Does this sound about right#2

[71chevelle]

Well pretty soon i am going to be attempting this so i need some help. This is what my plan is but ANY recomendations are welcome and appreciated.This is after a nice dawning and claying.



+One coat of Meguires Dual Action Cleaner/Polish



+One coat of Clearkote Vanilla Moose Wax Hand Glaze.



+One Coat of Platinum Ultimate Paint Protection.



This is on my `71 Chevelle wich is a dark green color, almost black in the right light, with no clear coat and slight swirl marks and mars. I drive it everyday so i was also wondering how long this will last. I was planning on buyng one of those buffer things at wall-mart, Is this a problem. If so where can i get a cheap one? I wash my car about every 4 or 5 days and QD it. I am kinda new at this so ANY HELP is welcome as stated above. I am also 15 so take it kinda easy, just learning.THANKS:D

[JasonC8301]

Wow, wish I had my license and a 71 Chevelle at age 15, I`m 19 now and getting my license Monday if I pass the road test.



Anyway. preprepared to DACP a lot. You will have to work it into the paint. Its not like a wax but you have to keep working in the DACP until a haze.



I would not recommend the polisher from Wal-mart. The Porter Cable DA polisher is a good choice.



The VM is a glaze, you would work it into the paint but not with pressure like DACP.



The PUPP is a sealant. little to no pressure and spread around and let haze. Really thin coat.



Jason

[71chevelle]

yeah i put 1 thousand down on it and am paying for gas and parts and stuff. Not a bad deal.If you dont mind me asking why have you waited so long to get your license? But it sure is hot in Mississippi with no air condition!



How long do you think this process will take? I was figuring anywhere from 8-6 hours depending on the DACP.



Not to be rude or anything just curious. Whats wrong with the one from wal-mart. And how much is the PCDA?



Now with the VM do i use the PC to put it on or by hand. Same goes for taking it off?



And the Pupp, Hand or PC? And Should i do 2 coats of it?

[JasonC8301]

darn, just messed up my post.



so heres lets try this again



NYC, license not really needed, gotta nice tranit system.



The length of the process depends on you and condition of the paint, and so many other factors.



The one from wal-mart just doesn`t have enough power for defect removal, sure you can use it to wax, but then again the Pc is about $180 or so with a nice pad set-up.



VM, your call, Pc or hand, I prefer both do a Pc then follow up with hand.



I remove everything by hand, and only use Pc to apply.



PUPP, depends on the person, I like to apply liquids by Pc and pastes by hand.



Jason

[Thomasfl]

Dude save your money with that walmart buffer. DACP will be better by hand than with that, although you will have to work pretty hard, use a terry cloth that is misted with water to apply and remove with a MF. You aren`t going to see any better results by hand or PC with VM or UPP, it is sometimes just easier with a PC. If you are only doing the outside of the car, I would think that you should easily finish this is 6 hours. When you apply the UPP, you probably want to wait an hour, use this time to work on the wheels, tires, wheel wells and glass.

[71chevelle]

Does it matter if i dont have a clearcoat and i use the buffer?

I dont think my paint is very thick and i dont wanna ruin my paint. And i have a polisher, its a black and decker, not sure how good this thing is or what. and how much should i practice before i set out on my car with the pc? or should i just use DACP by hand and work really hard. THIS IS my everyday car

[shaf]

I don`t know for sure, but I don`t think it matters much if you have clearcoat or not. Sometimes single stage paint is harder I think I`ve heard so you can actually be more aggressive.



What are the specs on this buffer you have? Speed, amps, etc.? Some can be decently powerful. I`ve yet to see a non-PC buffer that is both powerful and fast though - you`ll usually want both. The other thing is, you`ll almost certainly be limited to bonnets, not the different foam grades the PC uses. It couldn`t hurt to try it out if you own it already. Check this thread out: http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24879&highlight=bonnets

[Accumulator]

71chevelle- Both of my single-stage paint cars are EASIER to work than my clearcoated ones; the single-stage is NOT as hard as the clearcoats. I did GM cars with your kind of paint back in the 70-80`s without a PC, wasn`t that tough.



