I have been reading and watching videos and think I am ready to try and fix my paint. The only thing holding me back is that I have been told my paint will be tricky to correct. I have a red 06 Evo IX. I was told that Mitsubishi uses a single stage paint which makes it difficult to correct. Rather than pay someone, I'd rather try to do it myself and learn in the process. Any advice?
New member needs some advice
- Thread starter jjmack33
- Start date
jpegs13
New member
- Oct 17, 2009
- 1,908
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First of all :welcome: I'm not sure that I would try to learn on your car. The best bet is to see if you can pick up a body part at local junk yard and practice on that first. This way if you make a mistake it doesn't really matter.
Good luck and keep up posted what you plan on doing!
Good luck and keep up posted what you plan on doing!
bsmith0404
New member
- Feb 7, 2013
- 318
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I've never worked on an Evo, but from what I can find on the WWW it does appear that it is most likely a single stage. You can do a test spot by hand (Mike has a video that will show you how if you're not sure, basically rub a small spot with some polish and an applicator and look for color transfer) to make sure. You can still correct it, you just have to be careful not to remove too much. I doubt you will go through since the paint is probably still thick enough to allow for correction. If there is a shop in town with a thickness gage it wouldn't hurt to have them check it for you so you know for sure.
bsmith0404
New member
- Feb 7, 2013
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I'd recommend 2.5 mils, anything less is getting pretty thin. Some info I was able to find on single stage paint says 2 mils or less and you run the risk of exposing the primer.
Mike@DedicatedPerfection
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- Feb 26, 2011
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Welcome to AGO.
cardaddy
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- Nov 20, 2012
- 3,937
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Yeah, that's tricky to be your first correction. Not that it's difficult, just that it's a totally different procedure than BC/CC.
Two words; "test spot", "test spot", "test spot". Do *NOT* think you need an orange pad right off the bat. Think more towards blue and work from there. (Not that a blue pad is aggressive enough, but that you want the LEAST aggressive method you can get away with.)
Depending on your compound, it is very likely that a white pad is all you'll need. It can compound very well, and on hard paints (which yours is not) it can polish to an LSP ready stage very easily.
I'd also say to use a polish first for your "test spot" to see what happens before you jump straight to a compound.
With some patience it can be done. It wouldn't hurt for you to tape off half a dozen "test spots" to find out what works. But you need to stay aware of what you've done, what machine speed, what arm pressure, what pad, compound, polish, how many passes, etc. Try to keep some things at a constant, say compound, then adjust your pad from one spot to another. Then use the same machine speed and change your arm pressure, (with the same arm speed) on two more spots. Slow and easy, with great notes on what works (and what didn't) will get you there.
Once you've found what works, just figure the entire car as a bunch of "test spots" arranged all over the car.
Two words; "test spot", "test spot", "test spot". Do *NOT* think you need an orange pad right off the bat. Think more towards blue and work from there. (Not that a blue pad is aggressive enough, but that you want the LEAST aggressive method you can get away with.)
Depending on your compound, it is very likely that a white pad is all you'll need. It can compound very well, and on hard paints (which yours is not) it can polish to an LSP ready stage very easily.
I'd also say to use a polish first for your "test spot" to see what happens before you jump straight to a compound.
With some patience it can be done. It wouldn't hurt for you to tape off half a dozen "test spots" to find out what works. But you need to stay aware of what you've done, what machine speed, what arm pressure, what pad, compound, polish, how many passes, etc. Try to keep some things at a constant, say compound, then adjust your pad from one spot to another. Then use the same machine speed and change your arm pressure, (with the same arm speed) on two more spots. Slow and easy, with great notes on what works (and what didn't) will get you there.
Once you've found what works, just figure the entire car as a bunch of "test spots" arranged all over the car.