i have a 91 crx, i just had it painted by a local bodyshop using dupont paint and clear(7900ms) its got about 3 coats of clear on it and it looks really good, no orange peel but slight runs in some areas. its been 8 months since the car was painted. i was suppose to bring it back to them but i'd rather do it myself because i really don't trust these guys anymore. long story. but i want to know is this something i can do myself? i do everything on my car i don't trust anybody with it; my motto is "nobody cares about the job being done right as much as do so its best i do it"

-what do i need exactly? 1500grit or 2000?
-what kind of polish?
-what kind of buffer?
basicall what steps?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbomd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have a 91 crx, i just had it painted by a local bodyshop using dupont paint and clear(7900ms) its got about 3 coats of clear on it and it looks really good, no orange peel but slight runs in some areas. its been 8 months since the car was painted. i was suppose to bring it back to them but i'd rather do it myself because i really don't trust these guys anymore. long story. but i want to know is this something i can do myself? i do everything on my car i don't trust anybody with it; my motto is "nobody cares about the job being done right as much as do so its best i do it"

-what do i need exactly? 1500grit or 2000?
-what kind of polish?
-what kind of buffer?
basicall what steps?</TD></TR></TABLE>

you can start with 1500 and then follow it with Meguiars unigrit 3000.

apply a constant source of water or lubrication (quick detailer works good), and always go in a cirular motion with little or no pressure.

you will need to polish the wetsanded area with a compound, I prefer Optimum Hyper Compound. depending on the conditoin of the paint, you may decide to compound the whole car to level the clearcoat out. if not, just compound where needed (wetsanding areas), and follow with a polish with a light cut, like Optimum Polish, or Meguiars Swirl Free Polish (#82). with the compound I would recommend a Orange or Yellow cutting pad, or a foamed wool pad (my new favorite). with the polish, either an orange light cutting pad or a white polishing pad depending on if you have swirls to remove etc. these are lake country pad colors as other brands use different colors. you are going to want to do this with a rotary, you CAN use a PC, but you will be there forever. Rotary isnt too hard, people just get intimidated.

after your polishing you can follow with a glaze if you like (I use a black or blue pad for this), and then apply the sealant or wax of your choice (I use a blue pad).

 

wow lots of info, im a mechanic not much of a body man so let me run that back to make sure i got

-wetsand with 1500 grit to start(in circular motions)
-then finish with meguiars 3000(is this a cutting compound or paper? lol im slow)

im wetsanding the entire car i was wondering why you said wetsand the area and also the paint is new; you said compound it based on the cond. of the paint.also which works better for wetsanding quick detailer or water.i'll get the meguiars swirl remover and do the whole car then you say after polishing finish with a glaze

which is the best finishing glaze? 3m or meguiars

thanks for all your help, i don't know if these are stupid questions but you'll have to excuse me i never owned a car with good paint if any at all so all this is new to me lol

these look good to you?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...QrdZ1

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbomd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

wow lots of info, im a mechanic not much of a body man so let me run that back to make sure i got

-wetsand with 1500 grit to start(in circular motions)
-then finish with meguiars 3000(is this a cutting compound or paper? lol im slow)

im wetsanding the entire car i was wondering why you said wetsand the area and also the paint is new; you said compound it based on the cond. of the paint.also which works better for wetsanding quick detailer or water.i'll get the meguiars swirl remover and do the whole car then you say after polishing finish with a glaze

which is the best finishing glaze? 3m or meguiars

thanks for all your help, i don't know if these are stupid questions but you'll have to excuse me i never owned a car with good paint if any at all so all this is new to me lol

these look good to you?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...QrdZ1
</TD></TR></TABLE>

meguiars 3000 is 3000 grit wetsanding paper. if you are wetsanding the entire car than you must compound the entire car. as stated before, I recommend Optimum Hyper Compound. then you can use either Optimum Polish or any other light cutting polish, meguiars is decent, poorboys makes good stuff among others. for glaze there are plenty of other options besides megs and 3m, but I currently use meguiars machine glaze and it isnt bad.

I would not get the cyclo, I would rather get a Rotary such as the Makita. my Milwaukee rotary works great but is a bit heavy.

http://www.autogeek.net has a good selection of products.

when I compound my process goes: OHC with foamed wool pad, followed by Optimum Polish with a white polishing pad or an orange light cutting pad if needed, followed by meguiars machine glaze with a black pad, followed by meguiars synthetic sealant with a blue pad. but I think there are better sealants out there, but It is what I currently have so I use it.

 

ok i found everything on the site that you gave me thanks! i'll be going with

-porter&cable 7424
-optimum compound followed by
-optimum polish
-menzerna finishing glaze po115c
-then waxing with pinnacle souveran wax
-complete set of ccs pads

the only thing i can't find is the meguiars 3000

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbomd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok i found everything on the site that you gave me thanks! i'll be going with

-porter&cable 7424
-optimum compound followed by
-optimum polish
-menzerna finishing glaze po115c
-then waxing with pinnacle souveran wax
-complete set of ccs pads

the only thing i can't find is the meguiars 3000</TD></TR></TABLE>

thats a good combo. you might want to pick up some of the hyper compound as well. does that pad kit come with a yellow pad?

