Stin1 wrote:aklackner wrote: ↑Fri Feb 05, 2021 6:03 pm
coolhandluke wrote:You continue to impress me with your DIY learning and excellent results, on black paint no less!
Learning how to polish is a goal of mine. I've been recently spending time reading and watching tutorials. I owe you all an update in the detailing thread.
Thanks Ryan. A lot of it simply comes down to OCD
In this case though I have a few things going for me:
Non-OEM paint is less hard than original, which means less effort to work.
With a fresh (as it it’s seen virtually miles) paint there’s not a ton of work required, mostly you just want to avoid being too aggressive unless there are severe (quality) issues with the paint job.
While I’m uninitiated to racing, I was very deep in the SoCal import scene before and up to its peak. Somehow I ended up working with several top cars, which meant a lot of detailing practice. I’ve done my best to rehabilitate but skills of a misspent youth and all.
Here you can see the fender which I haven’t done looks a bit hazy compared to the door which is now polished. I’m not making a tremendous amount of difference but in the sun that last .5% is what draws you eye.
Be careful, you can burn the paint and it will pull off .
Absolutely keep it wet and moving. I really mean it that the job is to avoid being aggressive.
If anyone wants more info on what I do:
Strip first (not a normal car wash you need something more aggressive to cut old wax, oils, etc).
Dry throughly.
Tape rubber, non-painted plastics, surfaces like handles that have abnormal shapes & a lot of edges where you won’t be able to get even pad contact.
Then clay. Use fresh clay and make sure you use quick detailer without wax/ceramics (will generally list carnuba as an ingredient any way but this should be just enough to lube the paint surface so clay doesn’t stick. Do this just before you start each section.
As much as I’ve fought it prep really matters to the end result. If any dirt is on the paint it’s going to be used as grit in your polish, dragged over your paint and contaminate your pads.
I use the Torq22d since it is Dual Action (DA) and has a long throw (this means the area continually covered by the pad as it spins is smaller, even when moving slowly) so less heat builds up in one spot on the paint surface. In other words it’s built to be safer for an amateur.
I use chem. guys quantum pads which are designed with a hex grid and a hole in the center which further limits heat buildup on the pad (the center of the pad tends to build the most heat so chem guys removed it for the quantum pads and the hex grid allows small channels for air to flow and also creates gaps in continuous surface contact).
I work small sections (~1.5’x 2’ max) at a time and make sure compound/polish remains wet the entire time. Pads should remain cool and wet as well. (If dry, it’s probably best to clean but at least massage them before they touch the paint). This also gives you a chance to check how a section is progressing and adjust immediately if you need to.
I also move over the section pretty quickly (sort of like a careless vacuum, if that makes sense), without much pressure, but multiple times for a single stage with increased DA speed with each pass. Number of passes increases as the grain gets more fine.
Pads are graded to the compound/polish stored in their own bags. Each compound/polish has dedicated microfiber rags for wipe off. Don’t skimp on the microfibers.
Glaze if you still see swirl marks.
Wax by hand. I’m a fan of literally rubbing the wax into the paint surface with my fingers. You can feel the paint surface and when you get the wax worked into it. Don’t use circles. Just like sanding only with the lines. Wipe clean before it dries. Same thing along the body lines, one way if you have enough microfibers
Buff.
