how do you polish grooves on a car?

[proficient]

Im currently work in on a Pontiac firebird that was wetsanded its got grooves on the hood and was wondering how I should tackle them. I machine polished the hood but I couldn't get the grooves that well. Is hand polishing my only choice or can I manage it by machine. If looked around for info on them but I couldn't find anything. If anyone can street me in the right direction that works be awesome.

[Eandras]

If you can post pictures it would help as it is hard to imagine what is going on.

Ed

[proficient]

How should i polish the sides of the two squares on the hoodhttp://i.imgur.com/wZEqJEC.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/ukzxDlf.jpghttp://imgur.com/ukzxDlf
http://imgur.com/wZEqJEC

[SameGuy]

You mean Sunbird.

Sorry, I can't help with your question.

[Rsurfer]

What polisher are you using?

[HateSwirls]

Im currently work in on a Pontiac firebird that was wetsanded its got grooves on the hood and was wondering how I should tackle them. I machine polished the hood but I couldn't get the grooves that well. Is hand polishing my only choice or can I manage it by machine. If looked around for info on them but I couldn't find anything. If anyone can street me in the right direction that works be awesome.


Nothing wrong doing small areas by hand.
I often do tight or hard to get areas by hand.
Sometimes you have to ask yourself if only using a machine is worth all the fuss in situations as your having.

[Mike Phillips]

To remove scratches out of a clearcoat finish by hand you first have to start with a great compound.

Next you do a two step approach.

Step 1: Rub hard and fast using a microfiber applicator pad. The FIBER plus the compound both abrade the surface and remove paint to level the surface. The fibers however can and usually do leave their own fine scratches. That's okay and to be expected the benefit is the fibers enable you to level the paint faster with less work on your part.


Step 2: Re-polish the area only this time use a clean foam applicator pad and the same compound. Now the compound will remove the fine scratches or marring left by the fiber applicator pad and the foam just acts as the medium used to rub the compound.

Step 3: At this point if you're using a great compound the paint should look pretty good and you can either seal the surface with a wax if you're happy with how the paint looks or you can re-polish again using a medium cut or fine cut polish and a foam applicator pad to refine the results even further.

It requires more skill to work by hand than it does to work by machine. Fact of the matter is to be a proficient detailer you need both hand skills and machine skills for exactly the reason you're experiencing, that is there are some sections of paint on a car that due to the size, shape or location, these sections cannot be safely machine polished.


The new Flex PE8 is an option...



Here's the Mustang....

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89338

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89339



Fingerpainting
I call this finger painting, it's where you smear some of the product you want to use onto the paint you want to buff when using small pads instead of trying to pick a bead up using the 10 @ 10 Technique.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89340


Edge Priming
Lubricate the sides of your buffing pad anytime you're going to be buffing in tight areas.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89341

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89342

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89343

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89344

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89345

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89346

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89347




The 10 @ 10 Technique in action...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89348

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89349

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89350

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89351

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89352

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89353

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89354

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89355

[proficient]

You mean Sunbird.

Sorry, I can't help with your question.

That's my bad, I keep making that mistake.


To remove scratches out of a clearcoat finish by hand you first have to start with a great compound.

Next you do a two step approach.

Step 1: Rub hard and fast using a microfiber applicator pad. The FIBER plus the compound both abrade the surface and remove paint to level the surface. The fibers however can and usually do leave their own fine scratches. That's okay and to be expected the benefit is the fibers enable you to level the paint faster with less work on your part.


Step 2: Re-polish the area only this time use a clean foam applicator pad and the same compound. Now the compound will remove the fine scratches or marring left by the fiber applicator pad and the foam just acts as the medium used to rub the compound.

Step 3: At this point if you're using a great compound the paint should look pretty good and you can either seal the surface with a wax if you're happy with how the paint looks or you can re-polish again using a medium cut or fine cut polish and a foam applicator pad to refine the results even further.

