Buffing Out New Paint

[rusty bumper]

Hi All,

My brother's son has been learning the body shop trade of late, and he painted his father's truck for him this week. But he hasn't learned the craft well enough to do any wet sanding and buffing that normally goes with a new paint job, so my brother called and asked me if I could buff the finish with my DA and #83.....Or maybe the DA and #84.

I know that #84 is more suited for the rotary buffer, but is it possible to improvise here and use it with the DA, or would I be better off just using the #83/DA combo?

My brother said the paint job looked pretty good as is.

I forgot whether it was clear-coated or not.

Thanks,

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Rusty,

When you say,

Can I buff the paint with my dual action polisher?


The answer is "Yes"


If you mean,

"Can I wet sand the paint and then remove the sanding marks using a dual action polisher?

The answer is "No"

It wold be one thing to work on a sanded section the size of your palm, on fresh paint finishing with #3000 grit, then the answer would be "Maybe", if the paint's real soft and you're really good with the polisher.

When you're talking about sanding down each panel and then efficiently and effectively removing the sanding marks, then the answer is no the only way to do this is with a rotary buffer.

Does that make sense?

[Mike Phillips]

Your brother's son would really benefit from our "How To Remove Paint Defects" video...

Watch our how-to video here,

How to remove paint defects

Or you can purchase it here,

Professional Education Series Video

[rusty bumper]

My apologies Mike..........I was thinking of just trying to buff the paint without the sanding part.

I've never wet sanded a vehicle's paint before, so I told my brother that I would rather not try that on his truck.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Rusty Bumper
My apologies Mike..........I was thinking of just trying to buff the paint without the sanding part.

I've never wet sanded a vehicle's paint before, so I told my brother that I would rather not try that on his truck.

In this case, then just use M80 Speed Glaze with the dual action polisher on the 4.0 to 5.0 setting. This will leave the finish looking awesome. As soon as the painters says it's okay to wax, the apply a coat of your favorite wax.

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Your brother's son would really benefit from our "How To Remove Paint Defects" video...

I happen to have that video myself......I think I'll make a copy and send it to him......Thanks for the idea!

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
In this case, then just use M80 Speed Glaze with the dual action polisher on the 4.0 to 5.0 setting. This will leave the finish looking awesome. As soon as the painters says it's okay to wax, the apply a coat of your favorite wax.

I did just that to the hood of our Dodge last year after it was painted. #80 protected the finish while the paint was curing, and even after having to park it under a sweet gum tree for a year, the hood still looks great with regular care, and with no etching to speak of.

[the other pc]

Everybody I’ve heard of who tried to skip the rotary and go straight to the G-100 was unsuccessful.

Maybe if you go far beyond the usual 1500 or 2000 grit final wetsanding and step the paper to 6000 or 8000 is could work.

Of course, since he’s learning the trade, it would be best for him to learn how to wetsand and use the rotary. Meguiar’s video is great.

In addition to learning to use Meguiar’s Unigrit products for hand sanding I would also highly recommend the Mirka system of abrasives for power sanding.


PC.

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by the other pc
Everybody I’ve heard of who tried to skip the rotary and go straight to the G-100 was unsuccessful.PC.

I hope to have my own rotary one day, but wet sanding is new territory for me.........I might try it one day though.

Thanks for the links.

I remember in the Meguiar video where I saw a pneumatic DA sanding the paint with what looked like dry sandpaper. I thought the sandpaper was supposed to be wet?

[the other pc]

The air sander, hook&loop abrasive disks and interface pad shown in the video are from the Mirka system.

The Mirka Royal Micro disks are designed to be used wet or dry. Used dry they actually cut less aggressively than when wet and allow you to gauge the progress of your work without stopping to squeegee the surface. You do have to clean the disk and surface often to avoid getting “pigtails” from rolled up balls of paint particles (swarf).

I was a little worried before I first tried it but once I did I was convinced. It’s a great system.

The Royal Micro papers (1500 grit) are used to flatten the surface. Then you change to their Abralon foam pads (2000 and 4000 grit) to remove the scratch from the papers. The scratch from the 4000 grit Abralon pads is easily removed with a rotary polisher and foam cutting pads. Even with more sanding steps the process goes faster and the results are better and more consistent because sanding is faster than buffing and you don’t need to use a wool pad with the rotary.


PC.