Hey guys, i searched the forums, found a couple articles, but wanted to be sure on a couple things. As this is the first time i have used single stage. Just painted a car with single stage paint. Came out pretty nice. Aside from some dirt and dust here and there getting into the paint. So i read that you would take 1500 or 2000 grit, wet sand it to make it nice and flat then polish. Im using 3M stuff, i guess there are 3 stages to this. 1 is rubbing compound, 2 is machine polish, 3 is final polish, my understanding anyway. Since its single stage, i know its suppose to dull when sanding, and im guessing wont have that nice depth until i do all 3 stages. I only have the first 2, i didnt buy step 3 yet. But its smooth like glass now, no dirt, no orange peel. My question is, am i going about this right? Afteer the first 2 steps, it still looks a little dull, will that step 3 really bring out the shine and depth? Luckily, i have only done the lower portion under the front bumper, so if im doing it wrong, i can correct before doing the parts of the car everyone will see.
Read this for one of the best sand and buff techs! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=367250 Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
This product is miracle material. Foam pads both black (fine) and blues (super fine) to perfect that surface. You need to totally remove all haze/scratches swirls ect. Then a quality GLAZE foam padded to surface. Both directions, slowly worked in. That really brings about depth and clarity. It then must be topped with a sealant like WIZARDS so the shine holds out.
Thanks slammed, thats #3 that i just picked up today. I hope it does the trick! Thanks again for everyones info!
If you have a magnifying glass, look at the paint you think is still dull. Many times, it will just need more compounding to get the tiny scratches out. Sometimes you have to go back over it with your sandpaper....for example, you might not have gotten out all the 1000 grit scratches, when you cut it with 1500. If you remember which direction you sanded in, you'll recognize that, and know you have to resand with finer paper. Buffing scratches will be round patterns, not linear. Again, look close, and you'll see what step needs to be repeated, or go back one step.
It's all about scratch refinement. Go as fine as you can with the abrasives...heck we make 5000 grade Trizact now! The key is to make sure you got rid of the previous grade scratch. Compounding is a another abrasive step..but in liquid form in conjunction with a wool pad...pulling a shine from the previous grade sand scratch...polish pulls the compound scratch....Step 3 Trizact ultra fine machine polish is great stuff , but on a white or silver is probably overkill, but on a dark color it's a God send! Go to www.3mcollision.com and watch the training video....you will have the know how...no go do it!
you could start with 1000 grit 1500-2000, I used foam pads when buffing on the 57 working 12 X 12 areas worked well, talk with your auto body supply person, how many coats of color did you apply?
Thanks for all the input guys. I started with 1500 to get rid of the orange peel, and any light dirt that made it into the finish. Moved up to 2000 grit, then did all 3 stages. #1 Rubbing compound, then onto #2 machine polish, then onto #3 ultrafine polish. Its like a mirror and smooth as glass. Looks great. Although, in the sun i cant tell or see them, but if i put a bright halogen light on it, i notice very fine scratch marks, could this be caused from the buffer? Using very soft lamb wool pad.
Freakin A yes! And there is an even softer BLUE foam pad to go way past fine! All up to your wallet. AND after all those swirls are gone THEN go to a quality GLAZE to further enhance the shine's depth. Your almost there.
Are you using finer pads with the finer grit polishes? If you are using the same pad for all the steps you will never get it perfect because it is almost impossible to get every trace of the polish off the pad and if you leave any amount of courser polish on the pad it will leave scratches when you move up to your next step. Different pad for each step.
The Jalopy Journal
