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This used to be a hobby of mine, but I kind of quit doing it due to lack of a good space to do it in. However, it's about time I really polished up the Porsche. My big dirty secret is that I bought a PorterCable 7424XP a few years ago and then never learned to use it. Does anyone have a kind of idiot's step-by-step guide for what I should be doing with it? Assume that I'm starting with paint that has minor swirls throughout but is perfect otherwise and I'm going to have to buy all new pads. PainterofCrap posted:Not sure if this is the right thread for this, but I have an unrestored 1966 Pontiac which has very beat-up & faded factory enamel paint on the hood & trunk surfaces. I have no real experience in detailing. I have tried polishing compound, polish, isopropyl alcohol, dish detergent, hand waxing, machine buffing with wax, and it still looks like crap. The only thing that seems to have any improvement is that 'color back' wax stuff but even that doesn't look right. All the things you've used are good at polishing up already good paint, but they won't do much on truly damaged paint. They're just not abrasive enough. Wax, hand waxing, buffing with wax, all of that doesn't do a drat thing to make the paint look better. All it does is protect paint that already looks good -- paint looks as good as it's ever going to look right before you put wax on it. So what you need is to attack the problem with something that can actually treat the damage by "sanding off" the damaged paint. I prefer 3M's Perfect-It II Rubbing Compound. It's not cheap, but it's worth every penny and it can be used by hand or by machine. Be sure to read the directions, the application and removal are different than wax. Don't be surprised if you need more than one application if the paint is seriously damaged. After that, you're going to be left with some microfine scratches in the paint, so you'll also need Swirl Mark Remover. Again, this is not wax, don't apply it like wax. Also, these products can be used to remove discoloration and cloudiness from modern headlights. If those can't bring your car up to a good shine einTier fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Mar 26, 2012 |
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Mar 26, 2012 18:56
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slidebite posted:So what's the best way to get a light scuff off a clear coat?
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Mar 26, 2012 19:09
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slidebite posted:It's interesting you say that. An acquaintance told me to stay away from rubbing compound... and instead try polishing compound? I am not even sure what the difference is but I assume polishing isn't as "coarse" as rubbing.. or do I have it backwards? Everyone's afraid of rubbing compound. If you're using it with a rotary buffer, sure, there's reason to be worried. If the paint is severely damaged, meaning it's oxidized/worn/damaged to the point that it's wearing off the car, then rubbing compound is going to cause more harm than good. But otherwise, you can use it pretty freely without worrying about much. To burn through a coat of paint with RC by hand would require literally hours of polishing on one spot and so many applications that you might use the whole bottle. Think of it like 800 grit sandpaper. If you're sanding a piece of wood with that by hand, you're never going to go through a whole piece of it. If you're using a power sander, you might be able to if you really worked at it. And of course, you're going to have to go back with something like 1200 if you really want a smooth finish. Same thing with Rubbing Compound and Swirl Mark Remover. Trying to use any consumer-grade polishing compound is like trying to sand that same block with your fingertips. Over a long period of time, you might see some change, but it's going to be a mostly pointless exercise.
