Getting a mirror finish (1 Viewer)

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I bought some replacement mirrors for my 80 series. I painted them with multiple coats of duplicolor perfect match Toyota 045 white followed by multiple coats of the perfect match clear coat. I followed it up by polishing with chemical brothers c4 and p4 polish. Although they are nice and shiny after polishing they don't have the same mirror finish as the rest of the paint on my 80 series. How can I go about getting a better finish?
 
As WDE says, some level of it is starting out with DupliColor out of a spray can. There is only so far you're going to go with such materials.

Breaking things down somewhat basically, the points you have to hit on a paint job are:
  • prep work - make sure the surfaces are smooth, clean, and perfect - also masking and having a clean area to paint in
  • materials - people get decent "twenty foot" results from Rustoleum, Krylon, DupliColor, and such, but for close up you're going to need to go further
  • painting technique - both the laying on as well as sanding between coats to maintain that perfectly smooth surface
  • final finishing - before you jump to cutting and polishing, there's color sanding
 
I would try ceramic coating the vehicle if you are wanting a mirror shine. I use GTECHNIQ Light Serum on my customers vehicles. Gives great results.
Why is it that a bottle of ceramic coating is 30 ml …..seem like a very tiny amount so is the application of it that minimal and would cover the FJ40?
 
I'm not sure that ceramic is going to do much for a duplicolor spray can finish.
 
Why is it that a bottle of ceramic coating is 30 ml …..seem like a very tiny amount so is the application of it that minimal and would cover the FJ40?
I am not sure why companies decided on that size? I can get 2 small to medium sized vehicles out of a bottle. You dabble it on an applicator pad and then kind of sandwich it. You apply it in 12" x 12" sections. In hot weather you definitely want to wipe on and wipe out off immediately. Do not let it tack up. Different companies use different amounts of solvent in the coatings. This will affect how it gets applied on a vehicle.
 
Why is it that a bottle of ceramic coating is 30 ml …..seem like a very tiny amount so is the application of it that minimal and would cover the FJ40?
Because its a nano ceramic coating. You use a few drops on your applicator for each panel ! wait no more than a minute and then start to level wipe. I am a now retired Ceramic Pro installer , that was one of the first installers years ago , and have coated many vehicles ( Museum automobiles , One of a kinds, Exotics, classics, etc. ) The thing though with coatings , is that they will show all defects on the vehicle , unless you correct the finish first ! So you'll need to do anything from Dry sanding, wet sanding, Compounding, Polishing to get all defects out first, then use a bare minimum a spray like invisible glass to remove polishing oils off the vehicle to better to use IPA ( not beer ) and even better yet PpG solvent rinse let dry and wipe off BEFORE you Coat ! Otherwise, you'll have shiny defects that really stick out !

Bentley finish and Ultima bronze 004.JPG
 
Hmmm… that is some beautiful gloss. I have a 1956 Ford T-bird that will seriously benefit from this application. There is no orange peal and the surface is glass flat but no where near the gloss level. I need to try this on a cool fall day

nice ride by the way!
 
Hmmm… that is some beautiful gloss. I have a 1956 Ford T-bird that will seriously benefit from this application. There is no orange peal and the surface is glass flat but no where near the gloss level. I need to try this on a cool fall day
you don't want to apply a coating anywhere but inside a garage ! Its not just wipe on , wipe off ... if you wait too long before wiping, you'll have to sand it off , lol

Nice on having a Tbird ! I polished and coated Marilyn Monroes Tbird ....

pink 9.jpg
 
Wow….that is a sweetheart ….. it’s also in the scope of my age and appreciation… well done ..always a Marilyn movie fan. Light and entertaining
4ECEDF19-408B-48AE-93B8-DC1F7E900B37.jpeg
 
Wow….that is a sweetheart ….. it’s also in the scope of my age and appreciation… well done ..always a Marilyn movie fan. Light and entertainingView attachment 3018546
You'll need to polish it with a D A ... I use a rupes big foot 21mm , various pads , good self diminishing compound and then finer and finer polishes till you get the super high gloss , then solvent to remove those polishing oils and a wash in Dawn soap , then start to coat ! That Bentley had 5 coats of Ceramic Pro on it ! 4 coats of 9H and 1 coat of Light ! Then once your car cures completely from what ever true ceramic coating you get ( sprays are not true ) then your car will require less washings and you'll see dirt just blow off , and it just stays cleaner longer and is easy to maintain ! Oh and one last tip ... Always dry your car with a air dryer or leaf blower ...
 
heres after my final polish on her car
Pink 4.jpg
 
Once again….wow! Looks like a skating rink. Once my garage is done, this looks like the second project going in. I’ve printed your sequence as a reminder. Excellent work

you know, you can see the color difference in the fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling from the reflection. The middle bulb is warmer
 
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I have hundreds of examples of polished and coated cars ... I'll post some when I get home ...
 
1936 Ford I sanded and polished and coated ... "detailers selfie" ...
1936 Ford 006.JPG
 
and his 58 truck I did as well
58 chevy 3.jpg
 
47 ford
008.JPG
 
55 Nomad
55 nomad 1.jpg
 
64 Hemi Polara
Hemi 1.jpg
 

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