I have a question about buffing my car, and am looking for some tips.
I own a black 98 civic, orginal paint, it's in pretty good shape, glossy etc, but of corse its got its fair share of swirl marks and light scratches.

Now the problem is, my dad who used to own and run a detailing companys, says do not machine buff a black car, but he will not tell me why. So i am asking why shouldnt I? What sort of negative affects could there be? besides melting the clear coat.

I was considering picking up the Griots Garage machine polish kit. I have been told, no matter how hard you push you cant burn the paint, that because of the pad design and because its a radom orbital you cant hurt paint. I have seen it used, and he pushed quite hard, with no ill affects.

My dad maintains it should only be done by hand with 5000 grit wet sand paper, which i dont want to do, I would kill myslef if i screwed up my paint lol

Any help/tips would be greally apreciaded!

 

As you can infer from the other threads in this forum, it is okay to buff a black car. You just have to do it properly. When you rotary buff a black car incorrectly, the paint will look awful or even become damaged.

It is very difficult to damage paint using a random orbital, so that is a good beginner's tool.

 

Thank you, and I know that.

I'm just looking for some infomation to prove my dad wrong. After all it's hard to teach a old dog new tricks, ya know?

All he has told me is dont waste your money on it, do it by hand, it is the only correct way to do it.

 

i had a black 97 and i buffed it. I used the porter cable 7424xp with lake country pads. Use meguiars m105/205 combo. you wont hurt the paint and it will come out spectacular.

 

Sweet thanks guys...

Talked to my dad today, he gave up haha, said **** it, it's your car do what they hell you want with it.

 

A good thread to show your dad would have been PresidentialDetail's thread where he corrects a black EG that had buffer trails all over it. Good before/after pics.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/detailing-130/presidential-detailed-frshly-painted-eg-almost-ruined-hackjob-2627067/

 

Thank you very much for posting that!!! that is is purely amazing work.

 

I also use porter cable 7424xp & i satisfied with the quality.

Tekkaboy you have added best informative thread.

 

Hmm ok, thanks.

Im kind of the fench, still deceding whether or not to just do it by hand??

 

grab a porter cable, some lc ccs pads, and some menzerna polishes. i own a black ek and spent 26 hours polishing it, did it in three steps actually because im ****.

i have used the megs 105/205 combo, but keep going back to menzerna polishes. and if you have never done any polishing before menzerna are very user friendly

 

^^thank you sir, I am also very very **** about my car, but then again you have to when its black.

 

i recommend the porter cable 7424xp as well

 

^^ ok, thank you.

 

heres my thread on a black lexus i did

https://honda-tech.com/forums/detailing-130/buffed-lexus-worst-ive-ever-seen-2656287/

 

Thank you again! Griots grand opening is june 5th for the new building, so i will try and get the kit then.

Thank you for all the the help..

But lets say i wanted to do it buy hand what grit should i use? and wet or dry?

 

if you want to sand the car, definitely wet sand it, and i would start off with 1000, but im used to nice finishes. all depends how much weather the car sees, the condition of the clear, etc.

 

Ok, well my paint seems to be in pretty good shape, just your average swirls marks, some light keying and a couple scretchs,car has maybe 2 dings that are tiny, with 200k on it I'm quite happy,

Ill snap some pics of problem areas and post up some, not looking for it to be brand new looking, just to get rid of something things.

Car sees all kinds of whether,snow,rain,dirt etc, I live in tacoma we pretty much get it all here lol
Car was garaged 90% of its life and still is

 

as long as everything is just in the clear, you should be able to get it all out. obviously the golden rule is only go as far as need be...so if wetsanding isnt necessary, dont go that far.

 

Most of them are, there are a couple deeper ones on the trunk..


I would love to not have to wet sand, in fact i most likely wont.

 

dude go to autogeek.net

i detail and do color restorations and i love the site. also, dont push down on the random orbital...let it do the work, jus move it slowly side to side. also, use MENZERNA...i LOVE their polishes and make sure you get a polish specifically for black cars, it'll make ur life a lot easier and have a better shine !! gl.

 

^^will check that out,thank you.

 

i used 105/205 on the lexus. very easy to work with and you get fast results. for waxs/sealants you just cant beat poorboys. Cheap and the shine is just ridiculous and they smell great. Look into black hole, EX-P and Nattys Red paste wax. Use them, in that order for an ultimate shine.