sanding and buffing of paint job

[bighealeysource]

Hey all,
Anyone have some good tips or reference sites to guide
me as I cut and buff my paint job ? Know how to do it
but looking for tips so I don't make a mistake. Maybe something
on You Tube ?
Thanks,
Mike

 

[jsfbond]

Water is your friend. That and patience.

 

[Bayless]

Mainly be very careful around any edges and ridges. Also, probably start with one grit finer than you think is right as a precaution.

 

[abarth69]

Send a PM to Britishautobody or he will be along soon

Cheers

Mark

 

[Grantura_MKI]

There are many tricks. One is masking tape on all edges to avoid burning through the paint. Another is to use a small amount of dish washing detergent in the water. Be sure to switch out the paper often and if you hear any scratching noise, throw the paper out. Squeegie often to make sure you have sanded the surface flat. Most important is to have a clean area free of dust, dirt and flying objects.
Cheers,
D.

 

[big6]

I have had the best success with the 3m Perfect-It system. Use the recommended 3m foam pads (white pad for buffing and Black pad for finishing). I have a Milwaukee variable speed buffer allowing you to start slow to buff and increase speed with final polishing. The variable speed buffer and foam pads makes if difficult to overheat and damage the finish. If you insist using a wool pad be very careful!

Using either technique use caution and /or apply tape to the edges or you will find yourself wanting to go to the bar and drink away frustration. Drink responsively!!!

 

[Grantura_MKI]

I agree this the last post as far as products. Do not use a wool pad on painted areas. Be sure to clean the pads often...a screw driver will do if you have nothing else. I have used a Mil for many years, but do not put the speed up past 1700. As a rule, touch the surface that you think is good for heat before buffing more in the area. This is a learned area of finishing.
Cheers,
D.

 

[aerog]

Anyone have some good tips or reference sites to guide
me as I cut and buff my paint job ?

https://www.autopia.org

 

[Britishautobody]

Wow, not a easy question to answer in a short forum window.
Personally I am afraid to have anyone buff and sand my work but me, reason is one sand through or buffed edge and you will have to start back over on that panel or panels. The longer your paint sits the harder it will be to buff out the scratches, not true for every paint but most, we call it missing the "window".
I will be refinishing a buff through today on a 67 MGB I buffed ,my own rare Oops!
Knowing when too stop sanding a finish and how long too sit in one place with a buffer are extremely important, stay a 1/8 to 1/4 inch away from any edges, tape off if need be. Wet sand with a 1200 grit or 1500 or 2000 grit wet or dry sand paper.
For your first time start out with 1500 then finish with a 2000, pick a small area on one panel ,sand it smooth or nearly smooth and stop sanding,you want to leave as much material on the car as possible. Pick a light buffer like a Makita,use a valcro wool 3M or a Napa wool cutting pad, they are more aggressive for scratches with less heat then a Foam pad for the first cut etc. Use a 3m Perfect it II compound, great overall product. You should be able to polish out nearly 90 percent of the scratches this way. Then follow up with a foam cutting pad with the same compound. After wards use a waffle pad with either MCguires diamond cut or some other final polish of your choice.
Always keep the buffer moving,stay off the edges of the pad, polish using 1/3 of the pad face keep the speed slow when learning buffer control and to not overheat the paint.
I need to upgrade my computer before I can put training videos on my website.I would strongly recommend going to a shop and asking if you can watch then buff and sand a panel or find a video so you can see what you are trying to achieve each step of the way. A great buff job is a art and skill,even the best have problems from time to time, just take your time.

 

[PC]

To maximize the quality of your results and reduce the amount of buffing needed, use abrasives specifically designed for paint finishing.

All whateverthousand grit paper is <span style="font-style: italic">not</span> created equal. Abrasive grading is based on <span style="font-style: italic">average</span> grit. This means that a paper graded as P2000 can have some percentage of particles that are bigger, P1500, P1200, etc. So the scratch pattern it produces will have some percentage of deeper gouges than if they were all the same size.

When you buff, you need to remove paint down to the bottom of the <span style="font-style: italic">deepest</span> scratches to get a clear finish. So if your abrasives are more consistent you don’t have to cut as deeply with your compounding. You’ll get better results with less work and less overall paint removed.

Abrasives like Meguiar’s Unigrit papers, Micro-Mesh, Mirka’s Abalon pads and 3M’s Trizact disks have extremely uniform grit sizing and distribution. They’ll produce much better results with less effort than standard abrasives.

I agree that sanding and buffing paint is both an art and a skill. Doing it well requires practice and experience. Don’t expect it to go perfectly your first time out. Don’t be surprised if you ruin and need to re-do panels before you get the hang of it.

Here’s the absolute best “how to” series on the subject on Youtube. (Note that the instructor, Mike, issues repeated warnings that watching the demonstration won’t make you proficient. It takes practice.)

The products used are obviously from one particular manufacturer's range but the techniques and principles apply to anybody's products.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Wetsanding part 1 of 5</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Wetsanding part 2 of 5</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Wetsanding part 3 of 5</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Wetsanding part 4 of 5</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Wetsanding part 5 of 5</span>


pc.

 

[Britishautobody]

As I ponder a novel could be written alone on this subject, Different chemical compounds will cut different paints <remove scratches> at different rates. Let us know what paint you used and someone will chime in from experience as to what works best for your product. It will save you time and shorten your learning curve. There are allot of good tips posted here. Good luck!

 

[bighealeysource]

Hey y'all,
THANK YOU all very much for the advice, warnings, etc as I "considered"
cut and buffing the paint myself. After reading everyone's thoughts think'
this is one where I am far better off to take to someone who knows what
they are doing and pay to have him do it !!!! I painted a MG TC twenty some
years ago in lacquer to try to stay with an original type paint and had
to spend many hours on that paint job and never was that happy with it. My
Healey BN6 has a beautiful black paint job and I sure don't want to bugger
it up. Thanks PC for the links to the YouTube series as will watch those
to pick up some hints on simply polishing - no sanding - the finish.
Many thanks,
Mike

 

[bighealeysource]

Hey again,
Just watched the 5 part series that PC suggested and it is great ! Lot of
great info and reinforces my decision to have a pro do my car. But lot
of good tips for polishing down the road, how to even hold the polisher, etc.
Regards,
Mike