hand for dealing with smaller-tighter areas on a vehicle. This is where just run of the mill DAs like the PC7424XP, or GG6 hold a bit of advantage, that one can use 5.5", 4", and even 3" Pads with the appropriate Backing Plates.

As for paint touch up on chips, and even some of the scratches, you might want to consider the Dr. Colorchip System? I'd go with the 1oz Kit.

Such should be used according to most accounts "after" all polishing processes are done, and prior to any waxing-sealing, or whatever choice of protectants you intend to use?

Polishes? There's literal 100's here. Many like the Griots products, Wolfgang, Pinnacle, and Menzera make all great products. Of course there's Meguiars, again, many fine products in their arsenal.

Me, I'm partial to Wolfgang, really like their Uber Compound and Total Swirl Remover. Both outstanding.
 
I think if you were to decide to wet sand any small areas that might benefit from such, I might look to do such by hand, and certainly not with the 3401.
That's just my personal opinion though.

I don't own a 3401, but know enough to know it is a quite formidable tool. And can be a tool that could get one into trouble a lot easier since it is forced rotation.

Pros like such a tool, because it works faster, and more efficiently for them as a couple of reasons. To them, time is money.

And its heavy duty build quality can better withstand the abuses of constant day to day usage. That's not saying others are junk in such a regard.
 
As for the Dr. Colorchip, I've used it on 3 different vehicles, and used it enough where I pretty much understand the system.

It is perfect? No. Is it a relatively easy system to use, and that you won't get in trouble with? Yes.

About the most notable difference between Factory Type Touch up paints, and if I'd want to call it a dislike, is that none of the paints I have used have as much "gloss" as those types of Paints. This is more notable prior to any waxes, sealants, or a ceramic coating applied.

I'd gather that by adding any gloss agents would probably detract from the filling abilities of the Base Color.
Only once, the first time I ever bought the product, I had a problem with a color match, and the color was Summit White for my 1997 Tahoe.

Evidently, there are actually 2 different shades of this color, and it might depend on who the paint manufacturer originally was? The color they sent me was too greyish in hue, vastly mismatching my much whiter paint finish.

They worked with me, I sent them a tube of duplicolor paint which was a perfect match I had found, and they matched that hue.

The Dr C-Chip Paint dries in minutes, in that it can be leveled, and then re-applied if needed. Whereas conventional touch-up paint has taken many days for me, before I can do anything such as wet sanding, or using another leveling, blob removing type product that is called Langka. (I didn't much like Langka truthfully, but I have used it to help remove old touch up paint attempts)

While my Tahoe might've had a total of about 9-12 chips around the vehicle on the upper panels, front of Hood, where my Tahoe was really hammered was the lower Rocker Panels on both sides.

Just peppered with rock chips from the tires throwing up rocks. Trust this sure would've been a much easier job had I had access to a Shop Hydraulic Lift to get that area up to a better height, where I could stand and apply and level.

But, I did it on my back and side, lying on a sheet of carpeting, and after full degreasing-prep of the panels applied, and leveled with the provided solution in about 6" lengths going from front to back.

The difference was very pleasing, and so much better! From a foot or two away, no evidence of the chipping, and it was quite a lot! I waited about a week, and then cleaned again, prepped with Carpro Eraser, and re-coated with Cquartz UK that I had on hand, done!

Dr. C-Chip is a very good company, stand behind their products, want happy customers. Any future vehicles I ever may buy, without doubt they will be on my list as a product to have on hand
 
I'd like to add, the very first bottle of Dr. C-Chip I bought for my Tahoe (I had bought another bottle later) after a year or so started to get a bit thick in the bottle.

I contacted them via email as to how I could possibly save it, and what did they tell me to use to slightly dilute and thin the paint? Acetone.

Two or three drops did the trick in the 1oz bottle in which there was about 1/2 left.
 
MarkD51 said:
I'd like to add, the very first bottle of Dr. C-Chip I bought for my Tahoe (I had bought another bottle later) after a year or so started to get a bit thick in the bottle.

I contacted them via email as to how I could possibly save it, and what did they tell me to use to slightly dilute and thin the paint? Acetone.

Two or three drops did the trick in the 1oz bottle in which there was about 1/2 left.
Click to expand...
They mentioned that regularly shaking it up could help the paint last longer during the recent live detailing class.
 
One thing you’ll most likely find is that Honda’s have soft paint so I doubt you’ll have to use a compound except for the bad/damaged areas.

I’d recommend looking at Blackfire One Step with LC Orange and White pads. As for the “machine” I’d look very hard at the Griots G9 with a 5” backing plate.

Good luck
Jay


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Hi, thanks all. Sorry I didn’t see the responses until just now. I think the notifications are not going to my email (I’m pretty new here).

I ordered the Flex 3401 plus the 4 3/8” backing plate, lake force 5.5” and 6.5” pads, a blue 6” hybrid foamed wool lake pad, sonax cutmax, menzerna heavy cut 400, menzerna medium cut polish 2500, menzerna super finish 3500, some aggressive black fire clay (will use with soapy water for lubricant), terry cotton towels and microfiber waffle towels, a pad brush, and a Bondo fiberglass repair kit to repair the tire cover. I already have all the wet dry sandpaper grits and painter’s tape.

Now I need touch up paint and clear paint. Any tips on where to get the best Honda match paint? Should I use a rattle can or my air compressor?

Anything else I’m missing?
 
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