my detaling plan(need input)

[87 Monte SS]

Natty: Thanks. I will give one of those a try to see what it does for me. Also, I think I read this somewhere on here, but can you actually seal over a glaze such as the 3M with EX? If that is true, you can bet that I will do it! It would almost eliminate the need for polishing/abrading more than once or twice a year.

Chip: A mirror like finish IS possible with a PC and polishes - I have done it myself. Granted, it will take considerably longer than a rotary, but my SS has a lot of sharp edged definition lines (something sorely missing on today`s car designs, I would say!) and I wanted to avoid burning through on these critical areas. If you have the rotary, you may as well give it a try, but like you say, you should proceed with caution. I am sure you are quite capable of doing a great job - it is just going to require a little more concentration and patience. Judging by what you say about your paint condition, I would not use anything more aggressive than a polishing pad and an SMR like Menzerna Intensive polish (or for the sake of comparison, Meguiar`s # 9) with nothing higher than 1200 RPM.

Good luck!

[chip douglas]

I had in mind to set the machine at 1000 rpm`s + polishing pad(3m`s, or the softest i can find) + SMR.................and i dont want to go rougher than a polish .....a very fine one. All that because i want to have as much chances on my side not to mess my paint.

I`ve been warned about sharp edges, and such.......another guy i know in the detailing business in my area, told me to even avoid edges altogether...............should one do them by hand only, or only go over such areas, VERY lightly ? And one more thing, what s happening on the lower half of the doors, and rocker panels ?
There are a lot of angles there, and edges(of course i mean with a rotary here)............cause on my corolla, the lowest half of the doors is kinda curved inwards, and it is more ackward in those area to maneuver also, at least by looking at it, that`s what i feel.

I asked a car painter, whom i `ve known for a long while, about using a foam polishing pad+ a very soft polish/smr+ spinning 1000 rpm`s with a rotary.......................i asked him this : can i burn my paint or cause damage, using the above ? What he told me is : no, because, a foam polishing pad wont cause enoug heat to burn through paint, and also he advised me Not to apply extra pressure on the buffer, he told me to let the abrasives do the work(in other words, only the weight of the buffer is used here).
Also he told me one should keep the surface to be polished WELL lubricated......he said once it dries up, stop the buffer.

One other point i asked, but this time to another car painter i know, is : *what`s the average clear coat thickness?* to which he said : about 4 thousandth of an inch................if that is true, than the average car clear coats would be slightly more than an hair thick Personally, i`d tend to believe that lots of cars have more than 4 thousandth of an inch clear coats, but i`m no car painter and i could be way off about this...........i`m here to be educated

So to wrap it all up, areas that cause me to *?* is rear spoiler, rocker panels and lower half of doors(since the surface is not always flat)....this of course regards the use of a rotary, as edges are not an issue with a PC.


P.S. thanks for being that patient, as i know for a fact it gets annoying to repeat the same speech over and over..............i just want to say that i appreciate your help and guidance a lot folks.