 

Menzerna is good stuff.

also when working with the PC, you will have to really work the product in and use a speed of 5 or 6. also optimum compounds need very little to work with, once you get the pad primed you should only need about a pea sized drop per panel.

 

i was gonna get the optimum hyper but its says its fast acting and high cutting im already afraid of burning through as it is. i don't know i guess im just paranoid

the pads i was going to get are
-yellow
-orange
-grey
-blue

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbomd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i was gonna get the optimum hyper but its says its fast acting and high cutting im already afraid of burning through as it is. i don't know i guess im just paranoid

the pads i was going to get are
-yellow
-orange
-grey
-blue</TD></TR></TABLE>

you shouldnt have a problem with the PC with burn thru. you can try the regular compound witht he yellow pad and see if it works. keep in mind it WILL take time with the PC, it doesnt work nearly as fast as a rotary. everything else looks good selection-wise.

 

good website, i'll also get the natural sea sponge and a microfiber drying towel...maybe i'll give my waterblade to my gf

oh which is more effective wetsanding with water or final detailer?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbomd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">good website, i'll also get the natural sea sponge and a microfiber drying towel...maybe i'll give my waterblade to my gf

oh which is more effective wetsanding with water or final detailer?</TD></TR></TABLE>

i use final detailer

 

ok, i promise last question after wetsanding is done(whether i use water or fd) shoudn't i rinse the car down and then dry it before buffing?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbomd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok, i promise last question after wetsanding is done(whether i use water or fd) shoudn't i rinse the car down and then dry it before buffing? </TD></TR></TABLE>

wouldnt be a bad idea.

 

Be careful not to spend too much time with the buffer near the edges of panels and hard body lines because they are more prone to burning through.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sh!tsWEAK! &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Be careful not to spend too much time with the buffer near the edges of panels and hard body lines because they are more prone to burning through.</TD></TR></TABLE>

this is true, but he is going to be using a PC. youd have to really try to **** up with a PC

 

im going to tape off all trims and edges to try to avoid that. but what i gathered from research is i should work the buffer side to side with moderate pressure when polishing , and buff the area til the compound is fully broken in (3-5 minutes) then wipe residue with a microfiber

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbomd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im going to tape off all trims and edges to try to avoid that. but what i gathered from research is i should work the buffer side to side with moderate pressure when polishing , and buff the area til the compound is fully broken in (3-5 minutes) then wipe residue with a microfiber</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea, youll get the hang of it. just dont get discouraged, the PC takes time to get results.

 

Great info here, thanks!

 

just got my pc7424

 

im goin to start this weekend with the wetsanding. should i wetsand with the paper in my hand or with a 3m rubber block to keep it flush?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbomd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im goin to start this weekend with the wetsanding. should i wetsand with the paper in my hand or with a 3m rubber block to keep it flush?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sanding block.

 

isnt 3000 grit very expensive and you will get around same results with a 2500 grit? My old teacher said the 3000 grit only came in bulk and it costed about $10 for the supply.

I personally use a 1200 and 2500 combo, 1200 to get out dirt nibs, runs, fisheyes, and then 2500 to get it all smooth and make buffing easier.

For buffing I have a blue point with the meguiars solo kit and I finish it up with a Norton detailer spray and microfiber cloths. The norton is great it takes out lots of swirls and smells like grape too haha.

Either way take your time and dont buff into an edge of a panel, let the rotation of the buffer go away from the edge, I wish I had a picture to explain this, but I am sure you will figure this out

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Cain Marko &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">isnt 3000 grit very expensive and you will get around same results with a 2500 grit? My old teacher said the 3000 grit only came in bulk and it costed about $10 for the supply.

I personally use a 1200 and 2500 combo, 1200 to get out dirt nibs, runs, fisheyes, and then 2500 to get it all smooth and make buffing easier.

For buffing I have a blue point with the meguiars solo kit and I finish it up with a Norton detailer spray and microfiber cloths. The norton is great it takes out lots of swirls and smells like grape too haha.

Either way take your time and dont buff into an edge of a panel, let the rotation of the buffer go away from the edge, I wish I had a picture to explain this, but I am sure you will figure this out </TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL, detailer spray cant take out swirls.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by E-Rok &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">LOL, detailer spray cant take out swirls.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry I shouldnt have used the words "take out", care to answer my question about the comparison of 2500 grit vs 3000 grit or is there something else you would like to pick out of my last post?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Cain Marko &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Sorry I shouldnt have used the words "take out", care to answer my question about the comparison of 2500 grit vs 3000 grit or is there something else you would like to pick out of my last post?</TD></TR></TABLE>

2500 is usually fine but i use 3000 if possible.