Please Review My Cut, Compound and Buff Plan

[Quick Strike]

I have a car that was painted with single stage enamel Nason paint about 10 years ago. It was never reassembled after painting. I want to refinish the paint before putting it together and adding the trim. It was painted with hardener in a makeshift booth, and has some nibs and slight orange peel.

I was reading here and looking for information on the web. So far I have a used Makita 9227C, a wool pad and some 3M foam polishing pads. So, the plan is to wet sand with 1500 and then 2500. Then, I was going to use the wool pad with some 3D AAT 501 Cutting Compound followed by 3D AAT 502 finishing Polish on the foam polishing pad. I see that there is a more abrasive 3D ACA 500 X-tra Cut Compound to be used with 3D ACA 520 Finishing Polish. Is the more expensive X-tra Cut and polish necessary in my case? Do I need to go to 3000 paper beyond the 2500, or is 2500 enough with the aggressiveness of the 501 cutting compound? Are their any other steps/tricks/materials I am missing here?

Thanks - Steve

[Len]

I have a car that was painted with single stage enamel Nason paint about 10 years ago. It was never reassembled after painting. I want to refinish the paint before putting it together and adding the trim. It was painted with hardener in a makeshift booth, and has some nibs and slight orange peel.

I was reading here and looking for information on the web. So far I have a used Makita 9227C, a wool pad and some 3M foam polishing pads. So, the plan is to wet sand with 1500 and then 2500. Then, I was going to use the wool pad with some 3D AAT 501 Cutting Compound followed by 3D AAT 502 finishing Polish on the foam polishing pad. I see that there is a more abrasive 3D ACA 500 X-tra Cut Compound to be used with 3D ACA 520 Finishing Polish. Is the more expensive X-tra Cut and polish necessary in my case? Do I need to go to 3000 paper beyond the 2500, or is 2500 enough with the aggressiveness of the 501 cutting compound? Are their any other steps/tricks/materials I am missing here?

Thanks - Steve

Sorry, I've never used 3D products but IF it's anything like Wizard's Mystic Cut the 2500 should be fine enough to buff out.

[Bob K]

If the pads are new, great. If you got used pads with the buffer they may have contamination that could mess up your paint. I am exceedingly careful with my pads and never let them touch the ground or a dirty part of a car. One or two little stones trapped in the pad will make a mess you can’t clean up with buffing.

Bob K

[Henry]

I have a car that was painted with single stage enamel Nason paint about 10 years ago. It was never reassembled after painting. I want to refinish the paint before putting it together and adding the trim. It was painted with hardener in a makeshift booth, and has some nibs and slight orange peel.

I was reading here and looking for information on the web. So far I have a used Makita 9227C, a wool pad and some 3M foam polishing pads. So, the plan is to wet sand with 1500 and then 2500. Then, I was going to use the wool pad with some 3D AAT 501 Cutting Compound followed by 3D AAT 502 finishing Polish on the foam polishing pad. I see that there is a more abrasive 3D ACA 500 X-tra Cut Compound to be used with 3D ACA 520 Finishing Polish. Is the more expensive X-tra Cut and polish necessary in my case? Do I need to go to 3000 paper beyond the 2500, or is 2500 enough with the aggressiveness of the 501 cutting compound? Are their any other steps/tricks/materials I am missing here?

Thanks - Steve

Welcome Aboard!

Couple things for you to keep in your mind as you continue. First off is to ask, is this paint a solid color or metallic? If metallic, you need to understand that the metallic normally sits toward the top surface. Secondly, unless you painted it, you have no idea how much paint is on the surface and ENAMEL (probably Acrylic Enamel (AE) was not really intended to be sanded & buffed in the same manner as a CLEAR COAT. But some lighter sanding and buffing can be done - I've done it many times without harm but I also had my gun nearby and did have plenty of paint left.

If mine, I would try in a more inconspicuous area and not be too aggressive. I have attached a LINK to sanding & buffing OEM paint for your review. (This was done and written by our RESIDENT EXPERT on final finish of paint - Robert)

http://www.autobodystore.com/rsw.shtml

Keep us posted.

Henry

PS: This is step 12 of what Robert is showing and should be applied to ANY buffing with a wool pad to avoid heat buildup which will burn thru the paint. This is also known as how to "Season The Pad".

Picture #12 I put a little water on my hand and run the pad against my wet hand to drive some water into the pad. I’ll repeat this a few times till I’ve got the pad just slightly damp, not really wet. A little water helps the polish stay in the pad and gives the pad a bit more weight to drive the abrasive into the paint. This makes for cleaner and faster cut.

[Quick Strike]

Thank you all for the information. It is a solid color with no metallic and over a gallon went on it. I am just going to say I know the painter (I am not yet willing to publicly admit that I painted a car and left it blown apart in my barn for 10 years). There is, however, about a quart of un-activated paint here for some reason. The polisher is used but the pads and backing plate are new and on there way here. I will be carful to make sure they stay out of harms way and are handled appropriately. There is a great amount of information in the link provided to Robert's tutorial. I will be visiting it again and again as I go along. 3D had some very helpful videos on YouTube and there was a good compounds comparison here. Let's see how this goes!

