Buff and Polish 101 (1 Viewer)

[PrinzChaz85]

Hey Guys,

I know this has been said and hashed and reshashed before here on the thread. But with constant changes in the types of waxes / methods etc I wanted to get a fresh take on this.

So I need to buff and polish my 80 that I recently had resprayed. It doesn't need to be a showroom finish, I just want it to look ehh pretty pretty good.

I've wetsanded the clearcoat already by hand with 1500 sanding blocks and I plan on using this TCP Polisher from Amazon that is very similar to harbor freight models after I've clay bar'd each panel.

What I need to know is :

1.) What is the cheapest / best products to use ? ( Was going to use the Meguiar's compounds and work my way up the steps in a 3 part sucession )

2.) What pads are best to use for each step?

3.) How long do I have to wait between buff / polishing stages to work my way thru it?

4.) What is a good final sealer to use?

Thanks ! Pic of my crusah below

 

[voodu3]

I’ve been watching this guys YouTube videos for detailing info. He has a lot videos with step by step instructions. I think they are pretty good.

 

[WhitePhoenix]

Can I ask what was your reason for wet sanding if not looking for showroom finish?

 

[stpetedale]

I usually use Megs m100 to finish polishing. It goes from a compound to a polish in 1 step no hazing. Removes sanding marks fast. I like the car pro denim orange peel pads to remove orange peel slow but safe. I like all the collonite products for final wax. I like the lake county yellow 5.5 foam pads I use one pad for everthing unless im jewling.Looking good!!

 

[PrinzChaz85]

Can I ask what was your reason for wet sanding if not looking for showroom finish?

I meant I guess, I'm not going to spend 2000 hours on the buffing and polishing in a fully "proper" concourse style detail. I'd like it to look showroom nice, but with least amount of effort as possible. So I did a once over everything with 1500 wetsand and now on to the buff and polish.

 

[WhitePhoenix]

Ok here is my take:

The 1500 wetsand was a bit aggressive. I generally do 3000, maybe 2500 but certainly no lower than 2000 as you are taking away a good amount of clear coat at that point. Something else to keep in mind, how long has it been since the respray? Folks have many opinions on this but I stick to 90 days of off gassing before you seal up the paint with wax, etc. You are still just fine to clay, compound, polish etc but by no means use a wax or anything with fillers or glaze in it. You will end up causing bubbles in the paint and another respray in the not so distant future.

With the polisher, how much experience do you have using 1? Since that is a rotary, you'll want experience under your belt, not for the amateur as it is easy to burn through paint if not familiar. If your looking for something intro, go with a dual action polisher. Porter cable, Adams, Maxshine, even harbor freight model has done well for people.

1) Megs does make some good products, the old tried and true M105/205 has always been a good combo and the 8 oz bottles are not too pricey. Does cause some dusting, so an air compressor is handy. Their newer line is M110/210 has shown really good results to cut down on dusting, not quite the cut but finishes down nicer. Chemical guys is easy aswell to get a hold of but won't produce the results your looking for in my opinion. M100 is going more pro line of Megs. Griots garage is also good stuff to use, can be found at Pep boys if yours hasn't shutdown.

2) Go for lake country pads, they are good quality stuff. Start with some less aggressive pads and go from their, the orange light cutting pads and then go up from their since you have to take out the sanding marks. I like the white polishing pads for polish. Megs also makes a microfiber that is good for more aggressive.

3) No wait time needed, as the compound flashes (generally with 30 seconds of work time) you can wipe it off with a quality microfiber and then move onto polish.

4) Collinite 845 is a good quality long lasting wax. More recent the market has had some interesting additions, a lot of people like Turtle wax Ice seal and shine. The hybrid solutions line from them is also getting good reviews. Mixed reviews from folks on the Mothers CMX and Megs hybrid ceramic wax, haven't had a chance to try them yet. Also got Megs Ceramic Wax, Griots Garage ceramic 3 in 1.

 

[PrinzChaz85]

Thanks White Phoenix ! Will post pics in few days with results as soon as it stops raining in Los Angeles .

 

[PrinzChaz85]

Several day update:

Got hang of the rotary polisher pretty quick by just using it at slower speeds and a green very light cut polishing pad that came with the polisher set. I haven't put much pressure into it either when using so I don't think I've burned through the clear coat anywhere ( knock on wood ) . Pic below is what the truck looks like after a full bottle of Meguiar's 105 ... getting pretty shiny.

