really wet looking paint, any tips?

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

12-16-14, 06:00 PM

#16

UDel

Lexus Fanatic

Join Date: Feb 2005

Location: ------

Posts: 12,274

Likes: 60

Received 296 Likes on 223 Posts

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsean400

So I just painted my wheels, In the process of sanding out the orange peel. I used meguiars ultimate compound and their gold class carnuba wax to seal everything in. I then decided I might as well polish and wax the whole car in the process. The compound and wax really took the light oxidation off the spoiler and roof and now looks like the rest of the car. I would say my paint is in decent condition, it is 13 years old so it's not perfect. However I do see a faint tint of brown when the car is in direct sunlight and it really bothers me. Is the brown tint from age and is something I just have to deal with or is there something I can do about it. All the polishing and waxing was done by hand, I don't trust myself with an eletric buffer. Is their a major difference in results when buffing with a electric buffer vs by hand? I like how my paint looks now, it's nice and shiny. But I would love it if I could get rid of that brown tint and get a really deep wet looking shine. Any wax that you prefer? And is there better ways of applying wax? I also wet sanded my headlights to complete the whole detailed look, anyone know what's the best sealant to use or where to get it?

The difference between a machine polish and hand polish is big, a Porter Cable Random Orbital is very safe and does a very good job of polishing. Not sure what the brown tint is. Maybe it is embedded dirt/particles and you might want to try claying or or iron x. Collinite waxes are excellent and affordable and are very durable, Gold class just does not last long on your finish but any wax on a freshly polished finish is going to look very similar for the first day or two, the more expensive ones provide better protection and last much longer. Unfortunately no sealant is going to last more then a few months until your headlights start fading again. You would need a 2K or 2 part clearcoat for long term durability on the headlights.

Reply Like

12-16-14, 08:03 PM

#17

PondScum

Driver

Join Date: Jul 2013

Location: CA

Posts: 176

Likes: 0

Received 1 Like on 1 Post

Quote:

Originally Posted by zmcgovern4

I beg to differ...

[snip]

Dual action polishers are most definitely the safest and most efficient means of correcting paint. No doubt about it.

I'd also add that many of the polishes that have proven to produce the best results are made to work with machine polishing. DAT (diminishing abrasive technology) polishes need the speed of a machine to break the abrasives down into finer and finer particles, thus producing a finer and finer finish the more they are worked. That doesn't happen with hand application. You're going to be using more pressure, less evenly supplied, and a coarser abrasive, all which add up to worse results than machine polishing.

Some Meguiar's SMAT polishes can be hand applied, but machine polishing is recommended for best results.

Reply Like

12-17-14, 03:48 AM

#18

dicer

Lead Lap

Join Date: Jul 2010

Location: ca

Posts: 4,525

Likes: 8

Received 97 Likes on 89 Posts

Quote:

Originally Posted by zmcgovern4

I beg to differ...

When you're polishing by hand, it is very uncontrolled given that you are using varying amounts of pressure, speed, and stroke characteristics for nearly every motion you make. It is much, much easier to be constant with a machine polisher.

When you're polishing by hand, the majority of the pressure is being transmitted through your fingertips, then through the foam, and onto the paint. Your fingertips are a relatively small surface area, and therefore transmit a lot of pressure directly to the paint when you apply a force to them (Pressure = Force/Area). MUCH more pressure than a 5" or 6" polishing pad would since their surface area is massive compared to your fingertip. This means hand polishing can be quite dangerous.

Dual action polishers are most definitely the safest and most efficient means of correcting paint. No doubt about it.

-Zach

I don't understand all this finger tip and etc etc. stuff. Any kind of machine is faster thus less controllable. I guess its an age thing, I guess you have never scraped or lapped with in .0001 or less and this is by hand, all machine tools ways used to be and even some these days finished by a hand process. I don't use fingers in the process so its also a skill level thing too. So you would probably also say that to color sand you should just use a machine, that is like impossible to do on some areas of a car body. Especially something from the 50's.