Steve

[tommie.b]

The paint will be rock hard but you can take your time and get great results. I do know the 3D products work nice. Good Luck

[Henry]

Thank you all for the information. It is a solid color with no metallic and over a gallon went on it. I am just going to say I know the painter (I am not yet willing to publicly admit that I painted a car and left it blown apart in my barn for 10 years). There is, however, about a quart of un-activated paint here for some reason. The polisher is used but the pads and backing plate are new and on there way here. I will be carful to make sure they stay out of harms way and are handled appropriately. There is a great amount of information in the link provided to Robert's tutorial. I will be visiting it again and again as I go along. 3D had some very helpful videos on YouTube and there was a good compounds comparison here. Let's see how this goes!

Steve

Car looks good from here. Is that a 65 or 66 Buick?

As tommie.b said, you will get there. I like to tell people NOT to look at the whole car when colorsanding but rather an area, 18 X 18 at a time and just keep going! Nothing you can't do!

Henry

[Quick Strike]

Very good eye! it is a 65 Buick Gran Sport. I bought it from a guy who was losing his storage and I wanted the heads that been ported by a well known Buick guy. He would not sell just the heads. I bought it with the intent of keeping the heads and parting it out. I got it all home and realized it had a rebuilt original short block in a bag and all of the numbers matching parts and documentation. That is when I made the fateful decision to make it my personal albatross and spend the rest of my life completing its restoration. There is definitely a love/hate thing going on. I have always enjoyed modifying cars to my liking. Putting one back to stock is very hard for me, but seeing the progress at certain stages is enjoyable. I just wish it was done!

[Quick Strike]

I am making some progress on this at last. I have a door and the right quarter panel done. I got the covid virus right after most of the stuff came to do the job. It took me three weeks to recover. My son, home from college for a few weeks, got it from a friend and passed it on to me. He recovered in 7 days. I had been so careful...........

I am finding the wool pad and compound are leaving some rotary scratches that I can't clean up with the foam pad and polish. I have sanded with 1500 and then 2500 before compounding. On the door, I re-sanded with 2500 after finding the marks. I then used compound and the wool pad lightly followed by the foam pad and polish. It came out like a mirror. I am thinking I should get a heavy cut foam pad instead of the wool pad and re-compound the quarter followed by the polish and lighter foam pad. Am I on the right track here? Maybe there is some junk in the pad, but I have kept it clean and in a bag when not in use. Maybe I should cut it with 2500 again before compounding? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks - Steve

BTW - I did burn through to the primer in a few spots on the door, but I have the hang of hanging back and being careful near the edges now. It is good to have the extra paint left over now. I should be able to spot them in.

[Len]

I am making some progress on this at last. I have a door and the right quarter panel done. I got the covid virus right after most of the stuff came to do the job. It took me three weeks to recover. My son, home from college for a few weeks, got it from a friend and passed it on to me. He recovered in 7 days. I had been so careful...........

I am finding the wool pad and compound are leaving some rotary scratches that I can't clean up with the foam pad and polish. I have sanded with 1500 and then 2500 before compounding. On the door, I re-sanded with 2500 after finding the marks. I then used compound and the wool pad lightly followed by the foam pad and polish. It came out like a mirror. I am thinking I should get a heavy cut foam pad instead of the wool pad and re-compound the quarter followed by the polish and lighter foam pad. Am I on the right track here? Maybe there is some junk in the pad, but I have kept it clean and in a bag when not in use. Maybe I should cut it with 2500 again before compounding? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks - Steve

BTW - I did burn through to the primer in a few spots on the door, but I have the hang of hanging back and being careful near the edges now. It is good to have the extra paint left over now. I should be able to spot them in.

An orbital polisher is the right tool for removing buffing swirls but other than that sometimes it pays to use a rippled pad like the 3M5725 and good polish.

LINK

[Quick Strike]

Len, That 3M pad is the one I am using with the finishing polish, but it is not getting some of the semicircular scratches left by the wool pad and compound. I am going to stop until the foam cutting pad arrives. I will try the foam cutting pad and compound on the quarter on those scratches in an area and see how it looks. Then I will use the finishing pad and polish and see if there is an improvement. If not, I will re-sand with 2500 and start over with the compound and then polish. Lots left to learn here!

Steve

[Len]

Len, That 3M pad is the one I am using with the finishing polish, but it is not getting some of the semicircular scratches left by the wool pad and compound. I am going to stop until the foam cutting pad arrives. I will try the foam cutting pad and compound on the quarter on those scratches in an area and see how it looks. Then I will use the finishing pad and polish and see if there is an improvement. If not, I will re-sand with 2500 and start over with the compound and then polish. Lots left to learn here!

Steve

Be sure to use a FINE compound/polish so that you don't create more swirls. Most folks that do a lot of this use an orbital which makes swirl removal go quickly.

[Quick Strike]

Thanks - The polish and 3m foam pad doesn't seem to add more scratches. They just wont take up some of the ones left by the wool pad and compound away. The expense of the used Makita rotary and it's equipment already has me pretty far into this project. I want to find a way to make it work without buying more expensive tools if I can.

Steve

[Quick Strike]

Just a follow-up: The foam cutting pad arrived and I re-compounded the entire quarter panel. There seemed to be less rotary scratches then the wool pad left. It may also be that less pressure was used or maybe there was something on the pad. It is harder to judge pressure when working vertically and I may just be better at it now. Most of the rotary scratches were removed with a pass of the polish and polishing pad. The remaining ones came out with another pass with the polish and pad. I am very happy with how shiny it is starting to look and the clear reflections now visible in the paint.

Thanks for all your help - Steve