Buffed out the pinstriping myself (1 Viewer)

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Riley,

Thanks for the clarification. I was looking at Griot's after your post. Man, they have some nice stuff! Think I'll start my Christmas list about 6 months early.....

DougM


Glad to help. If you have any questions about any of their products, just ask. I have used most of them. Some of the stuff is pretty high priced, but most of it is more than worth the money. If you order from them, definitely include the Interior Cleaner. I use the stuff to clean just about everything. My wife keeps stealing it from the garage to clean the messes the kids make in the house. Just try it and you will not regret it. I have recommended it to friends and offered to buy it from them if they do not like it. I have yet to buy it from anyone but Richard Griot...

Riley
 
Ahoy. Just finished with the major panels. I don't think I'm gonna do the trim and tires this time, it's just not worth it with the lovebugs and frequent washes coming up....

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Here you can see the damage on the plastic of the mirror. The paint used to look worse than this... now clearly it does not.
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Smooth...
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Nice to be done.
 
x3, I use Porter Cable 7424 when I clayed, waxed and polished all my vehicles. I also use the speed shine and best of show wax from www.griotsgarage.com. I like their product and really make the LX shines.

X4 on the 7424. I absolutely love mine. The PC buffer pads are OK. I invested some Lake County hook and loop pads, which are worth the extra cost. You will need to get a new counterweight for the larger pads. I think it is around $5. I got my pads at http://www.properautocare.com/fopobupa.html
 
I put blue painters tape over the decals if I'm using a heavy abrasive and try not to hit them... otherwise I just go over them. You can start to eat through them with a heavy abrasive and soak adhesives into the pad of the orbital, which is obviously a huge pain ;)

As a warning, if the decals are printed on, like what you get from a Gerber Edge, DO NOT polish over them. It may just wear off the thin layer of color from the base vinyl. If the decals are cut vinyl with the same color for the entire piece, it should be OK for minor polishing. You'll just have to clean out the dried polish from the edges of the decals.

-kevin
 
As a warning, if the decals are printed on, like what you get from a Gerber Edge, DO NOT polish over them. It may just wear off the thin layer of color from the base vinyl. If the decals are cut vinyl with the same color for the entire piece, it should be OK for minor polishing. You'll just have to clean out the dried polish from the edges of the decals.

-kevin
The decals I'm talkin 'bout are the black registration #s and stickers. So far they just get a bit more shiny if I go over em :cool: :lol:
 
Bumping an old thread for some pinstriping removal advice... I've had some pretty bad pinstripes in my black 100-series for a while. Finally got around to getting serious about getting them out. First tried Maguire's ScrachX 2.0 by hand. Reduced their appearance by about 50%. Got a Porter Cable 7424 XP and some 3M 39002 rubbing compound. WOW! So much better. I like the 3M better than the Maguire's. I was using a Maguire's foam pad for application (at the recommendation of the local auto paint shop). Not wanting to do any damage, I was using fairly light pressure and low speed, 1-2 on the PC. Question though, in just the right light and just the right angle, you can still see faint remains of the worst scratches. I can just barely feel the slightest tick with my fingernail when drug over them perfectly perpendicular. What is the best next step to totally eliminate the scratches? Should I:

a) increase the speed on the buffer using the same compound?
b) increase the pressure using the same compound?
c) step up to a heavier cutting compound and keep the light pressure/low speed?
d) polish it, wax it, hope for the best and call it good?

It really looks pretty darn good right now, but it's my wife's DD, and she likes it spiffy (though I've stuck here with the poverty-pack tundra steelies :lol:)

Also, I have the 3M clear protection on the front edge of the hood, quarter panels right behind the headlights, and the fronts of the outside mirrors. It's also starting to haze. Any tricks to get this back to "clear"?
 
My Answer would be "D". In my experience detailing vehicles, the best you can do is smooth the edges of the scratch with the Porter Cable. If you go too deep, you are removing clear coat and to me, it is not worth it. If you can barely notice it, I say call it a day. If I can catch a fingernail on a scratch, I tell the customer that I can hide it pretty well with the Porter Cable, but there will be a shadow of the scratch.

