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**Rich Z** · 03-19-2013, 03:18 AM

Well, I thought I was done with the sanding today.....

So I broke out the Porter-Cable DA buffer and found a wool buffing pad in the cabinet I've been storing all this stuff. Also pulled out about a half dozen bottles of various buffing and polishing compounds I have stored away. Tried a couple of them on the hood and got a pretty decent polished look with both of them, but the darn wool pad was just shedding like crazy. So I pulled out an orange foam pad to try. Heck, that started falling apart too.

I guess age takes a toll on these things whether you use them or not. Sure hate to think that the couple of dozen foam pads I have are going to have to just be tossed into the trash. If so, I guess what I need to do is to ONLY buy just what I think I will need RIGHT NOW, and don't buy extras that will just lay around and go funky on me. They appear to have a rather short shelf life.

I had to scrounge up a pad I got from System 51 that isn't as old as those other pads, but it's an 8 or 9 inch pad with wool on one side and foam on the other that is designed for a quick connect system that only works on a rotary buffer. So I had to find the Harbor Freight rotary buffer I bought a while back. I was a bit reluctant to use a rotary, as they can be a problem if you aren't careful with them. And honestly it's been quite a while since I've played with one. But if I was going to do some buffing today, there wasn't much choice in the matter.

So I just took it slow and easy to get used to the machine. The HF buffer works OK, but it seems to have trouble maintaining a constant speed while in use. I can see where I will be needing something better.

Anyway, of the various buffing compounds I tried, I liked the Malco Rapid Cut the best. Produces a real nice glossy finish, and seems to take off most of the sanding scratches pretty readily. I think on a paint surface that wasn't as wrecked as mine is, it would do an excellent job removing scuffs and water spotting with minimum effort. But I still need to check for swirl marks before thinking about using it on the other cars.

Once I looked over the glossy surface on the hood, I thought that perhaps the funky pads I tried using with the Porter-Cable DA had scratched the paint while they were falling apart. There was one squiggle line that was DEFINITELY caused by the DA, but the other straight lines were probably there before I started sanding, and just were not easily visible with all the sanding marks. Once I glossed the surface and removed the sanding scuff marks, they just became MUCH more noticeable. Anyway, I tackled them with the 2000 grit sandpaper again, and got most of them out, but I've still got a few more to work on. I wanted to move on to the rest of the car to see what I had left to deal with once I glossed the paint surfaces so I could see better.

So I moved on to the roof of the car. After I buffed that out, I was pretty disappointed with all the stark scratches I saw remaining on the paint surface.

I knew those scratches were there before I started, but I had REALLY hoped the sanding would have taken them out better than it apparently did. Those scratches were NOT there when I took the car to Chris Harwood's shop, and I believe they were not there neither after Toby in Blountstown worked on the car right before it was towed to Aaron Scott's shop. My opinion is that at least some of those scratches were caused by cats jumping and climbing onto my car while at Aaron Scott's place. As for the rest of them that might not have feline origins, I have no idea what someone did to the roof to make those scratches there. Just carelessness on someone's part, apparently.

But in any event, I've got to take a whack at fixing them. I might have to use more aggressive sanding with 1500 or 1200 grit sandpaper. Then follow up with the 2000 and higher before liquid buffing the roof out again. I may have to put some sanding disks on the rotary buffer/sander to really go at it. Sure hope the clear coat on the roof is pretty thick so I don't cut through it.

I also worked on the deck lid, but honestly I was getting tired of doing this, so I need to spend more time with the buffer over the next couple of days. Still too much sanding marks on there after the short shift buffing job I did.

All in all, I can't really say that this is a whole lot of fun to do. Even after all this I STILL have some scratches, some orange peel, and rock chips. And those cracks in the hood are still going to be visible. But right now I'm shooting for it looking good from 3 to 6 ft or more away and that will just have to do.

