New paint full detailing (dark color)

mikeselky85

New member
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
16
Reaction score
0
Ive recently painted my 1985 el camino with a black cherry metallic two stage paint. I recently got done buffing out the orange peel and defects. My issue is that Ive never had a car that was painted before, Its either had old paint or primer. I have read multiple threads that were posted on autogeek on proper washing and caring techniques. I don't know what I should do to get the best out of my paint, and a lot of thread discuss using wax as the final product and with fresh paint (little less then a month) I do not want to use waxes yet. So if you could recommend some products to properly wash, polish (to remove my light swirls left from buffing), and protect and care for paint that would be great.

I am a master tech and work on cars for a living and I do a lot of body and paint work as a side hobby. Ive learned all body information from my neighbor who is a professional body man. I know my way around a car, Ive just never had the experience with detailing to keep it looking good. so any reading material and products you could recommend would be great.

thanks
mike
 
Congrats on your elcamino! I used to drive a '69, wish I had it back.
Use nothing but microfiber on it!

Sent from my XT907 using AG Online
 
Hello, this is exciting (not sure why :dunno: ) lol

So you painted the car then, wet sanded and buffed it out? And you still have swirls? What tools did you use? Detailing wise.

Lets see some pictures of your work :xyxthumbs:
 
Oh and congrats, hopefully you already accomplished the more complicated work and now you just have to worry about the Details. (Pun intended)
 
You're right , you shouldn't wax or seal it for 90 days but you can keep it clean by washing it with Chemical Guys Maxi-Suds soap and between washes try one of Autogeeks Waterless Washes that they offer,or Rinseless Washes.
Anytime you want a boost in shine try CG EZ Cream Glaze.
That should hold you until you can wax, seal or coat the paint:dblthumb2:
 
Heres a few pictures. Its getting dark so it looks very clear, but in sunlight you can see some micro swirls. I use 3m buffing compunds starting with a cutting and going to a polishing. Im not sure if I should use some really fine polishes on my orbital to help remove them. I have some 3m imperial hand glaze but havnt had a chance to uses it much
After washing it does seem to look really bad, but in the pictures I just washed and was doing some buffing. But if I just wash the car and dry it looks terrible, almost as if the paint is too dry and im not sure what to put on it

im looking too spend some money to get the proper washing and detailing supplies within the next few days
 
If it was my car I'd polish it using Meg's 205 with an orange pad using a DA. Maybe try a white pad first to see what it gives you.
I tell you the CG glaze is really good at boosting the shine.





Heres a few pictures. Its getting dark so it looks very clear, but in sunlight you can see some micro swirls. I use 3m buffing compunds starting with a cutting and going to a polishing. Im not sure if I should use some really fine polishes on my orbital to help remove them. I have some 3m imperial hand glaze but havnt had a chance to uses it much
After washing it does seem to look really bad, but in the pictures I just washed and was doing some buffing. But if I just wash the car and dry it looks terrible, almost as if the paint is too dry and im not sure what to put on it
 
Heres a few pictures. Its getting dark so it looks very clear, but in sunlight you can see some micro swirls. I use 3m buffing compunds starting with a cutting and going to a polishing. Im not sure if I should use some really fine polishes on my orbital to help remove them. I have some 3m imperial hand glaze but havnt had a chance to uses it much
After washing it does seem to look really bad, but in the pictures I just washed and was doing some buffing. But if I just wash the car and dry it looks terrible, almost as if the paint is too dry and im not sure what to put on it

im looking too spend some money to get the proper washing and detailing supplies within the next few days

What kind of an orbital do you have? Those two-handled single-speed orbitals aren't going to do much for polishing. You'll need a dual action polisher.

Those swirls look like what are all over my car! Result of improper washing in my case (I now know better). Automatic car washes, using rags instead of microfiber, using the same towels for the wheels and the paint, scrubbing, etc.
 
I have a rotary buffer for the first few cuts after sanding and I have a dual action for the final polishing. I meant da and not orbital
 
your DA should be able to fix it. It looks (to me) that the color of your paint, will show any imperfection.

so DA wise, what do you have? pads, compounds, polishes, etc...

oh and sorry I was not able to follow, how long has it been since you painted the car?
 
What brand paint did you use ? How many coats of clear ? What grit did you color sand with ?
 
I use Basf paints and applied 3 coats of clear. When I buffed I did 1000grit on a few runs and did 1500 and 2000on everything else. for buffing I used a wool, blue foam, black foam, black waffle, and light blue waffle(3m ultra fine polish). Compunds were 3m super duty cut compound(wool), 3m perfect it 2 rubbing(blue), 3m machine polish(black and waffle), 3m perfect it 3000 ultra fine(light blue). then I followed up with some 3m imperial hand glaze
 
Personally, I don't think the 3m machine polish is going to remove the marks left behind from the 3m super duty cut compound and the wool pad. I would try following with the blackfire src compound , then the blackfire polish or megs 205 or whatever you have for polish other than the 3m machine polish, which i don't think is aggressive enough to remove the compounding marks. It's easy enough to try . Good luck .
 
