apierce918

ok, my dad has been working on a mustang for his friend for quite awhile, he has shot clear a few times, then sanded and shot clear again. it is nice and shiny, but not smooth like it is supposed to be, this is somewhat expected since it is being done in our garage.

well from what he has learned, you almost always have to cut and buff, so he is sanding over it gets it smooth, then buffs it. then takes another compound and uses a waffle pad that is supposed to bring back the shine.

well its only kinda shiny. its not as shiny as when the clear first gets laid on, but at least now its smooth. he is sanding with 1500 before buffing, and since he can still make out some sanding lines he is going to be some 2000 grit tonight and try again...

this paint job is important because all his friends are going to be seeing it and whatnot, he is under a lot of pressure.

any advice on how to make the cut and buff actually do what it is supposed to do? it lacks the depth that a new paint should have, almost hazy, or foggy.

i dont know if maybe he isnt being aggressive enough with the wheel?? (he had a bad experience using a buffer that spun a lot faster and burned through the paint. any advice would be nice, thanks

MarkRobinson

Once foggy, hit the finish with 3M 05996 (I believe, though might be the 05928: whichever is in a black bottle: fine cut swirl remover) with a corrugated 3M pad on a rotary buffer at about 2500rpm. do about 2sf at a time until it's gone. This is the next step. STOP sanding once your surface imperfections are gone!! Use about a silver dollar's amount of swirl remover on the pad and stay on an angle, overlapping the edges of your body part. Lay down masking tape for ALL edges that your buffer comes in contact with that will not be buffed by the overlapping edge of the pad. If the pad is cutting into your edge, it only takes a second to burn through the clear.

You can find the 3M products at O'Reily auto parts (you have to ask for them), or other paint-related 3M place. I used the Harbor Freight $59 buffer: the kind that has the side handle for one hand & the normal grip for the other...MUST have a dial-adjustable RPM: like 0-10 or so, so you can select 2500rpm.

Mark (good luck, go so, follow my directions)

Jay W

I have succcessfully used 3M finesse-it and a buffing pad to remove hazing and swirl marks. Its a super-fine buffing compound and it takes swirl marks out that happen from buffing with standard buffing compound.

83na944

I take it he's sanding the clear coat to remove the orange peel?

Sandpaper will, of course, leave sanding marks. This is why the finish seems hazy. He needs to use a really fine polish to remove the sanding marks. 3M Finessee-It II Finishing Material Machine Polish 39003 would be good for that.

I've read that glazes and swirl mark removers contain oills and fillers that evaporate in a couple of weeks. If you go with SMR, keep some Rubbing alcohol mixed with equal parts of water handy. After buffing the SMR out, wipe it down with the alcohol. This will remove the oil so you can see if the sanding marks are really gone.

apierce918

well he worked on it some again today, and it is starting to look better. i think before he was going to fast with the waffle pad and the stuff he bought was 3M Perfect-It which he figures is the same as the finesse it. he slowed it down some and took a little more time and its starting to shine. hard to get a real idea of what it will be because its all under flourescent lighting with plastic paint booth walls and ceiling
thanks for the tips