My 69 is just about 2 months out of restification and is wearing a new coat of PPG cortez silver BC/CC. The paint job is great and the guy that painted it told me that it could look even better if I buffed it out some more. I'd like to do this with a low speed polisher with 3M finesse and a wool pad but I do not have any experience at this and do not want to screw up the clear coat. What do I need to look out for so I can have a show quality finish?

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Mark
69 Chevelle SS

Mark I don't want to be a wise A$$, But please don't learn to buff on you newly painted Chevelle.

Use you old beater truck or carr abd compond that out. You said low speed PLOLISHER. You mean like sears and K mart sells ?
If so they will not have the speed to cut/polish the CC.
You need a a buffer. my buffer of choice is Sanp-On vari speed 0-2300 rpm.
The fact you need all the Stuff, to buff out your Chevelle. Why not try to seee if the "BODY GUY" would buff it again!

Wayne

Mark, it probably needs a little more than just 'buffing'. To get that mirror-like finish, you must first wet sand the surface. Start with 1000 grit then go to 1500 grit. I really like the new McGuiers wet sand papers. IT IS much better than 3M or any other. Anyway, you need at least an 1800 rpm buffer. Like it was aid above, buffing is best left to the experienced. It's easy to damage the paint. Most painters hate to wet sand the entire car 2 to 3 times, but that's what makes the finish. You also have to very VERY careful when wet sand. NEVER sand on edges. Use plenty of water and rubber squeegees as a sanding 'block' and to remove the water from the surface. You only want to remove enough clear to produce a smooth uniform surface. Wiping away the water with the squeegee is critical. Take your time and grease up that elbow!

I agree with these guys... DON'T DO IT!! It's so easy to sand or buff through the clear coat it's not even funny. I've done it on another car and I've had a supposed 'expert' refinisher do it on my Corvette. At least he had to repaint the panel at his expense. You'll absolutely kick yourself if you ruin your new paint. (Great color too... I have PPG bc/cc Cortez Silver on mine.)

Jimmy is right that you need to have it color sanded first to get it mirror smooth. They just had a guy from Meguire's on Crank and Chrome (TV show) this past weekend demonstrating the procedure. He was using their 2000 grit paper for the color sanding, then a wool pad followed by foam pads for buffing. It makes a huge difference in the finish. It's the difference between a production paint job and a show paint job.

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LS6, 4spd, 4.10, Cortez Silver
1 of 231 exported to Canada

[This message has been edited by SilverLS6 (edited 02-07-2002).]

This topic got me to thinking, although it won't address gotago's situation. Why is the process called "color sanding" when it is actually the clear that is sanded? Is it because sanding the clear brings out the color more to a show quality finish?

I understand that color sanding can be done on a single-stage paint application and that is when the color is actually sanded.

Any ideas?? http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

The term 'color sanding' originated long before the introduction of base coat clear coat systems were on the market. It's still used and still means;
Final sanding of a top coat to remove all surface irregularities to produce a slick smooth mirror-like show quality paint job.

Got that out of Websters dictionary http://www.chevelles.com/forum/wink.gif

Thanks for all the responses. I guess I should have provided more information. The top coat was already cut with 1000 grit and its really smooth. There are some marks in it but the paint and finish are good to go. Its been finessed already and I wanted to do it again to bring out that much more of the finish. I was going to use a professional polisher like the body shops use. I saw the Crank and Chrome episode and my paint is better than what they showed prior to the color sanding. Maybe I just need to polish and wax it and let it go. I have a truck that needs the hood color sanded so maybe I will practice on that before I touch the Chevelle. Again, thanks for the responses.

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Mark
69 Chevelle SS

Don't put any WAX on that yet, if it's only 60 days. all the solvents has not fully evaporated yet. And with this cooler weather, I would wait till late April or May b-4 waxing.

You might not be able to find a shop willing to buff your ride out. Usually they worry most about buffing through too. Due to the fact they don't know how much paint is there either. If they will I'll bet they won't promise or gurantee they won't go through the clear..

Yeah, I left all the cutting/buffing to the guys who painted the car. And if the paint ever shrinks enough to show any imperfections, they're gonna see the car again!! I wouldn't let anyone else (including myself) screw up a very expensive paint job--

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Tony Nausieda
1970 SS 396-4??hp
1977 Caprice, no dingle balls or hydraulics
1966 Buick GS 4-sp vert
1965 Le Mans EFI'd 468, 4-sp
1639 total cubic inches :)