Is polishing new paint ok?

**edsmed** · 01-09-2007, 02:19 PM

Hey guys. I just got my car back from the body shop where it had the entire front end and doors repainted. Unfortunately it seems like they buffed the car with a dirty brillo pad and the holograms on my black paint are killing me.

Now I know that you can`t seal or wax the paint for at least 1-3 months but I was wondering what you guys thought about polishing out the holograms with FPII or BF GEP. My Honda paint is really soft and I`m sure that the new paint/CC will be really soft right now also so I don`t think I`ll have to go more aggressive than either of these two polishes on a polishing pad with the PC. I`ll probably top it off with some #5 just to give it slight protection in between washes.

So, am I safe or should I just learn to live with it for a few months? Thanks in advance for the help.

**coupe** · 01-09-2007, 02:25 PM

Go ahead an polish it.

Dont seal it with anything though.

**joyriiide1113** · 01-09-2007, 02:36 PM

Go ahead. Although I highly suggest you go light. Not because of any potential damage, but because in my expereince, fresh paint is soft. "HONDA" soft if you ask me. What normally can be taken care of with with a mild abrasive, a final polish with a Light Cutting pad will remove...

You will also notice that after time, it will become considerable harder and more "normal" to buff.

Granted this information is based on regulars paints, not consisting of ceramix and scratch reisitant clears.

**Accumulator** · 01-09-2007, 06:55 PM

Yeah, proceed cautiously. I`ve had *one* instance where fairly new paint (RM brand b/c that was, IIRC, about 2 weeks old) was so soft that Meg`s #80 micromarred it something awful and I had a terrible time finding something aggressive enough to remove said marring while not putting in *more*.

If there`s something that really bugs you, consider fixing it now while the paint is still hardening. But I generally wait until later in the curing period when it`s a bit harder. I do like to fix anything significant before it hardens all the way though, but that takes well over a month most of the time (at least in my experience).

**edsmed** · 01-09-2007, 07:38 PM

Thanks again for the help guys, especially Accumulator as your posts on this topic pretty much came up in every new paint thread I searched. I guess I`ll try a test spot on the behind the wheel arch and see how the paint (Dupont brand) reacts. I think the BF polish should be a grade or two less abrasive than the #80 so we`ll see how it goes. I`m pretty sure I should be ok as it would be hard for me to believe that the new paint would be any softer than factory Honda paint. I can usually do complete defect removal with BF polish x 2.

**Saleenman607** · 01-09-2007, 08:28 PM

Be careful.....

**Accumulator** · 01-10-2007, 11:18 AM

Originally Posted by edsmed

Accumulator ...your posts on this topic pretty much came up in every new paint thread I searched..

Heh heh, probably because I seem to *always* be having paintwork done

**III** · 01-10-2007, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by edsmed

Hey guys. I just got my car back from the body shop where it had the entire front end and doors repainted. Unfortunately it seems like they buffed the car with a dirty brillo pad and the holograms on my black paint are killing me.

Now I know that you can`t seal or wax the paint for at least 1-3 months but I was wondering what you guys thought about polishing out the holograms with FPII or BF GEP.

Why don`t you just take it back to the place that did the work and explain that you`re dissatisfied with their work? I`m sure they would be willing to do something for you.

If you really want to seal the paint to a degree, I would recommend using a breathable sealant such as Wizards Shine Master.

**Accumulator** · 01-10-2007, 07:03 PM

Originally Posted by III

Why don`t you just take it back to the place that did the work and explain that you`re dissatisfied with their work? I`m sure they would be willing to do something for you..

Unfortunately they might not be able to polish it out all that well; spraying paint and polishing it are different skills and I`ve met a lot of painters who don`t polish worth a [darn]. I`ve come right out and asked "is that the best you can do?", been told "yeah, it just doesn`t get better than that" and then gone home and effected an incredible improvement. I can`t explain it, but in *my* experience it`s been the norm for paintshops to be terrible at final buffing. If you do poor rotary work dozens of times every week it`s not too likely that you`ll suddenly get good at it

IMO part of it might be their lighting, which I always find terrible for spotting marring (if often good for color/texture matching), part of it is the usual customer`s low expectations, and part of it is simply low standards.