New paint full detailing (dark color)

[mikeselky85]

Ive recently painted my 1985 el camino with a black cherry metallic two stage paint. I recently got done buffing out the orange peel and defects. My issue is that Ive never had a car that was painted before, Its either had old paint or primer. I have read multiple threads that were posted on autogeek on proper washing and caring techniques. I don't know what I should do to get the best out of my paint, and a lot of thread discuss using wax as the final product and with fresh paint (little less then a month) I do not want to use waxes yet. So if you could recommend some products to properly wash, polish (to remove my light swirls left from buffing), and protect and care for paint that would be great.

I am a master tech and work on cars for a living and I do a lot of body and paint work as a side hobby. Ive learned all body information from my neighbor who is a professional body man. I know my way around a car, Ive just never had the experience with detailing to keep it looking good. so any reading material and products you could recommend would be great.

thanks
mike

[Sfoster]

Congrats on your elcamino! I used to drive a '69, wish I had it back.
Use nothing but microfiber on it!

Sent from my XT907 using AG Online

[hernandez.art13]

Hello, this is exciting (not sure why :dunno: ) lol

So you painted the car then, wet sanded and buffed it out? And you still have swirls? What tools did you use? Detailing wise.

Lets see some pictures of your work :xyxthumbs:

[hernandez.art13]

Oh and congrats, hopefully you already accomplished the more complicated work and now you just have to worry about the Details. (Pun intended)

[HateSwirls]

You're right , you shouldn't wax or seal it for 90 days but you can keep it clean by washing it with Chemical Guys Maxi-Suds soap and between washes try one of Autogeeks Waterless Washes that they offer,or Rinseless Washes.
Anytime you want a boost in shine try CG EZ Cream Glaze.
That should hold you until you can wax, seal or coat the paint:dblthumb2:

[mikeselky85]

Heres a few pictures. Its getting dark so it looks very clear, but in sunlight you can see some micro swirls. I use 3m buffing compunds starting with a cutting and going to a polishing. Im not sure if I should use some really fine polishes on my orbital to help remove them. I have some 3m imperial hand glaze but havnt had a chance to uses it much
After washing it does seem to look really bad, but in the pictures I just washed and was doing some buffing. But if I just wash the car and dry it looks terrible, almost as if the paint is too dry and im not sure what to put on it

im looking too spend some money to get the proper washing and detailing supplies within the next few days

[HateSwirls]

If it was my car I'd polish it using Meg's 205 with an orange pad using a DA. Maybe try a white pad first to see what it gives you.
I tell you the CG glaze is really good at boosting the shine.






Heres a few pictures. Its getting dark so it looks very clear, but in sunlight you can see some micro swirls. I use 3m buffing compunds starting with a cutting and going to a polishing. Im not sure if I should use some really fine polishes on my orbital to help remove them. I have some 3m imperial hand glaze but havnt had a chance to uses it much
After washing it does seem to look really bad, but in the pictures I just washed and was doing some buffing. But if I just wash the car and dry it looks terrible, almost as if the paint is too dry and im not sure what to put on it

[Romans5.8]

Heres a few pictures. Its getting dark so it looks very clear, but in sunlight you can see some micro swirls. I use 3m buffing compunds starting with a cutting and going to a polishing. Im not sure if I should use some really fine polishes on my orbital to help remove them. I have some 3m imperial hand glaze but havnt had a chance to uses it much
After washing it does seem to look really bad, but in the pictures I just washed and was doing some buffing. But if I just wash the car and dry it looks terrible, almost as if the paint is too dry and im not sure what to put on it

im looking too spend some money to get the proper washing and detailing supplies within the next few days

What kind of an orbital do you have? Those two-handled single-speed orbitals aren't going to do much for polishing. You'll need a dual action polisher.

Those swirls look like what are all over my car! Result of improper washing in my case (I now know better). Automatic car washes, using rags instead of microfiber, using the same towels for the wheels and the paint, scrubbing, etc.

[mikeselky85]

I have a rotary buffer for the first few cuts after sanding and I have a dual action for the final polishing. I meant da and not orbital

[hernandez.art13]

your DA should be able to fix it. It looks (to me) that the color of your paint, will show any imperfection.

so DA wise, what do you have? pads, compounds, polishes, etc...

oh and sorry I was not able to follow, how long has it been since you painted the car?

[sjb89]

What brand paint did you use ? How many coats of clear ? What grit did you color sand with ?

[mikeselky85]

I use Basf paints and applied 3 coats of clear. When I buffed I did 1000grit on a few runs and did 1500 and 2000on everything else. for buffing I used a wool, blue foam, black foam, black waffle, and light blue waffle(3m ultra fine polish). Compunds were 3m super duty cut compound(wool), 3m perfect it 2 rubbing(blue), 3m machine polish(black and waffle), 3m perfect it 3000 ultra fine(light blue). then I followed up with some 3m imperial hand glaze

[sjb89]

Personally, I don't think the 3m machine polish is going to remove the marks left behind from the 3m super duty cut compound and the wool pad. I would try following with the blackfire src compound , then the blackfire polish or megs 205 or whatever you have for polish other than the 3m machine polish, which i don't think is aggressive enough to remove the compounding marks. It's easy enough to try . Good luck .

[mikeselky85]

That's why I used a second cutting compound with a less aggressive pad. After the super duty compound all the things I used were a 3m 3 step product, they were labled a,b and c. I've gotten my rough sanding marks out and all I have left now is fine micro swirls in direct sunlight. From an angle you can see any defects

[ShaunD]

It appears that you left some sanding marks and didn't block sand that paint flat enough before starting to buff it. Also, it appears that you aren't able to remove the wool buffing marks with the process that followed it. What was your sanding process? And what did you use 1000 grit for. The paint appears to be soft so 1500 should have worked for any dirt nibs and removing orange peel. Did you do a test section with your process before trying it on the whole car? Just because products are labeled a,b,c doesn't mean you have to follow that exact order. If the paint allows you can go heavy to light or medium to light. This is why a test spot is so valuable. No the whole car is "done" and you are left guessing what did or didn't work and where to start again. Should have come here first my friend. But welcome to AGO and I hope I'm not coming across harsh or like a know it all. Just trying to be helpful; outside looking in. :)