Paint Guru's
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 277
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From: Big Spring TX
Paint Guru's
Underneath my luggage rack on my 76, the clearcoat is dull. I dont think there is much oxidation or anything else, just looks like it never got waxed much, anyone know of a good mild abrasive cleaner wax I can use to brighten up that clearcoat?
Afterwards I plan on going over it with some zaino.
Afterwards I plan on going over it with some zaino.
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 180
Likes: 0
From: barkhamsted ct
ordinary common garden variety auto BODY supply rubbing compound is good for dead paint.
3m is good, although there's others. auto PARTS rubbing compounds like turtle wax rubbing compound is not as good as and is much harder to use. 3m comes in handy squirt bottles, which are nicer than a paint can that rubbing compound also comes in. it settles and needs to be mixed aggressively if its been sitting. the consistancy should be the same top to bottom.
for hand rubbing, the key is to get a nice old tee shirt and get rid of all seams, ball it up and try to keep it from wrinkling and dab a small amount and rub a small area, like a 6 to 8 inch circle or rectangle. keep rubbing - not hard, just decent pressure and lots of motion, keep rubbing until the haze starts to go away and keep rubbing some more until eventually the cloth picks up all the compound and starts revealing shiny fresh paint.
practice on something you dont care about first. biggest mistake is to treat rubbing compound like wax. dont work that way. success depends on elbow grease mostly. too much compound is bad, too. takes more rubbing to "dry up" and removes maybe more paint than is necessary to get a good shine back
this is an abrasive, so it is taking off a microscopic payer or two of paint. i dont want you to go through to primer! or even break the clear coat, if your paint has clear on it.
dont ever do it in the sun. only shade. (learned THAT the hard way!)
white compound is milder and is called polishing compound. less aggressive than the orange stuff. if the paint is reasonably good this may be better to start off with.
-jim
3m is good, although there's others. auto PARTS rubbing compounds like turtle wax rubbing compound is not as good as and is much harder to use. 3m comes in handy squirt bottles, which are nicer than a paint can that rubbing compound also comes in. it settles and needs to be mixed aggressively if its been sitting. the consistancy should be the same top to bottom.
for hand rubbing, the key is to get a nice old tee shirt and get rid of all seams, ball it up and try to keep it from wrinkling and dab a small amount and rub a small area, like a 6 to 8 inch circle or rectangle. keep rubbing - not hard, just decent pressure and lots of motion, keep rubbing until the haze starts to go away and keep rubbing some more until eventually the cloth picks up all the compound and starts revealing shiny fresh paint.
practice on something you dont care about first. biggest mistake is to treat rubbing compound like wax. dont work that way. success depends on elbow grease mostly. too much compound is bad, too. takes more rubbing to "dry up" and removes maybe more paint than is necessary to get a good shine back
this is an abrasive, so it is taking off a microscopic payer or two of paint. i dont want you to go through to primer! or even break the clear coat, if your paint has clear on it.
dont ever do it in the sun. only shade. (learned THAT the hard way!)
white compound is milder and is called polishing compound. less aggressive than the orange stuff. if the paint is reasonably good this may be better to start off with.
-jim
