Hello ya bunch of wackos

[Boden]

Where do I start...

Well I was born a poor boy in the bayous north west of New Orleans. Then one day maw bought me a shiny blue bicycle with a metallic flake banana seat. My interest in shiny was seeded. Fast forward a few years and I started working at a hot rod body shop. Welding panels, prepping for paint, Wetsanding, polishing, overspray correction, general shop boy work. Then I started shooting paint and I was very good at it.

Time passes and I graduated high school.

Undergrad then grad school, applied physics, thermodynamics, etc. in other words I scienced a lot.

But there was very little shiny in my life

Well except when I`m working on my mill or lathe. (Shiny metal )

Then recently the wife unit needed a new car. Her 96 Civic (bought new) served us well but it was time.

The moment i saw the obsidian blue pearl Accord something snapped. The shiny obsession roared to life like a deeply hidden addiction !!!

I had research to do. Lots of research

ladies and gentlemen, I bow to you and this tabernacle of shiny.

Thats enough blabber, I`m gonna shut up and do some learnin.

Sincerely, Boden

Oh yeah, pics

Full sun


Shade

[Ronkh]

hi

[Boden]

hi

Good morning Sir Ron

[JSFM35X]

Welcome. You most likely know more than most with your body shop background.

I`d start By purchasing a starter kit. Machines 3" pads and polishes. Medium and finishing.

It`s easy. Wash, ironx, clay and then correct

[Ronkh]

<---- wacko

[rlmccarty2000]

Hello and welcome to the asylum.

[Boden]

Welcome. You most likely know more than most with your body shop background.

I`d start By purchasing a starter kit. Machines 3" pads and polishes. Medium and finishing.

It`s easy. Wash, ironx, clay and then correct

Thanks,

Most of the work I`ve done and plan to do is restoration on antiquities with original paint where the technique requires a bit more finesse than a DA can provide. It`s a different world than what most of y`all strive for (shiny flat surfaces). Orange peel is a good thing for collectors and cleaning it can really only be done by hand. IMO

That said, I find this place fascinating.

One thing I`ve noticed is the steps for correction on new cars (<20 yr/old). Most around here seem to start with a corse compound and go to lighter cutting compounds as opposed to the technique I was thought. We started with a light cut (polish) first then spot corrected any deeper scratches by working progressively coarser compounds then worked our way back up to a finish polish.

I do like clay. Much faster than using a scraping card to clean nibs (contamination) and overspray.

[Accumulator]

Boden- Welcome to Autopia!

I commend you for keeping those classics original...right down to the texture of the paint (I don`t even like to call it orangepeel in this context).

FWIW, I do my correction more-or-less the way you do it, only using aggressive products/processes when/where they`re really necessary. Since my vehicles don`t get marred up, that`s all I need to do. But a lot of people here are doing vehicles that`re all marred up everywhere, and the vehicles aren`t considered special enough to worry about preserving the original paint. So the expedient thing is to just hammer the whole vehicle with an aggressive approach, refine that, and wax. Yeah, all that aggressive work sure does bode ill for how the paint on those vehicles are gonna hold up over time...

SO...that nice blue on the Honda *is* special enough to *you* that you want to preserve it, right? The whole correction-by-machine thing is pretty straightforward and easy enough to do correctly if you have the right mindset (which I don`t think`ll be a problem in your case), but the *REAL* challenge is to then keep it nice so you don`t have to do that again. Washing a vehicle without marring it up is just incredibly difficult. But since the clear on that Honda is both thin and sorta-soft you`ll need to a) take it easy on the correction, and b) *really* work out how to wash/dry it without marring it. Hey, it can be done if you really want to be, uhm... all Autopian about this stuff.

[Boden]

Boden- Welcome to Autopia!

I commend you for keeping those classics original...right down to the texture of the paint (I don`t even like to call it orangepeel in this context).

FWIW, I do my correction more-or-less the way you do it, only using aggressive products/processes when/where they`re really necessary. Since my vehicles don`t get marred up, that`s all I need to do. But a lot of people here are doing vehicles that`re all marred up everywhere, and the vehicles aren`t considered special enough to worry about preserving the original paint. So the expedient thing is to just hammer the whole vehicle with an aggressive approach, refine that, and wax. Yeah, all that aggressive work sure does bode ill for how the paint on those vehicles are gonna hold up over time...

SO...that nice blue on the Honda *is* special enough to *you* that you want to preserve it, right? The whole correction-by-machine thing is pretty straightforward and easy enough to do correctly if you have the right mindset (which I don`t think`ll be a problem in your case), but the *REAL* challenge is to then keep it nice so you don`t have to do that again. Washing a vehicle without marring it up is just incredibly difficult. But since the clear on that Honda is both thin and sorta-soft you`ll need to a) take it easy on the correction, and b) *really* work out how to wash/dry it without marring it. Hey, it can be done if you really want to be, uhm... all Autopian about this stuff.

Ive got ONR for the washing and Opti-Seal topped with OCW. All new MF Towels (that the wife unit isn`t allowed to touch) and a very very clean shop to work in.

I told the dealership if they so much as removed the plastic from it, let alone washed it, when it arrived or added any dealership decals to the car the deal was off.

I may may fit in pretty well around here

[Boden]

As I read through some if the threads I found that the question of "layering" came up often. I have the tools to measure at 1µm resolution. I may do some sciencing on this.

I intemperate "layering" to mean building atop of the previous layer, or stacking to increase overall thickness.

[Accumulator]

Boden- Yeah, "layering" is basically just doing more applications (which hopefully don`t just remove the previously-applied ones). I doubt you`ll be able to do it enough to get that build-film thick enough to measure any diffs, but see what happens.

See how it goes with the ONR washes. I can`t wash marring-free with only a rinseless; I have to get the "big stuff" off some other way first.

Oh, and good on you for making the dealer deliver it unmolested! I do the same thing and !oh boy! were they surprised when I actually turned down a car that they [messed] with.

[BudgetPlan1]

Lesson 1: Increase the limit on your credit card.

Lesson 2: See lesson 1.

[Boden]

Lesson 1: Increase the limit on your credit card.

Lesson 2: See lesson 1.

I don`t use credit or loans of any kind. But I get your point.

[Boden]

Boden- Yeah, "layering" is basically just doing more applications (which hopefully don`t just remove the previously-applied ones). I doubt you`ll be able to do it enough to get that build-film thick enough to measure any diffs, but see what happens.

I`ll need to find one that people think can be layered first.

See how it goes with the ONR washes. I can`t wash marring-free with only a rinseless; I have to get the "big stuff" off some other way first.

Rinseless? Oh yeah the wipe on wipe off technique. I won`t be doing that.
50% DI water 40% alcohol 10% propylene glycol will break down almost anything that might get on a car. The ONR will be spritzed on as a rinse aid.

Oh, and good on you for making the dealer deliver it unmolested! I do the same thing and !oh boy! were they surprised when I actually turned down a car that they [messed] with.

I learned long ago never to let a shop lacky near new paint.

[BudgetPlan1]

I don`t use credit or loans of any kind. But I get your point.

Cash back rewards cards: Spend, pay off, collect rewards cash, buy more stuff.