Plan next will be to use the Megs 205 and then a ceramic wax sealer .

There's so much wax dust from the 105 compound everywhere and in all the cracks and crevices of the truck... whats the best way to clean that stuff off and out of areas before the sealer?

Thanks!

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Looks really great! Maybe a spray bottle with some water to get in the cracks? I assume you don't have an air compressor? Keep sending pictures!

 

[mudgudgeon]

Several day update:

Got hang of the rotary polisher pretty quick by just using it at slower speeds and a green very light cut polishing pad that came with the polisher set. I haven't put much pressure into it either when using so I don't think I've burned through the clear coat anywhere ( knock on wood ) . Pic below is what the truck looks like after a full bottle of Meguiar's 105 ... getting pretty shiny.

Plan next will be to use the Megs 205 and then a ceramic wax sealer .

There's so much wax dust from the 105 compound everywhere and in all the cracks and crevices of the truck... whats the best way to clean that stuff off and out of areas before the sealer?

Thanks!

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What's the colour? Cement grey?

 

[PrinzChaz85]

a spray bottle

What's the colour? Cement grey?

The basecoat I used was TCP Machinery Gray Acrylic Enamel with a clearcoat over that . This Grey wasn't too too far off from the factory "Medium Gray Metallic" faded awful SoCal paintjob that just never really looked good in the first place ( IMO ) so I opted just to do a respray with the Machinery Gray exterior rather than do the door jambs because it's not that far off. It's my first time ever trying to paint a car, and with no garage or driveway to speak of, I probably did not do the most efficient route due to trial and error? .. but definitely psyched on the results so far.

 

[george.arnold]

You can wash the truck before applying sealant/wax to remove all of the dust from the correction process.

 

[RaleighCJ]

It less about the product and more about the pad. Use high quality pads to polish.

 

[WhitePhoenix]

Air compressor is gonna be the easiest way to get all that off. Also how much product are you using and how many passes per panel are you doing? Generally only need 3 dime size drops on the pad to cover a 2'x2' area with about 3-4 passes. Any more then that the compound is going to dry up and that is where you get a ton of dust. Something else that helps is prep the surface area with the compound aka put your drops on the pad, then push the pad against the surface area in several spots to help with so much initial product on the first spin up. One final thing, are you cleaning the pad after every panel? You can use the air compressor to help blow out the old product, a nylon brush or they make pad washers for this exact thing if you don't make multiple pads. Don't worry, M205 has a lot longer work time and doesn't dust no where near the amount 105 does. Just be mindful on corners and awkward angles, that is how the pad is not completely in contact with the surface and let the dust flinging begin.

 

[PrinzChaz85]

Update * Update*

Finally finished polishing the grey exterior paint. Phew was extremely tedious. All in all I did Meguiars 105 + 205 x 2 and then a Mother's ceramic polish x 2 to seal her off. The results came out great IMO. Pics below.

My next major tasks on this cruiser in no particular order are:

1.) Strip, buff and polish rims to a better than factory shine

2.) Repaint the front bumper , back bumper caps , and the side black window areas in a satin black

3.) Fix the cracked dash + put new head unit and speakers in there

 

[Chrisw023]

you used a whole bottle of m105? Thats way to much lol but if your happy with the end result then . I have moved to using griots boss creams for cutting and polishing, they have a much longer working time and finish out better without dusting like m105 which was a staple in my arsenal for a long time. Like someone else mentioned sealing the paint may not have been a good idea as usually most manufactures have a period they recommend for offgassing/curing. When it does come time to doing a sealant I have become a big fan of the ceramic coatings.

 

[PrinzChaz85]

you used a whole bottle of m105?

Yea the dust was the worst part. Got in everything and is hard to get off / out of cracks without air compressor which I don't have. The truck was painted over 5 months ago so I should be fine w the sealer.

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Update * Update*

Finally finished polishing the grey exterior paint. Phew was extremely tedious. All in all I did Meguiars 105 + 205 x 2 and then a Mother's ceramic polish x 2 to seal her off. The results came out great IMO. Pics below.

My next major tasks on this cruiser in no particular order are:

1.) Strip, buff and polish rims to a better than factory shine

2.) Repaint the front bumper , back bumper caps , and the side black window areas in a satin black

3.) Fix the cracked dash + put new head unit and speakers in there


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Looks great!!! You did a good job with this given your work area you mentioned. Very cool!