A Work In Progress: '96 Chevy Astro Van

[opie_7afe]

well I've been working on my father in-laws astro van every night after he gets home from work doing a couple panels a night until it's complete. Doing this to gain some more rotary experience on clear coat finishes. The main focus for this correction is removing the light swirls/scratches while enhancing the gloss tenfold!. I'm not worried about the deeper scratches(some can still be removed but I don't feel safe removing them without a thickness gauge).The van is his daily driver and has never been polished before(to my knowledge) nor does it get washed unless I do it, which I do not mind doing!. The process for correction I am using is; Meguiars M105 on a yellow 9" Sm Arnold pad, then following that up with Meguiars M205 on a black Sm Arnold pad. Then doing an application of Meguiars Mirror Glaze #20 Polymer Sealant. the M105 is one tricky compound to learn but i am getting used to working with it(I'm starting to love the stuff, when I didn't like it that much with my first couple uses of it!). Only thing i do not like is the random patches of stuck on like cement compound, However I found using some Meguiars Last Touch diluted at 1:1 does the trick to remove that small flaw!. I really am amazed at the swirl removing properties of m205 however, the painted black trim was simple to get rid of swirls/light scratches with 2 passes. I am using a harbor freight rotary buffer to do this van.The HF rotary is the DrillMaster makita clone, it does slow down when the normal amount of pressure for "cutting" is applied. Other than that I'm satisfied with it for the price I paid!. Of course when this breaks I'm going with a top brand rotary. However, on a good note i should be getting a 7424xp this week!. Won't have pads for it until later on this month but at least I will have the 7424. Well enough yapping and onto the pictures!!.(my camera sucks BTW! Don't help it was dark when some of the photos were taken!)

Before:
http://i.imgur.com/ii8hX.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Ei6D4.jpg

After Meguiars M105

http://i.imgur.com/rVuHq.jpg


After Meguiars M205 and a coat of Meguiars Mirror Glaze #20 sealant

http://i.imgur.com/5lxsY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/tZJkH.jpg


Thats it for today! I will upload more pics tomorrow!. :buffing:

One question I have, How should i remove those rain drip marks on the glass? i have not tried m105 on the glass yet. i know the m105 wont harm the glass just wondering if theres a "spray on" method. I highly doubt there is!. Thanks For Viewing My Thread!.

P.S I did see the sling on the tire! It went everywhere I wasn't paying attention meant to turn it to low speed to spread M105 around and turned it up a little too high before putting it on the paint! my face got some splatter on it some how!!!..was a funny mistake. Sadly it took up some time to remove, luckily I removed it while it was fresh so a quick mist of Meguiars Last Touch at 1:1 Dilution removed it from everything including tires with no evidence it was there! *Wasn't Me!:dunno::nomore:*

[Flash Gordon]

Definitley a hugh improvement was acheived. Nice job Matt!

[Setec Astronomy]

Wow, 9" pad...be careful there will be some serious surface speed at the outside of that pad. I think you're going to have to polish that glass...IMO you'll need a small pad (4") for close to the edges but you can give the middle a whack with your rotary and 105 and see how it comes out. OTOH if you mask the trim maybe you can do the whole window with that big pad and the rotary. If you do the windshield please be careful not to overheat it since it's laminated.

[tuscarora dave]

9" pads....:bowdown: Once you get ahold of some 6.5" or 7" pads you'll be a rotary Master!! Nice improvement keep up the practicing and you'll be doing Porsches in no time.:xyxthumbs:

[opie_7afe]

yeah 9" pads are huge, i honestly dont like them i would rather something smaller. as i said i will have a pc 7424 soon enough!.....oddly enough the windshield don't have those markings like the side glass. im sure i can get it with the large pads i have, just might need to edge it and keep arm speed faster then normal and should be good with that. i always tape up trim just to be safe....

[dannythekid]

Yeah i would definitely step down the pad size for a rotary, too much rotating mass as well so it's harder to control your work area.

[opie_7afe]

not hard for me to control my work area.you controll the buffer the buffer dont control you ;) and the 9" are great for large flat panels such as this van, sure on the top portion a smaller pad would work great but thats why you slightly edge the pad and tape off the high point and this method works great for me. i would like smaller pads but i don't need them right now as im about to switch to a pc7424 or griots....then when i switch to a DA i will have the smaller pads so i will just need a new backing plate for the rotary.

[Wills.WindowsAndWheels]

P.S I did see the sling on the tire! It went everywhere I wasn't paying attention meant to turn it to low speed to spread M105 around and turned it up a little too high before putting it on the paint! my face got some splatter on it some how!!!..was a funny mistake. Sadly it took up some time to remove, luckily I removed it while it was fresh so a quick mist of Meguiars Last Touch at 1:1 Dilution removed it from everything including tires with no evidence it was there! *Wasn't Me!:dunno::nomore:*

You used 1:1 dilution to remove it off your face? :laughing:

just kiddin man. Very nice job. Im wondering though...what kinda light are you using? Can we get a pic of that lol. For the windshield maybe just try priming your pad and not using an actual bead of polish on it...might make things a little cleaner...did you clay it yet?

[opie_7afe]

nah i didnt use LTSD on my face, even though it smells great and all!. and my light is something custom i made using a piece of board with 4 plastic light holders screwed to it with 4 26W compact fluorescent lights. then the board is ziptied to a portable I.V bag holder, has wheels and folds up all nice and i can raise and lower it!. i'm always repurposing stuff! i have clayed windows, also tried m105 both did nothing to remove the water spots. im thinking i need a cerium oxide glass polish or some diamondite glass restorer for it.