vega_ROCKS

Alright this will be mostly for documentation along with some help.

I'll be working with my Mugen bumper on this.
My car already has a single stage paint job. I can't remember what color it is and nor does the shop that did it, and I didn't want to go back and end up paying like $150 for them to figure it out on my bumper so I took matters into my own hands

First I:
1. Sanded Bumper down with 800 grit sand paper

2. Used etching Primer to find the trouble some spots and used 1000 grit paper to smooth them out as much as possible
Bumper has some added fiberglass with a miture of bondo on it already from previous owner repairs. So some area look pretty bad even after sanded.

3. Light base coat of Dupli-Color Pure/Linen White

(wait 10 minutes)

4. Another light coat of Base

(wait 20 minutes)

4. Medium Base Coat

(let dry over night)

Next morning I let it set in the sun all day to bake

5. Wetsand bumper with 1000 grit san paper

6. Clean and Dry Bumper

7. Apply Medium Base Coat

wait 45-60 minutes

8 Apply heavy Base coat

Let dry over night

9. Wetsand 2000 grit

10. Clean and dry

11. Apply Dupli-Color Top Cleat Coat light

wait 20 minutes

12. Apply Medium layer Clear coat

let dry

14. wet sand with 2000 grit paper

clean and dry

15. Apply Medium layer Clear Coat

let dry

16. Apply Heavy Clear Coat

And this is how it sit now. I let it set over night and it felt really smooth after it dried. So I let it set outside over night and in the morning it felt kind rough in some areas.









Now I'm going to Rubbing Compound it and this is the area where I don't know what I'm doing.

I have this products to use (not going to use the Turtle Wax)
The green bottle has a compound in it from Work. It says its a rubbing compound to use for up to 1500 grit sand paper swirl marks

The Pink stuff is called Cystal Clear and is supposed to be used on a wet car to fill in scratches and swirl makes

And then I have the 3M and Scratch X
I have one of those old school buffers in my garage I'm going to use
I have a MicroFiber Pad and a Foam Pad




now my question is this...
I use the microfiber pad as the applicator and to work in the compound and the Foam Pad to take the compound off with correct??

I was told by the detailed @ my job to use a Wool pad as the applicator and the foam pad to take it off.
But after a lil research it appears u only use wool pads for oxidation on paint.

which one would be better to use the 3m compound or the Scratch X after wetsanding with 2000 grit paper??

RoadRage212

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vega_ROCKS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I use the microfiber pad as the applicator and to work in the compound and the Foam Pad to take the compound off with correct?

I was told by the detailed @ my job to use a Wool pad as the applicator and the foam pad to take it off.
But after a lil research it appears u only use wool pads for oxidation on paint.

which one would be better to use the 3m compound or the Scratch X after wetsanding with 2000 grit paper??</TD></TR></TABLE>

*Sigh* I'll try not to be too harsh here but there's a few things you need to know. First, if you start wetsanding this bumper, you don't have the supplies you need to remove those sanding marks completely. What you have may help, but it will never be what you wanted when you are 'buffing' by hand.
Scratch X wasn't made for the hundreds of thousands of scratches you're going to create with sandpaper. It isn't a compound nor a polish.
Second, you don't have any microfiber towels in your pictures. I hope you know that. If you plan to do this reguardless of what I'm saying, then you need to use your terry cloth applicator pads to 'buff' with, then use a real microfiber towel to wipe it off.
Your detailer friend was pointing you in the right direction, but you seem to be missing the piece of information that tells you that you need a BUFFER to correctly do the work you are trying to accomplish. The wool pad and a coarse compound will remove the sanding scratches, then the foam pad and a polish will remove swirl marks and micro marring that the initial 'cut' creates. The buffer is the key ingredient to get this done. You don't want to do this all by hand. It will never look right, and those sanding marks will keep showing through the paint no matter what you do. You need a buffer, bro.

That's probably one of the cleanest attempts at a two-stage paint job using rattle-cans I've ever seen, and I know you don't want to screw it up with a whole-hearted, yet material-lacking attempt. If you need more help, then let me know.

vega_ROCKS

Thank you so much for clearing that up for me.
I didn't take a picture of the microfiber pad because it was in the other garage.
I wetsanded then clear last night with a soaked 2000 grit