Doing the whole car in one day would be a challenge, but doable, especially for a 15-year old. Toughest part by FAR will be the DACP.

[71chevelle]

So it wouldnt be eisier to burn through or what?

The buffer is a Black and decker, It has two Speeds, It says use the slow speed for polishing. Something like 3/4 amps or something. It spins pretty dang fast. And it like has a clutch in it, like if you press on it too hard it will stop spinning? Is this correct (im very new to the pc scene). Yeah your right about bonnets. That is what is on it right now.

[shaf]

Okay, I stand corrected on the paint hardness thing - thanks Accumulator.



Does this buffer "spin" in place like a drill, or does it "jiggle" and shake a bit? I imagine it`s a RO "jiggle machine" given that it`s only 3/4 or 0.75 amps, but I`m just making sure... Also, does it have the speeds listed on its side somewhere?

[Accumulator]

4DSC- Well, being a sorta-old codger has its advantages..like years of experience with single stage paint :D . Some of them ARE pretty hard (old Dupont Imron comes to mind) but in my experience modern clearcoats are generally harder. I had a LOT of red and black single stage cars and didn`t really need to use a RO very often until I got cars with clearcoats.



71Chevelle- Still not sure about your "Mystery Buffer". I`m starting to think it`s a "jiggle" rather than a "spin". But I`d probably do this job by hand unless I had a PC or a Cyclo.



It`s not like single-stage is so easy to burn through that you have to use some special technique. Just as you don`t want to remove more than .3 mils (as I recall) of a clearcoat, you don`t want to polish off too much single-stage. There`s no really reliable way of knowing how far you can go unless you have a digital paint thickness gauge. Assume it`s thin around edges and crown lines.



BUT..it`s *USUALLY* pretty safe to say that you can remove MANY of the swirls/scratches without fear. Think of it this way- if a scratch does NOT go down to primer, then there`s still SOME paint beneath the "valley" of the scratch. If you remove most of the scratch by polishing away paint down to the "floor of the valley", there`s still paint there. BUT the paint`s gone forever and what`s left is a lot thinner, so you can`t keep doing this indefinitely. And any PREVIOUS work has thinned the paint already. You might be able to get a clue about your paint thickness by examining any stone chips you may have.



SO...take it easy, especially around edges, panel lines, etc. but don`t worry. DON`T try to make the paint "perfect", at least not in one session- just make it much better. Having some minor marring on the original paint is a LOT better than having to get it repainted. Another reason to take it easy is the possibility that your paint might be a LOT softer/easier to polish than clearcoats; you want to get a feel for working it. Accept that you MIGHT go through someplace, but watch what you`re doing so you don`t make a :o turn into a :scared A MINOR cut-through won`t be TOO big a deal.



I really do think you`ll be happy with the VM/PUPP combo :xyxthumbs



Oh, with single-stage, put the products on the APPLICATOR, not on the paint. SOMETIMES, I get weird streaking if I squirt it on the car and then work it in. Try to be nice and uniform with the VM.

[71chevelle]

It is 4 amps, my bad. It is a spinner but is has no speeds on it. It says it has two speeds and it does. Uses the bonnets. I was practicing with it on a tool box of ours and it seemed to work well. Would spin pretty fast if needed but slow if needed too. I dont know what to do. Use it or not use it.:confused:



Where can i get the best deals on DACP, VM, and UPP?

[shaf]

Wow, I don`t know what I would do in this situation! :nixweiss



What you`re describing is a rotary polisher, which is generally accepted as requiring skill to use well because of its nature (it`s both a miracle machine and a runaway sledgehammer). I think the Pro forum has a sticky about rotary usage - go check that out to help you decide. The rotaries they use usually use foam pads though, not bonnets, but I think the same cautions apply. Good luck.

[71chevelle]

Hmm... It could use pads... How would i know?

[shaf]

Originally posted by 71chevelle

Hmm... It could use pads... How would i know? Simple. Does the backing pad/plate have a velcro face to stick pads to or not? It sounds like this machine probably just has a permanently mounted pad made out of some kind of foam.



If it`s just foam, does it look like you could detach this pad and it has a 3/4" (I think) shaft on the end for you to screw on a regular velcro rotary pad like the ones other machines use?