That's why I used a second cutting compound with a less aggressive pad. After the super duty compound all the things I used were a 3m 3 step product, they were labled a,b and c. I've gotten my rough sanding marks out and all I have left now is fine micro swirls in direct sunlight. From an angle you can see any defects
 
It appears that you left some sanding marks and didn't block sand that paint flat enough before starting to buff it. Also, it appears that you aren't able to remove the wool buffing marks with the process that followed it. What was your sanding process? And what did you use 1000 grit for. The paint appears to be soft so 1500 should have worked for any dirt nibs and removing orange peel. Did you do a test section with your process before trying it on the whole car? Just because products are labeled a,b,c doesn't mean you have to follow that exact order. If the paint allows you can go heavy to light or medium to light. This is why a test spot is so valuable. No the whole car is "done" and you are left guessing what did or didn't work and where to start again. Should have come here first my friend. But welcome to AGO and I hope I'm not coming across harsh or like a know it all. Just trying to be helpful; outside looking in. :)
 
If i were you, i would take this one panel at a time. Make sure the panel is clean, fill a bucket with clean soapy water. I use dawn and lots of it. Wet sand with 2500 or 3000 grit. Then use a mild compound (finesse-it 2) since you have it, with a foam pad. Then a polish with a foam pad. That should get you to the point where you can glaze it until you're comfortable with sealing the paint. I always found that the super duty cutting compound is too aggressive on fresh paint.
 
Also, with the abrasives out there up to 4000 and 5000 grit, I would finish with the highest you can find(AGO sell 3M 5000) so that you can go straight to a compound and foam pad and then only need minimal polishing. I would try out a different brand compound and polish as well. One that is more versatile and can be used with any machine or by hand.
 
Like I said in a previous post. I only used 1000 grit for a few runs, then the whole car was done in 1500 and 2000. I used a dual density sanding block and regularly switched the paper. Some spots I did with a light cutting compound and a blue foam pad and went through all othe compounds and it still looked the same. Everything I've learned is from my neighbor who is a body shop professional ( I haven't seen one car of his that isn't flawless). My main reason for being aggressive with the compound was to remove heavy orange peel and wool was only used on certain spots
My main reason for seeking help is because I just got a dual action buffer and was looking what's recommend to final polish and what to use to detail the car because the paint is soft and I didn't want to get scratches just by washing

I do know about the higher grits, I was going to use 3m 3000 and I believe it was 6000 grit on my da palm sander. I just never bought them when I was supposed to I should have stuck to my plan I had originally set
 
If you stopped at 2000 grit then you should have followed with wool and compound, not foam and light-medium compound. I would get some 3m trizact 3000 foam disc and put it on your DA and then compound. You could make a tape line after sanding and test the wool/compound against foam/compound so you can see the difference in results and know if you can skip a step or not.
What sources of light are you using to inspect the paint before, during and after each step? Incandescent, halogen, and or xenon are probably the best choices for inspecting. Led is a good choice as well as long as the lumen output is high enough. I would try all sources available including the sun, so you know what works best on this paint and will have multiple spectrums to work with and see all the defects in the paint. High output led is going to be your best bet for working indoors, constantly up close to the paint; will not produce heat on your new, fresh, soft paint.
Did you use the 1000 and 1500 wet? And did you use the firmest side of the block? Dry sanding below 1500 can help mitigate deeper scratches and helps you see if you are flattening the paint. You will just have to clean the paper more often or switch out. I prefer dry sanding small defect so I can see the paint better than with wet slurry in the way. Just see what works best for you and your paint. The moral of this post is find any sanding scratches left and figure out a system to remove them and finish that panel 100% before trying another panel. You will probably need to work a few section side by side on one panel to figure out You system. Research Mike Phillips' articles on sanding and test spots to figure out your system. His pics and explanations are priceless for a situation like yours.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using AG Online
 
I used the firm side wet to fist begin to knock the peel down the continued with the soft side wet as well to smooth it out. I did every panel on the car one at a time and section by section. I did just order some good supplies to was the car since all I had was a microfiber sponge and one bucket. I got some good wash mits and am going to use the 2 bucket method. I know the paint is soft and easily scratched too.
I am on here mostly to find some other recommended compounds so far I've herd the m105 and m205 ( think those are the rite numbers). I did just get a hold of a dual action buffer to do the final polishing. Just looking for recommendations on other good products

Also I just use the sunlight as my guide because that's where the car will be seen since it is a daily driver
 
Back
Top