You can cause more problems getting too aggressive.

As far as the stone guard, remove and replace is really the only option. You can try running the PC over it and see if it is just surface fading. You will find a line in the paint at the edge of the stone guard so try to match the placement of the new to the old.

Riley
 
A few things:
  1. The 3M 39002 is pretty toxic. If you read the label there is a fairly obscure warning that you need respiratory protection when using it. Do so if you continue to (though 1 exposure is no big deal). Given that it is toxic there are better options out there that will get you similar results without the worry.
  2. Sounds like you are trying to eliminate RIDS (random isolated deep scratches). Be careful how aggressive you get because any and every polish/compound is always removing clear coat. Your best bet is probably to minimize their appearance as much as possible without going too aggressive and then using a product with filler compounds that will optically (if temporarily) hide the scratch. Without a paint thickness gauge it is a dangerous game trying to remove a scratch you can catch your finger nail on. 39002 is a pretty heavy cut and I would not use it on the whole car too aggressively or frequently. The best policy is always to attack with the least aggressive product/pad first and slowly step up the pad+product cut until you remove the defect. It takes some time but it is the only way to operate 100% safely.
  3. Given the cut of 39002, I'd seriously consider stepping down to a lighter cut polish or glaze and going over the whole car again at a higher speed to gloss up the paint. I'd be pretty surprised if you didn't leave halos or micromarring visible in direct sunlight with just 39002 at low speed.
  4. How you work a product depends on numerous factors: the hardness of the paint, the "cut" of the foam pad, the cut of the polish, the strength of the defect, etc. If you find a combo that works well for you then by all means use it, but sometimes going too slow can be worse than high speed and leave little micro-marring/halos that have to be re-buffed to be removed. When I used the PC I was typically in the 3.5-5 range for most products with enough pressure to provide even pad contact with the paint surface but not so much that the random orbital motion of the pad stopped.
  5. You should pick up some Collinite 845 Insulator Wax from Harbor Freight. After you're done with all your polishing steps wipe down the truck with a 50/50 mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol to remove any residues, use a glaze or filler product if you feel so compelled, and then apply the 845 per the instructions on the back and let it set up for about 8 hours without getting wet. It will last for months (IME usually around 6 in Florida) with nice tight beading every time you wash the truck. It's cheap as dirt from harbor freight and is by far the longest lasting wax I've ever come across.

I have since moved on from my PC to a Flex forced-action polisher which gets things done quite a bit quicker, but it does have a steeper learning curve.
 
Hmmm. I'll have to break out the respirator for the 39002. I though it was labelled as a "fine cut" compound. Any suggestions for a better one? Also, I'll pick up some of the Collinite at HF. Any suggestions on a "filler product"?
 
I polished my truck when I first got it and it looked fantastic. Poor boys has always had good stuff, though I'm not really an expert. It took me a while to polish the landcruiser correctly, around 10 hours to do everything including the roof. It was a shame when I got it all dirty!
 
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A lot of guys swear by the M105/M205 combo for quick restoration work. Personally M105 flashes off (dries) way too quickly to me, but it is an aggressive and very linear cut. You just have to be careful, because if you work it until dry it is like glue and leaves marring you have to repolish to remove. Nothing works faster IME though.

It's really hard to say, if the scratch is that deep I would probably leave it alone. To be honest I think 3M Imperial Hand Glaze is a really good filler. There are quite a few though, and you may want to experiment with different combos to see what plays best with Collinite in your conditions and on that paint. A lot of internet peeps are against fillers in any capacity and think the best policy is to polish paint to perfection, but they're both pedantic and show car fanatics. Let's be real, we have landcruisers with abused paint and at best we're trying to help resale value and prevent premature oxidized paint failure, and overpolishing is contradictory to both of those goals. Why not polish less and fill a bit more?

Some people also prefer opti-seal over a glaze instead of collinite, because opti-seal is literally a WOWO (wipe on wipe off) product; it's crazy stupid easy to use and painless to reapply. I'm not one of those people, I like Collinite 845 (or, if I'm feeling really tenacious Collinite 476S) for the last "seal it in and watch the beads" step.
 
