Paint Restoration

[Nate's Alero]

Well, now that my ho is running, i wanna make her look nice, the paint, is, from a distance, beautiful, up close, (pukes) its all scratched and swirled, i need advice on how and what to do about this, its awful

what to do/buy, and what products to use.

[rustyballs_69]

Pay someone to buff the hell out of it or get it repainted.

[MattismodderX]

scratch fixers + buffer = godly

[Nate's Alero]

i have buffer, now i just need to fall asleep, i guess i got so excited when my ho started, im just so energized!!!

[Gr1m]

um so what was wrong with your engine? wrong rod order?

[Nate's Alero]

........ the lifters were clogged, were not compressing

[Gr1m]

ya u probably overtightened your rockers and compressed the lifters right?

[Nate's Alero]

Originally Posted by Gr1m

ya u probably overtightened your rockers and compressed the lifters right?

umm, no they compress anyway, they self adjust, so they were gummed up and were not compressing, therefore keeping my valves open

[misslindseysue]

Visit www.showcardetailing.com for tips, etc about detailing. The guy is a really cool guy and you'll learn a lot (there's a forum). He uses mostly Prima products - I have some of them and they're top notch stuff, but I still like my Zaino, too. www.detailersparadise.com is the best place to get Prima, www.zainostore.com for Zaino, or I've heard nothing but good things about Griot's which you can get a lot of places.

You don't need a buffer, but it'll help a lot. If you have a local car club I'm sure you can find someone who's handy with it who will show you how to work it and maybe even let you use their supplies so you can see if the do-it-yourself route is for you. The stuff is pricey, but so is a good detail - you shouldn't pay less than $250 for a full interior/exterior detail and expect it to be actually buffed and corrected.

[comanche]

www.autopia.org

[clutch1]

Clay the paint, get it perfectly clean.

Get a good buffer (dual head if you have the monies) use a cutting pad and compound, it should get rid of most scratches and such, but leave swirls.

Next move to a less abrasive pad and polish, should remove swirl marks and almost all light scratches.

Then use an even less abrasive pad and compound, like a glaze usually, should end with the paint perfectly smoothe, no spiderwebbing hopefully.

Follow up with wax if you wish.

I'd suggest this setup
http://www.detailersparadise.com/_Sy...20061107174910
http://www.detailersparadise.com/_Sy...071-2491365464

[Chris2000]

now if you are doing this with fresh paint, you want to do it around 24 hours after painting, dont wait to long cause the paint will be to hard, but dont do it to soon cause it will still be to soft.

buy waterproof sand paper, from 1000 grit, all the way to 2000 grit, and that should be plenty sufficient for a professional quality job. Soak your sandpaper in water for about 10 minutes before you use each piece. the best thing to do is to add a drop or 2 of soap to your water, this will help lubricate the paper even more and keep the sanding dust from clogging your paper as quickly.

You want to start with about 1000 grit sand paper, for those of you who have never been shown proper sanding techniques, you want to sand in long straight lines one direction, then sand in long straight lines perpendicular to your original passes. just make an X pattern. While you are sanding keep a spray bottle handy to keep a light mist of water over the areas you are sanding, this will keep the sanding dust out of your paper and will keep your paper lubricated so it doesnt scratch unevenly. Now this isnt like sanding when you are getting ready to paint. You want to take very little paint off of your vehicle. Wetsanding is to remove small imperfections in the surface. This is good for small scratches, little fisheye, eggshell, and minor runs or sags. With your 1000 grit you want to make sure you take even amounts off every surface of the car, you dont want to go very far through your paint though so be very careful. just sand until the surface is almost flat. There should be some very small barely noticable imperfection at this point.

Next you should be able to jump up to 1500 grit. you want to do the whole car again, light sanding. This will take out some of the scratching from the 1000 grit, and will completely eliminate the imperfections. once again though be careful not to go very far through. If you are starting on factory paint or an old paint job with not much imperfection you may be able to start at this point.

Finally we are on to 2000 grit. This stage is basically to remove the fine scratches from the earlier sandings, you will be at it for a week if you are still taking the imperfections out of the paint at this point. Your color should start looking more like the color you wanted in the first place. a lot of the haze will be gone when you are done with this, but there will still be some left.

NOW comes the rubbing compound. I have always just used turtle wax, but they are all pretty good. Now for the rubbing compound you switch from your cross pattern to swirl pattern. But before you use the rubbing compound make sure to clean the surface so all the sanding dust is removed. Rubbing compound will bring the color of your paint to life. If you are dealing with old paint that has just lost its luster then you can start at this step. This almost all the hazing out of your paint and remove all the scratches from sanding.

Lastly is polishing. Polishing is for bringing the shine to your surface. Swirl pattern once again. Use a polishing cloth that you can buy for 5 bucks anywhere. you want to use very soft cloths for rubbing compound and polish, make sure it is completely clean to. This is a step you should never skimp on. For paint jobs that have just lost their shine, this is the only step you need. This takes all the hazing out. This is what makes your car shine.

