The Gloss Boss Presents: Body Shop Refinement 2004 Thunderbird

**The Gloss Boss** · 01-16-2014, 10:53 AM

A guy I do some work for on a regular basis brought me a 2004 Thunderbird to "clean up". The car was repainted some time ago, and there was plenty of evidence left behind to prove it. Holograms, normal swirl marks, and what I think were runs in the paint. I say "I think" because there were both horizontal and vertical ones. They were like little ridges as if the painter laid down a piece of string and painted over it. Haha that`s the best analogy I can think of. They could be felt and seen, and when sanded down with 1500 grit they could still be faintly seen, but not felt. And finally to top it off, it appears the painter stopped his sanding at too low of a grit before compounding so there were some deeper score marks in the paint, but only on the hood and trunk.

Any way. Without further ado. The products, process, and pictures.

Washed, Opti-Eraser, Iron-x.
Sanded with 1500 grit by hand on trunk and hood. Spot sanded in other isolated areas.
Re-sanded areas with 3000 grit both by machine (6") and by hand in tighter spots. I use both 3M and Meguiar`s sheets and discs.
Compounding was done with a GG6, 5.5" Surbuf RS pads, and M105.
Finishing is currently in progress and is being done with M205 and a pink very light cut pad.
I will also re-wash and then seal with Blacklight.

Pics below are just showing the sanding and compounding I did on the trunk and hood. You may spot swirls in other areas that I had not gotten to at the time the pic was taken.

Trunk Sanded down:

Hood Sanded Down:

Test Spot on Trunk

Checking work in the sun

Checking work in the sun

Thanks for looking! I will try to get pics of the finished product up this weekend.

**jtford95** · 01-16-2014, 05:12 PM

Sweet! Great job!

**Todd@RUPES** · 01-17-2014, 11:21 AM

Wow that is coming out nicely! I love pictures of the gloss being restored, surrounded by flat/sanded paint.

**The Gloss Boss** · 01-19-2014, 05:59 PM

Here are the rest of the pics. Car was rewashed after polishing. I decided to go with GG 1-step for LSP.

With a big tax refund headed my way, I think it`s time to upgrade some of my equipment for better results in less time with my paint correction. Here are my thoughts and questions...

Rupes 15mm BigFoot. Haven`t heard one bad thing about these polishers. I prefer to go with the 15mm because all of my current pads are 5.5 and that`s what I am used to.

Would it be better to use a 6" palm (pneumatic) sander as opposed to my GG6? Seems like I would have better control and that it would be smoother.. your thoughts?

Definitely want to get my hands on some Meg`s Foam Cut compound. I hear this stuff is magic.

I`m currently using Surbuf for my compounding pad. They cut well but are poorly made. They come apart relatively easy and are somewhat hard to clean after use. How do the new Xtra Cut MF pads from Meg`s and Rupes MF cutting pads stack up?

I welcome all suggestions! Thanks!

**mrclean81** · 01-19-2014, 07:00 PM

That turned out awesome. Good job on it.

**Van185** · 01-19-2014, 07:17 PM

Great job. Awesome detail work.

**Paul Mitchell** · 01-19-2014, 10:23 PM

Great job! I especially like the test spot photo as it shows the condition prior to your work and after.

**Todd@RUPES** · 01-20-2014, 06:41 AM

Looks very nice, thank you for sharing. You cannot go wrong with the BigFoot 15!

**The Gloss Boss** · 01-21-2014, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by Todd Helme

Looks very nice, thank you for sharing. You cannot go wrong with the BigFoot 15!

Todd, what do you think about using a palm sander for large area sanding as opposed to using my gg6? And if so do you recommend 3M, Rupes, Mirka, or some other brand? I`m looking for ways to increase my efficiency with no compromises in quality.