Masking a car off: am I a chump?

[Mike Phillips]

From the description of the results you're seeing, the defects in the paint to start with and the products, pads and process you're using, it would appear that the clear coat finish on your Corvette is pretty hard.

Kind of backs up most/all of my experience working on modern Corvettes. If this car were in my garage and I was working on it my next choice would be M84 with a W-7006 foam cutting pad. This would be a more aggressive approach while still being very gentle. It's what we used on this truck just the other day ago to remove most of the swirls, tracers, and RIDS...



Because of one of the diminishing abrasives used in M84 you'll have to do a follow up pass with the rotary buffer going over each panel using a less aggressive product like the M83 or the ZPC and then follow that with a pass over each panel using either your Cyclo or the DAP again with a cleaner/polish like the M80 or the ZPC

Then go to wax, (or polish in the case of Z)

Heck, drive it on over here Bob and I'll give you hand with it...

This is supposed to show up at my door tonight or tomorrow morning for preparation for the DUB show... we'll knock em both out together...





Wipe the wax off and hit the Road Bob, I'll leave the light on for you...

[Aurora40]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Wipe the wax off and hit the Road Bob, I'll leave the light on for you...

LOL! You won't have to turn the light on until about Wednesday then. That's like a 2800 mile drive! Even at 180mph, that's gonna take some time.

Thanks for the suggestions Mike. I will try M84 next, though I will try it out on one of the other cars first just to get a feel for it.

I think next time I'll just do part of the car at a time. All I did today was the hood with the rotary, then the Cyclo, and I'm beat... I'll finish Cycloing the rest of the car tomorrow.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Aurora40
LOL! You won't have to turn the light on until about Wednesday then. That's like a 2800 mile drive! Even at 180mph, that's gonna take some time.

Thanks for the suggestions Mike. I will try M84 next, though I will try it out on one of the other cars first just to get a feel for it.

I think next time I'll just do part of the car at a time.

Good idea, just do a panel with whatever products you use and take your time.

I had a gentleman that is in his 70's come to one of our classes with a 04 Corvette filled with swirls. About 7 months later he comes back for a second time and shows me his Corvette's finish...

99.9% flawless

He told me he did a panel at a time.

All I did today was the hood with the rotary, then the Cyclo, and I'm beat... I'll finish Cycloing the rest of the car tomorrow.

Yeah... a lot of people don't understand how much work it is..

[Superior Shine]

This is supposed to show up at my door tonight or tomorrow morning for preparation for the DUB show... we'll knock em both out together...

I will perparing a black avalanch for the DUB show as well.

[Five Star]

Originally posted by Superior Shine
We tape to protect edges and parts we feel will get damaged if "kissed" the buffing pad.

That being said I take about 10 min. to tape off what I am going to tape off. Usually I just tape of rubber and plastic trim.

I do this for a living and out labor rate is $50+ per hour. If I took allot of time to tape off the car the job would be really expensive if added to what we already charge to polish it.


To clean up splatter we wash the vehicle.

I dont understand how you save time when your rewashing the vehicle afterward, whether you take time to mask it off, its still gonna take time to wash the vehicle.

enlighten me

[Aurora40]

Originally posted by Five Star
I dont understand how you save time when your rewashing the vehicle afterward, whether you take time to mask it off, its still gonna take time to wash the vehicle.

enlighten me

If it takes 45 minutes to wash vs 90 minutes to mask, then you save 45 minutes. Even if it takes 30 minutes to just tape off rubber/trim you'd still save 15 minutes.

Plus depending it might be nice to wash anyway as panels will get buffer dust on them to a degree.

I think I'll keep masking, but I can see how there are alternatives if you prefer doing something different.

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

I always mask off a car when I am using a rotary. I usually do not get sling that often, but it only takes one oops and you have added a lot of work for yourself.

Over time, you get really fast at papering and masking. I have a huge roll of "roll ends" that I bought at a local newspaper. I use this and the blue masking tape. I have found that using newspaper is tediuous as you have to unfold this, straighten that...etc... . Using the paper roll, I just unroll what I need for a windshield etc.

Some companies make masking rolls of paper with tape already on it. Just unroll it and tape it to the part to be covered. I believe Norton Abrasives may be one of the compaines. It is obviously more expensive to do it that way, compared to my roll ends, but it does speed up the process a little more.

Cheers!

Tim

[Superior Shine]

Originally posted by Five Star
I dont understand how you save time when your rewashing the vehicle afterward, whether you take time to mask it off, its still gonna take time to wash the vehicle.

enlighten me

Wash may not be the proper word. I RINSE the vehicle,no soap no scrubbing.

We rinse and dry a car in about 10 min.

[Mike Phillips]

For what it's worth, I've watched Joe work, he's fast and efficient... no wasted moves, no wasted energy... he's more or less a machine... think Terminator...

[Five Star]

Originally posted by Superior Shine
Wash may not be the proper word. I RINSE the vehicle,no soap no scrubbing.

We rinse and dry a car in about 10 min.

Ok, i gotcha now.. I was under the assumption you rewashed the entire car afterward

I'll give it a try

[Mike Phillips]

After compounding the Joker today, I washed the entire truck with soap and water to remove all residue before moving on...