A lot of guys swear by the M105/M205 combo for quick restoration work. Personally M105 flashes off (dries) way too quickly to me, but it is an aggressive and very linear cut. You just have to be careful, because if you work it until dry it is like glue and leaves marring you have to repolish to remove. Nothing works faster IME though.

It's really hard to say, if the scratch is that deep I would probably leave it alone. To be honest I think 3M Imperial Hand Glaze is a really good filler. There are quite a few though, and you may want to experiment with different combos to see what plays best with Collinite in your conditions and on that paint. A lot of internet peeps are against fillers in any capacity and think the best policy is to polish paint to perfection, but they're both pedantic and show car fanatics. Let's be real, we have landcruisers with abused paint and at best we're trying to help resale value and prevent premature oxidized paint failure, and overpolishing is contradictory to both of those goals. Why not polish less and fill a bit more?

Some people also prefer opti-seal over a glaze instead of collinite, because opti-seal is literally a WOWO (wipe on wipe off) product; it's crazy stupid easy to use and painless to reapply. I'm not one of those people, I like Collinite 845 (or, if I'm feeling really tenacious Collinite 476S) for the last "seal it in and watch the beads" step.

well now i know who to bounce detailing ideas off of. :)

i've used the m105/m205 combo on a few vehicles up here in the pnw. thankfully, i can get away with detailing on cool overcast days most of the time and not have to worry about the m105 going to dust too quick on me. i've used that combo on the last 3 of my details and have had great results, but the m105 does make a mess.

current favorite combo on the :princess:'s black tsx is: m105 > m205 > optimum finish (if required) > clearkote red machine glaze > clearkote carnuba moose wax > topped off a day or two later with optimum optiseal.

when i get around to it, i probably won't get as crazy on the 80 as i do the tsx. rig is way too big to conquer in a day, maybe even in a whole weekend! :hillbilly:

i'm thinking about checking out some of those new meg's microfiber cutting discs. any experience with them yet?
 
Well, I just finished with the 39002, polished, then waxed it, including the roof. It looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself... The residual pinstripes are only visible in the right light at the right angle. There are enough other slight imperfections, door dings, and small stone chips that in a 12 year old vehicle, I'm calling it good. Frankly, it looks better now than any other car I've owned. When the black is shined up, it looks pretty killer. :grinpimp:
 
pics or it didn't happen. :D
 
adrox said:
pics or it didn't happen. :D


Sure, but its a 100, not an 80. I'll snap a few pics tomorrow.
 
Sure, but its a 100, not an 80. I'll snap a few pics tomorrow.

no problem! i can appreciate the hard work that goes into making any vehicle shiny. especially a black one! :)
 
Well, I just finished with the 39002, polished, then waxed it, including the roof. It looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself... The residual pinstripes are only visible in the right light at the right angle. There are enough other slight imperfections, door dings, and small stone chips that in a 12 year old vehicle, I'm calling it good. Frankly, it looks better now than any other car I've owned. When the black is shined up, it looks pretty killer. :grinpimp:
Howdy! It is just amazing how well these rigs clean up. My rig was detailed to virtually "new" when I bought it a year ago. Two months ago I decided I needed to spend about 2 hours running rabbits (single track) with a brand new Wrangler Unlimited. Hey, I couldn't let him show me up!! His dark red paint was so pinstriped that it looked pink at a distance, and the black plastic was all gray. My white 80 looked good at a distance, but up close it was pretty nasty. No more shine anywhere. Black lines in the paint from the ends of dead bushes and trees. There were some gouges to primer. Since I'm too busy, too lazy to detail it myself ( I've also had both shoulders rebuilt), I had the dealer do it. I figured if anyone could get it right, they could. I don't know what they used, but for less than the price of that PC buffer, I now have that showroom look back. I was totally amazed! I felt guilty taking it up to Cruiser Moab. Fortunately there is almost no brush up there to get into. John
 

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