I know theres some trick to get a car temporarily shiny to see waves in panels?

Wax and grease remover!

 

A detailer I watched used a version of Squirrel's paper towel trick. He put a plastic bag over his hand. I tried it, you could feel every imperfection in the paint.
Ralph

 

if your car is bare metal, bondo and some paint you will never be able to see the waves.

 

I was also taught to close your eyes and do the flat palm rub down. Amazing what you learn to feel............

But you did not say originally that you were in teh middle of bodywork. Sounded like a crusty old car with varied finishes. Once you get some primer over your work a guidecoat is the way to go like Chopprods said.

 

Wax and grease remover. Been doing it for ten years in a collision shop. And as a bonus it pulls the dirt out of the pinholes and makes them easier to fix.

 

silk gloves to feel,that's what we used building and metal finishing prototype vehicles.


my weekly metal work blog www.themetalsurgeon.com

 

Yeah that's what I was afraid of. I use wax and grease remover on it and don't get much result.

Sorry, I guess I wasn't very clear about the condition of the vehicle when I first posted. I'm doing body work.

OK well a paper towl and a little imagination then will do the trick!

Thanks for your suggestions, it's a big help.

 

A wrapper from a cigarette pack works best for this. But it will show small imperfections, dirt pops and etc, not waves

 

Thats for sure!
Your eyes and reflective light can play tricks on you. Normally your bare hand will be good enough due to the fact it is covered in dust so it slides along the panel easily...

 

like others have said, wax and grease remover/acetone works well..

 

if i want to see how bad a panel is or check on progress, i use my small l.e.d. mag lite. shine it parallel to the panel and cast a long shadow.sometimes it shows more that you really would like to see. you can then circle the areas that need attention. this works best in a dark room or at night. i also have a 1000 watt (theatrical) ellipsoidal light on a stand that will show everything. this one can be focused to a hard edge. try it, it's seems strange but it works.

 

What I do once the car is stripped is to use etching solution on the bare metal.

It not only cleans the metal of any light rust or other contaminates but it can give sthe bare metal short term resistance to surface rust. Plus it leaves the metal surface ready to accept bodywork. primer, etc.....

Good luck.... I am NOT a body man by trade nor do I have the skills to be one.... BUT what I have learned over the years is "persistence", a good eye & taking your time can results in some "professional looking" body work.

Good luck with your project.

 

Yep,
and if a panel has mix of filler, bare metal and old paint you can bet its got plenty.
The trick mentioned earlier about alternate directions and grits works well to show most offensive of them.

Wax and grease remover works and the finer the grit the more shine.

Also a thin but solid coat of laquer primer as a solid guide coat, you will be sanding 98% of it off. Light pressure and even strokes with a long board will show you what's high and low. It's cheap - 35.00 a gallon and thinner is 35.00 for 5 gallons. It dries fast and won't clog up your paper.

U-pol reface is a great product, it can be applied directly on bare metal, filler, primer, and sanded paint. Great for those panels you are describing. It's pricey if used to early and priceless, priceless, priceless when used as it was intended.

 

Lots of good ideas here, though I would not use water on bare metal or exposed filler, myself. Even though I've been doing BW and paint for over 30 years, and have a real good "feel", there comes a point where I know I will do a better job if I just hit it with a couple coats of primer, and let it sit a couple days. Then guidecoat/ wet down/block out, whatever I need to do to get it perfect. There's no harm in stopping and "taking 5" or a few days to regroup. Putting on some epoxy primer will also give you a solid, one color, one texture finish to feel, as well as sight down the wet primer to see slight waviness. When you get to finishing up the filler work, even just the texture and temperature of the different surfaces can throw off your feel for the panel. Using a glove or cotton rag does help a lot.
The main reason I can do this is the primer I use, House of Kolor KP-2, you can use over any substrate, and put bodyfiller under, or over it. Usually, though, I put glaze on it to finish up the slight imperfections it needs up to this point. HOK advertises that 5 coats will fill 36 grit scratches, but I'd never use it like that!

If you really want to get fussy, you can always paint the panel/car black before finishing up before paint...I've done this a few times for a real nice Candy paint job. The black wil also act as a great guidecoat for final sanding.

 

Must wiggles, dents can be felt. Move your hand quickly. Feel straight areas, and compare to questinable areas. large damaged areas can also be checked for straightness with a straight edge. Prime with urethane primer. Apply guide coat. Fill imperfections with icing. Then block with 80 on a board file. Reprime, sand with 180 board file. Reprime.

 

I've done bodywork for years and never wet it with anything. Your hand will find all the highs and lows, as described above. When you get it level and sanded smooth, primer it. If you want to be fancy, shoot a guide coat and block it with a speed board.

Proper bodywork practice as I was taught 40 years ago went like this. Sand the car, then do bodywork. Primer the work areas with 3 thin wet coats of (lacquer) primer. Sand with 100 sandpaper. Go light on the pressure. Where you sand thru the primer, leave it. That area is done. This sanding should be done with little pressure, more like a "wiping" motion.

Blow off dust. Give it 3 thin wet coats of primer. Sand with 240 then go over it again with 400. It is then ready for paint.

In some cases you will want to primer and sand the whole car. You will also make changes for different primer and paint, for example some modern paints need a surface that is better than 400 smooth.

Also, when doing this with lacquer primer it needs to sit in the sun for a few days to dry completely.

The point is you don't need to wet the bodywork with anything. If you know what you are doing you can find low spots with your eyes and hands. The primer will take care of anything that is so small you can't feel it. Well maybe you should go over it with a strong light and spot putty any tiny flaws.

If you are looking at an old chalky car and want to see what it would look like shiny, wipe it with diesel fuel and a rag. It will shine up temporarily.

If you have an old chalky car you want to clean up, but don't want to wax it because you plan on painting it, polish with fine rubbing compound and go over it with Pledge and a rag. It will shine up for a week, and will stay shiny if you go over it every week. When it comes time to paint the Pledge will wash off easily.

 

All the tricks mentioned will work but I have had the best results with sighting a wet panel when it's all one color. Use some rattle can primer ( lots of guys use it as a guide coat anyway) When you wet down a panel that has some bondo, paint and metal showing, the different colors can confuse you. Remember that you're looking for reflections of objects on the panel. I use primer, wet sanded and then soaked down with a wet rag or a hose. While it's wet, hold a broomstick or some other straight object over the area and observe the reflections. The reflection won't necessarily be straight because of the shape of the panel (think of the mirror in the fun house at a carnival) but it should be smooth with no jagged edges or abrupt changes caused by an imperfect panel. Using the reflection of the tubes of your shop lights works well too if you're under them. My neighbors think I've flipped when the see me in the driveway waving a broomstick over my panels, ever so slowly, looking for imperfections. It almost looks like some sort of strange religious ritual!