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CAPRICE87

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Hello everyone I am new to the forum as well as detailing itself. I would appreciate a few pointers on getting started. I drive a 1987 Chevy Caprice (daily driver) and it has a new base coat/clear coat paint job. Already I am seeing some swirling and thin hairline scratches. I figure there is no sense in paying money to paint the car and not maintaining it properly. I also enjoy a nice looking finish with minimal swirls/blenishes
 
Welcome, to get started I would do a search for two bucket washing, it's really the key to keeping your car swirl free.

One bucket is for rinsing out the dirty mitt and the other bucket is for clean soapy water only. Make sure your mitt stays clean at all times so you don't rub dirt particles into your new paint.

Get a claybar and a good sealant. Maintain it with every wash with a good polymer spray like Zaino Z8 or Megs Ultimate QD or something like that.



Good luck with it,

Josh
 
Yep Josh nailed it. Just like a mechanic after a days work cleaning out his tools. The cleaner you keep your tools of the trade the better results you'll get everytime.
 
Thanks for the replies. I have questions about buffers. Does it really matter which brand of buffer is used as long as it has a good bonnet? I understand some are of greater quality than others and last longer. But my question is...does it matter which buffer is used?
 
Most will tell you to use a PC as your first buffer. I just bougt a UDM and have 2 rotaries, bought the UDM over the PC as I am using it to sand paint and body filler on my 67 Scout. It has ore aperage and didnt need a counter weight. Both use te sae pads as they are made close to the same. ost prefer you to purchase machine and accesories fro the sponsors and they can help out a lot easier than buying from e***. RANDAL
 
You will definatly find noticable differences in the buffers. I won't say any one buffer is better than another as long as they are in the same "class" of each other it becomes just a personal preference. I would however at least try to get a "decent" quality buffer and stay away from the super cheaps ones. Most of those are made so poorly when you apply any pressure at all they tend to just shut off. But makita is obviously a bigger name. I use a Dewalt, I know milwaulkie and MAC have their own good ones. Even the craftsman one from sears has netted a few good reviews. Makita probably being in the more affordable range for best bang for the buck. See if there's anyway you can try before you buy. Not sure where your from but I would have no issues letting someone test out one of mine (Dewalt and Makita here in the shop) before they went and slapped down any money on one. Maybe you're local detailers or even a few freinds that might have one would let you get a feel for it.
 
Thanks guys. I also have a question about what product to use directly after wet sanding. Should I use cutting compound?
 
CAPRICE87 said:
it has a new base coat/clear coat paint job.
Click to expand...



How long ago was it painted? I ask because it takes some time for re-paints to fully cure. This would affect whether you should use heavy compounds and/or LSP's because I believe it's best to wait if the paint is fresh.
 
I was informed by the paint shop that the car needs at least 2 months to cure properly. I live in southern California where the temperatures are somewhat high so I dont think I will have problems with ruining the paint. I want to gain experience on my old car with wet sanding because I know there are risks. I need to know if the following is the right process for wet sanding:



1. 1500 grit w/high cut wool pad and high cut compound (1500RPM)

2. 2000 grit w/medium cut foam pad and medium cut compound (1500RPM)

3. 2500 grit w/low cut foam pad and low cut compound (1500 RPM)

4. Foam polishing pad and swirl remover (1500 RPM)

5. Foam polishing pad and polish (1500 RPM)
 
Caprice87- I don't compound between sanding steps. I'd do the leveling with the 1500, then sand with 2000 or 2500, then either use the wool/compound or do one more sanding step with 3-4000 and *then* start compounding.



And I wouldn't expect it to be that hard to remove the 2000 scratches (let alone any finer ones), especially if you use Meguiar's/Nikken Unigrit paper or something from Mirka. Yeah, the brand really *does* make a *HUGE* difference.



OR...you could use the 3M system. I'm not really familliar with it, but it progresses from sanding to final buffing in a "made to work together" manner that people are very pleased with.
 
Ok got it. So I should only cut once? My last wet sanding grit will most probably be 2000 or 2500 grit. Does this require medium cutting or heavy? (not sure if you can use a heavy cutting compound on clear coats)
 
CAPRICE87 said:
Ok got it. So I should only cut once? My last wet sanding grit will most probably be 2000 or 2500 grit. Does this require medium cutting or heavy? (not sure if you can use a heavy cutting compound on clear coats)
Click to expand...



Too many variables to say for sure: some 2000 (e.g., Meguiar's/Nikken) finishes out very nice but other 200 (the older 3M stuff) doesn't. And one company's "heavy" cut is another company's medium :nixweiss



I've removed 2K sanding scratches (Meguiar's Sanding Block) from (hard) Audi clear with no real problem, and I was using a pretty mild compound (3M PI-III RC 05933).



FWIW, many of us have used some pretty aggressive 3M compounds on clear without problems. The harshest *I* have used was PI-III Extra Cut RC 05936, and that stuff is pretty aggressive, but others have used even harsher stuff that that. I don't think you'd *need* to though.



I'd get good paper, you should be fine that way as it leaves uniform scratches; cheap paper leaves random deeper (than the stated grit) scratches in many cases. It's like the grit rating is an average with cheap papers, but not with good ones.
 
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