It requires more skill to work by hand than it does to work by machine. Fact of the matter is to be a proficient detailer you need both hand skills and machine skills for exactly the reason you're experiencing, that is there are some sections of paint on a car that due to the size, shape or location, these sections cannot be safely machine polished.


The new Flex PE8 is an option...




Thanks a lot for the in depth explanation Mike, I'll have to post some pictures later of my attempts.

That PE8 looks awesome, never knew they made rotaries that small.

[SameGuy]

It looks like a repaint of someone's cherished ride. Let us know how it goes!

Mike's detailed replies are certainly worth reading, he always goes above and beyond. Even though I've read them again and again, I always seem to glean a little more info that I can apply to my detailing.

[proficient]

It looks like a repaint of someone's cherished ride. Let us know how it goes!

Mike's detailed replies are certainly worth reading, he always goes above and beyond. Even though I've read them again and again, I always seem to glean a little more info that I can apply to my detailing.

It is indeed a repaint, but sadly not a good one. The orange peel is no problem but it appears the metal wasn't sanded properly and you can see the vertical sand marks under neath the paint, NOT IN THE CLEAR.

here is some pics btw

Orange peel side
http://i.imgur.com/M0Oipdl.jpgS
Corrected side
http://i.imgur.com/NhIi0tX.jpg
Process used
3000 Grit 3M trizact 3 in disc using Harbor Freight DA
M105 wool pad with Rotary 1000 rpm slow pass
m205 with megs microfiber finishing disc on HF DA

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks a lot for the in depth explanation Mike, I'll have to post some pictures later of my attempts.



Working by hand, and at the simplest meaning of working by hand it means, how you move your hand or more specifically, how you move some type of "applicator pad" by hand, is completely and 100% all about technique.


I've been teaching people how to work by hand all my life and that's because most people already own a hand or two. The most common issues when trying to actually remove defects, not just clean the surface, comes from,


Not using a fiber material for the first step.
Not moving their hand fast enough.
Not pressing the applicator against the paint with enough pressure.


And the actual manner in which you do the above is best shown to someone else in person, not shared via text on a forum. The best picture I've ever been able to take showing what good technique looks like is this picture and I did this while both hand rubbing out sanding scratches and holding the camera to take the picture.

These two pictures are from an article I wrote about how to use your thumb as a "distance guide" to prevent you from burning through a raised body line or an edge.

Here's the link to the full article,

The Rule of Thumb (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/wet-sanding-cutting-buffing/25042-rule-thumb.html)



Here's the pictures.... notice how my hand is a blur?



http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/834/RemvovingSandingMarksbyHand01.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/834/RemvovingSandingMarksbyHand02.jpg



Here's the deal....

If I can remove wet sanding marks out of a modern basecoat/clearcoat paint job on a custom 1970 El Camino... anyone can do this on the car in their garage or driveway even if it's a brand new car.

It's all about using the correct technique.

Plus you must use compuonds that use great abraisve technology or you'll simply replace one set of scratches with a new set of scratches.

One thing for sure... it's always a good idea to practice on a car that's not important to you when dialing in your technique BEFORE working on your important project.







That PE8 looks awesome, never knew they made rotaries that small.



That's what this forum is about... show new and even existing tools and products to people as well as share with them the correct technique for using the tools and products.

I purposefully took the PE8 to our local car show specifically to work these thin panels to show exactly what this tool can do.






It looks like a repaint of someone's cherished ride. Let us know how it goes!

Mike's detailed replies are certainly worth reading, he always goes above and beyond. Even though I've read them again and again, I always seem to glean a little more info that I can apply to my detailing.




Thank you sir for the kind words... I remember when I was learning to detail we didn't have discussion forums and you learned by trial and error and by following other people's advices.

Back then I received a lot of what you could call, inaccurate advice, so I never forget my roots and it's the experiences I gained when I was younger that fuels my passion to help others so they don't have to make the mistakes I made.

Quite simple really.


:dblthumb2:

[ryandamartini]

Next no exclusion sale.. I think Ill get a compakt :D

[SameGuy]

Yep, me too. :)

Fingers crossed for another GC sale before that, too! ;) :D