need help polishing my freshly painted black car

T

t0fu

New member
hey guys,



first post here. hate it to be a help request thread, but i'm not sure where else to turn :)





On a freshly painted black car (i'm not sure which clearcoat is being used, so i'm looking for general information), would PO85RD on a black LC finishing pad be suitable to clean up compounding swirls and marring?



i plan on doing this no more than a day or two after the car is resprayed, wet sanded, and compounded (by the shop). swirl marks are going to be inevitable, so i'm going to have to take matters into my own hands to clean them up.



would a one step with PO85RD on a finishing pad put me on the right track since the paint is so soft (being black and not fully cured yet), or would i possibly need to do a two step with P203S on a white LC polishing pad followed by the PO85RD?



or are my products not suitable at all for what i'm doing
 
tofu- Welcome to Autopia!



It's hard to say if that'll work out or not, just too many variables. You just won't know until you try, but IMO it's not a bad approach by any means.



FWIW, I'd wait a while simply because freshly-sprayed paint (yeah, even when it's baked) can still be kinda soft, and getting a perfect finish can be tricky (if it's possible at all). You might have to choose between making it merely better or using a glaze to hide things for a while...or you might end up needing to do both, at least for a little while.
 
Accumulator said:
tofu- Welcome to Autopia!



It's hard to say if that'll work out or not, just too many variables. You just won't know until you try, but IMO it's not a bad approach by any means.



FWIW, I'd wait a while simply because freshly-sprayed paint (yeah, even when it's baked) can still be kinda soft, and getting a perfect finish can be tricky (if it's possible at all). You might have to choose between making it merely better or using a glaze to hide things for a while...or you might end up needing to do both, at least for a little while.
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perhaps my best bet is just sticking with PO85RD to get it looking "okay" until it fully hardens? i'm sure you're familiar with how bad bodyshops can be with the compounding stage. holograms galore :mad1:



i guess my most important question is whether or not the PO85RD will be able to offer some minor correction since the paint is so soft. my other polish is P203S, which has a higher cut, but i'm worried it may be too aggressive. short of just trying it out to see what happens, i was wondering if i should purchase an in-between polish or some different pads. i'd rather have the right equipment before i need it ;)



i will be using my flex orbital so i don't induce more holograms



thanks for your help
 
tofu- Actually, both my current painters are pretty good at the polishing; they give my stuff back looking fine these days! Lucky me, huh?!?



But anyhow...the PO85RD is awfully gentle, and sometimes holgrams can be incredibly tough to get out. Sounds weird huh, I mean...they're shallow little things...but still, you just never know.



I wouldn't worry too much about the 203 being too harsh, I bet it's still no worse than whatever the shop compounds it with. Think of it this way- if they hologram it up with a harsh compound, you might *need* an equally harsh compound to fix it.



Just don't be too surprised if you can't get things to quite finish out perfectly until the paint has hardened up for a while. I'd plan to redo it, to at least *some* extent, after three months or so before you start using wax/sealant on it. And yeah, I really *do* wait that long before I wax/seal fresh repaints; I use something like 3M Imperial Hand Glaze or Meguiar's M05 New Car Glaze (I simply love that stuff!) in the meantime.
 
I doubt the 85rd would remove the compounding swirls. I'd used something like M105/D300 or even SIP with a cutting pad and then go to town with 85rd.
 
thanks a lot for the advice, guys. i guess i have all the tools i need for now. i'll just get it looking "ok" and glaze it up until it hardens, as accumulator suggested :)



the 203S isn't bad to work with, but i find that the 85rd takes forever to break down with my flex orbital. this is why i dread doing 2+ step corrections :(
 
hey guys just a quick update:



the combo i originally had in mind (P203S followed by 85rd) was the ticket. 85rd was not enough alone to correct all of the compounding problems. P203S actually mars the paint a bit, but it got rid of all the swirls and some residual sanding marks in the clear. I'm happy :)



I didn't have my LED flashlight with me, but after the 2nd (and final step) with 85rd, the paint looked perfect in the sunlight.



thanks for your help
 
Good deal. Glad everything worked out well. Moving forward, if you maintain the paint properly (i.e. washes), the only thing you'll ever need to do is a light freshening up with 85rd. Done!
 
Accumulator said:
tofu- Glad to hear it worked out!



What're you gonna use on the paint while it outgasses?
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im going to use ihg or #7 for now. Whichever goes on easier. Haven't worked with either.
 
t0fu said:
im going to use ihg or #7 for now. Whichever goes on easier. Haven't worked with either.
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Neither is all *that* user-friendly, but they're not awful either. Also consider the Meg's Deep Crystal Step#2 Polish (similar to #7). If any autobody/paint supply places near you have the Meg's #5 New Car Glaze, get that..most user-friendly glaze ever.
 
I began noticing more imperfections under fluorescent and overcast lighting situations. imperfections that i couldn't see in blaring sunlight. i had to be inches from the surface of the paint to see them, but knowing they're there is what kills me.



i had to redo the entire vehicle with m105 and a surbuf pad. some parts of the car needed to be hit TWICE with the compound and still have 1 or 2 slight scratches that can only be seen under perfect lighting situations and up close. i'd likely have to wet sand with 2000 grit to get them out, but i have no experience wet sanding, so maybe i'll save that for next year and do some spot corrections. fortunately, they sprayed many layers of clear, so i was able to correct most of it safely via compounding. the paint still looks better than new. 90% orange peel free.



i think the problem was they wet sanded by hand... literally.. no foam block. and they left it at 1500 grit without following up.



i'm still happy with how the car came out, but it is just a lot of work getting this paint nice enough for a perfectionist like myself. 3 stage correction is hell on my flex (non rotary). i'm only 70% done with my second step
 
t0fu- Yeah, it can be slow going, and if they left 1500 scratches, well...that's a toughie.



FWIW, two goes with M105 isn't what I'd consider all *that* aggressive. And while SurBuf pads work great for many/most people, I get much better correction with MF pads, and even some of my foam ones give the SurBufs a run for their money. Weird, but that's how it works out for me.



On sanding, I actually think that a *little* wetsanding with 3-4k is often more gentle/safer than aggressive compounding. And 4k scratches are a breeze to take out via Flex.



And, heh heh, as soon as you get it perfect under those fluorescents, you'll start seeing flaws under other lighting conditions. Just the way it goes...and while fluorescents are great for "texture" issues (including sanding scratches), the don't show other types of flaws worth a [darn].
 
i've considered buying a microfiber set, but i believe i read somewhere that it is not as effective on the flex, as opposed to the traditional PC. These surbuf pads seem awfully flimsy. by the second wash (by hand), they're already starting to tear apart in some places!
 
t0fu said:
i've considered buying a microfiber set, but i believe i read somewhere that it is not as effective on the flex, as opposed to the traditional PC...
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Eh, I myself don't use either MF or SurBub via Flex. I'll *sometimes* use PFW, but generally I like foam cutting pads, especially the burgundy Meguiar's ones (both the older 7006 and the new version).
 
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