85 replies to this topic

[cooper_shaz]

You can see the full details in the projects section, but here is the flatting and polishing guide
Cheers.

clicky

Well at the weekend i decided it was time to finish the estate of as the paint had long enough to cure.

Sorry about the poor pics, left the camera at home, so used the phone camera,

Although the finish was good, it could be better


So first thing to do was to clean down the car
and then using wet and dry 1500, and soapy water the flatting process began

I did this in a way that anyone can follow, no special tools etc.

So the first step was to wet the bonnet, for this I use a spray bottle with soapy water.
The paint is rubbed with the 1500 until all the little shiny bits of paint including dimples etc have turned dull.



I tend to use a Hydra blade, but here a wiper blade was used to clean away the water so you can look closely at the paint for shiny bits. If you look closely at the pic below you can see a couple little bits, this is fine but the smoother your paint the better your shine.



The effect you are looking for is this pic below


But keep looking at the paint otherwise you can rub through it.

Work your way round the car flatting all the paint down in the same method


Then after using G3 (will come back to this) and the buffer this was the effect

It has not been polished at this point...!


It does take alot of effort so work on one panel at a time

The polishing after the flatting procedure.
You need a buffer (Not angle Grinder) you are looking for a variable speed buffer that goes from about 1000 - 3000 rpm ish
Use a G3 compound and loads of water and polish the panel until you see it shine.
Do not let the panel go dry, keep putting water on it or it will scorch the paint.

This should leave the following effect


You can see better in this pic what it looks like after a quick wipe


and again


and after a quick hand polish


Nice and shiny

and another


and look at the reflection of the tail light on the door all worth it

[Amy]

I've got that job ahead of me in a couple of weeks.... After restoring Momo our mini van I swore never to do another car again, it's a lot of hard work.

But here we are again, spending even longer on the woody estate!

How long did you leave your paint to cure by the way? I was thinking a few weeks would be plenty this time.......



It's worth all the effort when people say how lovely and shiney your mini is

Looks really good by the way Shaz!

[cooper_shaz]

Hi Amy

I left it for about 2 weeks, basically had to do a couple little bits for the MOT so did them first.
It was baked in the oven but the longer you leave it the better it is.

Loving the look of your project too....!!

Fantastic..!

[Amy]

Ours is cellulose so it didn't need baking!

Thanks.... We're really getting on with Toad now, but there's sooo much to get done before the Riv Run (our target finish date).

To be honest, I'm glad I'm past the stage of funny coloured bogeys. At least the cutting back stage doesn't create dry dust!.... hehehehe

[cooper_shaz]

Ours is cellulose so it didn't need baking!

Thanks.... We're really getting on with Toad now, but there's sooo much to get done before the Riv Run (our target finish date).

To be honest, I'm glad I'm past the stage of funny coloured bogeys. At least the cutting back stage doesn't create dry dust!.... hehehehe

hahahhahahahah , you cant beat multi coloured bogeys...

[jack_marshall]

Very good guide.

I dont think you mentioned about keeping the wet and dry constantly soaking wet. If you keep rubbing and rubbing and it suddenly feels "scratchy" as your rubbing, chances are your going to make a nice mess of your new paint!

Keep the wet and dry constantly soaked, using plenty of soap to make it glide easier.

Just thought I'd sa

[Super Mario]

Does this work over bonnet stripes and other decals? Or will they peal off?

Is there an alternative to using an electric buffer?

Thanks.

[cooper_shaz]

Does this work over bonnet stripes and other decals? Or will they peal off?

Is there an alternative to using an electric buffer?

Thanks.

It depends on how the bonnet stripes are done, if they are vinyl adhesive type then , no, you just polish round them.

If they are painted on and laquered in so that the panel is smooth then yes it will work.

As an alternative to the elec buffer there is good old elbow grease, but it will be a heck of a hard job through

[Amy]

As an alternative to the elec buffer there is good old elbow grease, but it will be a heck of a hard job through

Tell me about it.... We've just ordered a pro polisher so I can get on with the car.... The last mini I cut back didn't have as much paint on it, which meant less orange peel, so I did that by hand.

Toad has had sooo much paint that it's killing me trying to cut it back by hand. The main job using the 1500 paper is just as hard, but the polisher will definitely make my life a little easier when it arrives!!

[minipixie]

can this only be done on paint that has just been applied (and when i say just i mean like a couple of weeks ago, like u said in ur post) or can it be done on any paint?

[Amy]

Pixie, as far as I know paint can be cut back at any time....

If it's been there for many years it will be much harder, but I remember an old pro telling me once that Celly doesn't properly cure for 50 years!

I would be more careful using the above technique if you have no idea how much paint is on the car... You'd be better trying something gentler like t-cut first. You'll be amazed what a difference a mild compound and a polish will make to a car!

[cooper_shaz]

As Amy says, you can do this on any age car, but the only thing you need to be careful about it the
paint thickness, ie sanding through the paint.

Although you generally find if it is a proper job using a spray gun you shoud have enough paint on there.

Is it scratches you are trying to polish out or just get a better shine?

Because you can use the G3 paste to polish and remove small scratches etc too.

Here are pics of another one that needed the scratches polished out, if you look at the reflections you
see how the manufacturers paint is rough, this car is 7 years old

Have a look below at the before pics and After pics

Can you spot the difference ??

This was done with p2000 wet and dry, loads of water and both G3 and G10 polishing compound, then polished
with Duraglaze polish

Attached Files

•  shine_before.jpg   120.85K   59 downloads
•  shine_after.jpg   130.38K   529 downloads

[minipixie]

whoa the reflection on the second picture is just crazy clear!!!!
just want to get a better shine! it was only resprayed in october

[cooper_shaz]

You could use G3, it will smooth the paint and increase the shine.

You can wet flat it with P2000 then G3 it.

Can you give close up photos of the door with a reflection in it (like I have done above)
this will give an idea of the paint on the door and what to do with regards to flatting and polishing.

[pikey7]

This technique also works well on oxodized paint (e.g. when red paint goes pink!) and is a damned sight cheaper than a new paint job!

Nice write up Shaz!