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Mar 26, 2012 20:51
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atomicthumbs posted:
quote:There are little black dots all over the roof. They aren't pits. However, I'm going to title this "Never Give Up". I bought a 1987 944 Turbo about a month ago. Severe paint damage on the hood and roof. It had a distinct matte finish that reflected no light. It had been improperly wet sanded in the past and then left to rot. The seller believed it could only be fixed with a repaint. Seriously, bad.   But, here's how it looked wet.  I was optimistic. I started with a clay bar. You really can't start to polish until you get all the chemically bonded crap off the car. It didn't seem to do much, but the paint felt smoother. Which was pretty much what I expected, clay bars are only mildly abrasive. So I got to work with a little bit of 3M's Perfect-It II Rubbing Compound. After quite a bit of work, I had this:  So my suspicions were confirmed. It could be fixed. At least some of it. The problem was, doing the entire car by hand would be impossible -- or at least, unthinkable due to the work involved. I had a Porter-Cable 7424 dual action polisher in the garage that I'd never really figured out how to use. Now seemed like a good time as I really needed it and I couldn't possibly make the paint worse, could I? I watched a few videos online and ordered a Lake Creek Orange pad (heavy cutting) and a white pad (polishing). Then I went to work.  That was the first few passes on one side as I was learning how to work the buffer. Not bad.  After a lot of work, the polish came back. However, you can still see some oxidation in this photo. I just had to keep hitting it and hitting it and hitting it. On the upside, Porsche paint is very thick and very hard, and once paint has set this long, it's exceptionally hard, which means that it's nearly impossible to wreck it. Of course, the downside is that it's nearly impossible to work it. Each pass represented only marginal improvement, and even with the buffer, it's hard work.   This is how it looks today. I've still got some work to do, I'll probably make two or three more passes over targeted areas to remove the last of the oxidation. Unfortunately, there's some damage that just isn't fixable and fixing the rest of the paint has really made it stand out. Part of it I think is a poor paint repair and blending a decade or more ago, and some of it is damage from some kind of solvent that has bubbled the paint. There's also some heavy scratches around a couple of the damaged areas -- I think the wet sander was trying to dig out the damage -- and while they don't go through the paint, I'm afraid to buff them back down to flat. Still, coming from where it was? I'm happy. Full Gallery, for those interested. einTier fucked around with this message at 19:40 on May 30, 2013 |
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May 30, 2013 19:38
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Wow, that is incredible progress! You could probably turn around and flip the car right now for an instant profit. For what it's worth, this project has completely redefined for me what kind of paint damage is fixable.
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May 30, 2013 20:18
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atomicthumbs posted:Which bits are you talking about - clay bar for the roof spots or for the chips/rust? Are you saying that the dots are paint? (I am probably totally misunderstanding you) The little black dots on the roof. They should be removable with a clay bar, if they are as you describe. No matter what, before you do any heavy polishing, a clay bar is your first step, and on paint that damaged, it will need it.
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May 30, 2013 23:10
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ratbert90 posted:That 944 looks amazing! Great work! My suggestion for your buffer though is to go with M105/M205, it will cut a TON better. Not sure I can get a wool pad for my 7424. I'll keep an eye out for the M105. I was thinking about getting a heavier cut compound, but I was getting close to the end and didn't see the need any more. This is the first time I've had to deal with seriously damaged paint. There's still some marks I've not gotten out. One day when I feel like doing that, I'll make sure to use the M105.
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May 31, 2013 08:06
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ratbert90 posted:megs sells a wool pad to be used with megs 105. Again though, wool pads are meant for tough jobs like that. Heck in your case I would have busted out the wool pad and a rotary buffer and medium speed; that's getting into the danger zone though. LANA! Seriously, I agree with you. It's just what I had, and I hadn't mastered that yet. If I encounter the same thing again, I'll probably buy a rotary buffer and try my hand at it. It's just spooky knowing that you really don't know how to use it, but if you use it wrong, you can easily ruin the paint forever.
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Jun 3, 2013 17:29
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ratbert90 posted:Seriously, don't wetsand a whole car by hand, you just bought a PC7424XP.
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Jun 19, 2013 07:34
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Cozmosis posted:http://imgur.com/n4yMoPY What I would do is look for an exact duplicate on eBay or copartfinder. You should be able to get a perfect replacement off a crashed car for less than $50. You'll easily spend more than that trying to rescue this one. Even a real replacement at $90 isn't all that bad. If you don't want to do that, hit it with some rubbing compound and see what you can pull out. You might be able to knock it down to something you can live with. A good rubbing compound like 3M's perfect-it II will run around $10. Use a towel or a hand pad and just keep rubbing with that stuff until it flakes off. Keep doing that until you don't see any more improvement.
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Jun 23, 2013 02:18
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