Now on a seperate subject is waxing, for old paint this step comes with the above, but on new paint you dont really want to wax it for at least 60 to 90 days after fresh paint. This is to allow the paint to fully cure and harden, you dont want the paint to cure with wax inside because it will mix with your paint and soften it, then it will come off. You all know how to wax right, well I am gonna tell you anyways, cause it wouldnt be a how to if I didnt.

Work in a shaded area, out of the sunlight. your wax will usually come with an applicator, use only that applicator to wax your vehicle. Now many people will tell you that with the advances in paint and clearcoat technology you do not need wax to protect your paint. Dont believe this. Most new cars are painted in single stage paint jobs. This means no clear coat, just a very hard base coat. Even if you did have a clearcoated paint job though, wouldnt you love to have that extra layer of protection? Yeah thats what I thought.

I digress, back to waxing. Now work in small areas at a time, some waxes allow you to do your whole car at a time, most dont. Follow manufacturers instructions as to whether or not you should allow the wax to dry(haze) before buffing off. Apply only a small amount at a time, otherwise you are wasting wax and your time. When you buff it off it should come off easily. If it starts getting harder to get the wax off, switch to a clean cloth or you are applying to much wax at a time. Wax should be applied in a back and forth motion, if you start creating swirls you are using to dirty a cloth or you are doing it wrong. When you are done waxing, there should be very very little wax actually on your vehicle. A jar of turtle wax for instance should have enough wax to do your entire car several times. When you are done waxing you should be able to mist water over your car and it should bead up immediatly and run off easily. If you run a squeegee over your vehicle it should take all the water off your car easily without leaving even a hint of moisture. When you are done sanding you will need a brush to remove wax residue from the cracks. if you still have some minor streaks, allow your car to set in the sun for a few minutes to get it warm, not hot, this will soften the wax and you can use a detail spray to buff the affected areas to that high gloss shine. Make sure you move your car back into the shade though before your car gets to warm. when you are done your car should have a beautiful shine and look like it is wet even dry.

I am gonna note, never use dish soap to wash your car. That means you really dont want to stop at those church car washes or cheerleaders or anything like that, I dont care if it is a good cause or the cheerleaders are cute. Dish soap is to harsh a detergent and will strip the wax right off your vehicle. just save that money for the offering plate or if you want to see the cheerleaders, go to the games. Car wash soap is formulated to not break down wax. It is available at your parts stores, hardware stores, retail stores, just about everywhere.

anyways, enjoy your beautiful cars

[[ion] C2]

[Chris2000]

[bdyman]

so your telling him to hand rub his car that he`s going to wet sand?? did i read correctly?? if i did nate please dont listen to him and the products he mentioned, ummm no! 3m is the way to go to 100% remove wet sanding, if you rubbed by hand do you know how long it would take you?? lol if you have a buffer this is what i would do wash the car, your going to buff it in stages, if it is real real bad like you say it is you want to use 3m`s cutting compound, using a foam cutting pad, buffing in 3ft square area moving and using medium pressure, mask off the molding you dont want to catch with the buffer and burn them, so mask them off wash the car off again, now your going to use the 3m poilshing glaze using a polishing pad, the new 3m glaze is refurmulated so it looks like its not going away but its designed to do that so you keep working the glaze into the clear if you supplier doesnt have the new stuff buy the old stuff and buy the glaze made for drak color cars, and with that stuff alittle tip of the trade for ya, wet the panle down with a spray bottle full of water i suggest not wet sanding nate for a good reason if the clear is still oringinal and its old since 1999 i would just buff the car, you wet sand your taking off clear and when you buff your taking off more clear, which then leads to buffing burns, and sometimes you will burn right through the clear and you will see the sealer so i would just buff it

[Chris2000]

bdyman there are some people that prefer to make their car look like its brand new, which is why you would follow my instructions. If you are looking for a fast job that you'll have to do again in a few months then the person should use your instructions

[bdyman]

lol!!!!
ummmm im sorry ummmm yyaaaaaaaa, your.....lol.......wow............ummmmmmmmm i have 20 yrs as a body fender tech, sorry not going to listen to no one but me my self and i
but i give you a thumbs up for trying

and my way and using the products i have mentioned if hes good at buffing he will be done in a few hours and it will last and look like brand new

sorry dude but when it comes to paint/body work/ custom work/ metal fab im the sheriff in these parts

[Nate's Alero]

uh, ive made the car sexi already...pretty much combined both your procedures... i just need to keep it waxed....that's all

[cherrington17]

Originally Posted by Nate's Alero

Well, now that my ho is running...

...for this week....


ok.. i thought you were sending it to bdy to paint it? why bother restoring the paint, if you can afford to have it REpainted?

[Nate's Alero]

i am getting the paint done by bdy....

black