03-19-2013, 03:18 AM	#13
Rich Z Internet Sanitation Engineer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Crawfordville, FL Posts: 15,138 Name : Rich Zuchowski	Well, I thought I was done with the sanding today..... So I broke out the Porter-Cable DA buffer and found a wool buffing pad in the cabinet I've been storing all this stuff. Also pulled out about a half dozen bottles of various buffing and polishing compounds I have stored away. Tried a couple of them on the hood and got a pretty decent polished look with both of them, but the darn wool pad was just shedding like crazy. So I pulled out an orange foam pad to try. Heck, that started falling apart too. I guess age takes a toll on these things whether you use them or not. Sure hate to think that the couple of dozen foam pads I have are going to have to just be tossed into the trash. If so, I guess what I need to do is to ONLY buy just what I think I will need RIGHT NOW, and don't buy extras that will just lay around and go funky on me. They appear to have a rather short shelf life. I had to scrounge up a pad I got from System 51 that isn't as old as those other pads, but it's an 8 or 9 inch pad with wool on one side and foam on the other that is designed for a quick connect system that only works on a rotary buffer. So I had to find the Harbor Freight rotary buffer I bought a while back. I was a bit reluctant to use a rotary, as they can be a problem if you aren't careful with them. And honestly it's been quite a while since I've played with one. But if I was going to do some buffing today, there wasn't much choice in the matter. So I just took it slow and easy to get used to the machine. The HF buffer works OK, but it seems to have trouble maintaining a constant speed while in use. I can see where I will be needing something better. Anyway, of the various buffing compounds I tried, I liked the Malco Rapid Cut the best. Produces a real nice glossy finish, and seems to take off most of the sanding scratches pretty readily. I think on a paint surface that wasn't as wrecked as mine is, it would do an excellent job removing scuffs and water spotting with minimum effort. But I still need to check for swirl marks before thinking about using it on the other cars. Once I looked over the glossy surface on the hood, I thought that perhaps the funky pads I tried using with the Porter-Cable DA had scratched the paint while they were falling apart. There was one squiggle line that was DEFINITELY caused by the DA, but the other straight lines were probably there before I started sanding, and just were not easily visible with all the sanding marks. Once I glossed the surface and removed the sanding scuff marks, they just became MUCH more noticeable. Anyway, I tackled them with the 2000 grit sandpaper again, and got most of them out, but I've still got a few more to work on. I wanted to move on to the rest of the car to see what I had left to deal with once I glossed the paint surfaces so I could see better. So I moved on to the roof of the car. After I buffed that out, I was pretty disappointed with all the stark scratches I saw remaining on the paint surface. I knew those scratches were there before I started, but I had REALLY hoped the sanding would have taken them out better than it apparently did. Those scratches were NOT there when I took the car to Chris Harwood's shop, and I believe they were not there neither after Toby in Blountstown worked on the car right before it was towed to Aaron Scott's shop. My opinion is that at least some of those scratches were caused by cats jumping and climbing onto my car while at Aaron Scott's place. As for the rest of them that might not have feline origins, I have no idea what someone did to the roof to make those scratches there. Just carelessness on someone's part, apparently. But in any event, I've got to take a whack at fixing them. I might have to use more aggressive sanding with 1500 or 1200 grit sandpaper. Then follow up with the 2000 and higher before liquid buffing the roof out again. I may have to put some sanding disks on the rotary buffer/sander to really go at it. Sure hope the clear coat on the roof is pretty thick so I don't cut through it. I also worked on the deck lid, but honestly I was getting tired of doing this, so I need to spend more time with the buffer over the next couple of days. Still too much sanding marks on there after the short shift buffing job I did. All in all, I can't really say that this is a whole lot of fun to do. Even after all this I STILL have some scratches, some orange peel, and rock chips. And those cracks in the hood are still going to be visible. But right now I'm shooting for it looking good from 3 to 6 ft or more away and that will just have to do. __________________ Last edited by Rich Z; 03-19-2013 at 11:34 AM.