Hand Polishing a Camaro

[bowtie]

I have a 2015 Ashen Gray Metallic Camaro with less then 3000. This is a daily driver so it's in the weather. I was thinking of trying Wet Ice Over Fire. I've used All Finish Paint Protection in the past and loved the results. Right now I only work by hand and was wondering if it would be worthwhile to hand polish first and if so, what would a good polish be to use.
Thanks

[FUNX650]

The below Mike Phillips articles are
a good starting place...Good Luck!

Polishing Paint by Hand


Foam Applicator Pads at Autogeek.net

Priming your pad when working by hand

Removing Scratches By Hand

How to use a hand applied abrasive polish or paint cleaner by hand

How To Remove Paint Transfer

How to clay, clean and wax paint by hand with Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion and Pinnacle Signature Series II Carnauba Paste Wax

1-Step versus 3-Step Process by Hand

Man versus Machine

Bob

[GenesisCoupe]

By hand??...well..good luck!

[cardaddy]

By HAND????

Two things come to mind, Griot Garage buffer with a 5" backing plate. Mated with 3 orange, 2 white and 1 black "flat pad". Then a bottle of Menzerna FG400, (that paint is likely towards the hard side) and a bottle of FF3500. Then top it with Menzerna Power Lock or Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 (my favorite traditional sealant).

Do remember that FIRST you need to decontaminate the paint, ridding it of rail dust and fallout before ever starting on waxing/polishing/sealing. Hard to beat IRON-X for that, followed by a good medium grade clay, (or an even easier way is to use a clay alternative such as a Nanoskin pad for that Griot Garage buffer, or a Nanoskin (or other brand) neoprene wash mitt.

The decontamination stage is critical to getting your new paint as CLEAN and as SLICK as it should be prior to any polishing. (Be that by hand or machine.)

Or.... Get a pack of orange, and white, and maybe blue Lake Country 4" pads (and a hand held pad holder). THEN try it by hand, get a LOT of pain pills, plenty of ice packs, a new heating pad (or 3), set aside a week to attack it.

Also... you'll need some QUALITY microfiber towels so you can avoid imparting even more swirls and RIDS in the paint of your new prize. I say "more" because the dealership WILL have already given you a head start into the land of swirls. Pretty bad at times, depending on how long the car has been sitting on their lot (IE washed by them).

On the 7th day, rest your bloody nubs that are left from a week of totally immersive wax-on wax-of bliss.

Come to think of it....
I'd take a week to do it with a machine. Would still rest on the 7th day though.

[cleanmycorolla]

i think by hand like other have said, you're going to be working really hard. Invest a little in a polisher for that nice car.

[Kamakaz1961]

I would not polish by hand as you will spend hours and hours and still not do a great job compared to a DA polisher. I would look into DA polishers at least.

[cardaddy]

Now WAXING by hand.... as in going to the parts store and grabbing a bottle of say.... Megs Ultimate Quick Wax. Providing there has been an investment in AT LEAST a dozen (if not 3) quality microfiber towels... then THAT is a different story. (And one that can be completed in a few hours (wash included).

[Don M]

I have a 2015 Ashen Gray Metallic Camaro with less then 3000. This is a daily driver so it's in the weather. I was thinking of trying Wet Ice Over Fire. I've used All Finish Paint Protection in the past and loved the results. Right now I only work by hand and was wondering if it would be worthwhile to hand polish first and if so, what would a good polish be to use.
Thanks

Being a fellow 5th gen owner, I can say that my black Camaro has some pretty hard paint, if I were to go at it by hand, I would never get anywhere. I recommend following the suggestions made already: GET A POLISHER! Like Cardaddy said the GG orbital is a good machine at a good price, you won't be disappointed. As for polishes, there are literally dozens of polishes of different aggressiveness levels. I'm using Meguiar's Ultimate Compound on mine for correction. It's not the most aggressive compound, but it falls into the "start gentle, getting more aggressive only if necessary" category ie: less is best.

Right now, having been buffed with UC once (lightly as I was testing UC for compatibility), I have a 3-5 foot car, meaning that at 3-5 feet, it looks flawless (except to a keen eyed detailer). Mine is a used 3 year old (2013) car that was mechanically well cared for, but cosmetically not so much. So in most areas on the car, the best I can get will be a 3 foot car.

[Mike Phillips]

I have a 2015 Ashen Gray Metallic Camaro with less then 3000. This is a daily driver so it's in the weather.

I was thinking of trying Wet Ice Over Fire. I've used All Finish Paint Protection in the past and loved the results.

Right now I only work by hand and was wondering if it would be worthwhile to hand polish first and if so, what would a good polish be to use.

Thanks

Note I made the pertinent sentence bold in your above post.


I've been teaching detailing classes for almost 30 years. I've taught more people to work by machine than I can remember. What I can remember is how many of them said,

Wow! I can't believe it took me so long to move up to machine polishing"

(or something like that)

And that's because it's simply not that hard with a simple dual action polisher to get better results faster than working by hand. In fact to get this point across I wrote an article with some great pictures to make the paint,


It's not that hard...



That said, far be it from me to ever try to convince someone to get a simple dual action polisher and make the jump from working by hand to working by machine.

The Blackfire Wet Ice Over Fire is non-cleaning wax. I type about this a LOT in the forum world because some people don't know anything about waxes let alone the difference between a cleaner/wax and a finishing wax. Blackfire Wet Ice Over Fire and All Finish Paint Protection are BOTH non-cleaning products.

If you car is a daily driver then you really want to do one of two things,

1: Use a cleaner/wax. (one step process)

2: Use a dedicated polish followed by a finishing wax. (two step process)


Click the link below and look at the pictures and read the text and it will explain why...



Here's why you need to polish paint...



Keep in mind the before and after picture were of a garage kept show car not a daily driver. The paint on daily drivers will have an even great accumulation of dirt staining etc.

[Mike Phillips]

Here's another article I'd recommend clicking on and then looking at the pictures and reading the text.


Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film


Let us know if you want to do a two step or a one step process to the paint on your Camaro and I'm sure everyone will chime in with recommendations for either approach.

If you love your car and you like taking care of it and detailing it, then I'd recommend getting a copy of my how-to book,

The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine



Then read it from cover to cover and you'll really learn a lot about this thing we all car car detailing.