looking into getting a polisher

[JonMiles]

I'm with you on that one, Lambos have diamond plated skin. Ridiculously hard. Rocket, did you ever try power gloss on the lambos? I had good success with it on a murci last month.

[viviorunitia88]

well thanks yeah i have learned a lot and the reason why he is painting my car for free is because i help him out at the shop so i have picked up quite a bit about clear coat but thanks for the info ill probly just pick up the meg with the men package. any ideas on what sealent would bring out the best shine on the paint been looking at the wolfgang and poorboy blackhole then finishing with dodo supernatural or one of the zymol mid lines just cant bring myself to spend the money on swissvax seems all the price is for is marketing. espicaly when im a detail nazi and enjoy waxing my car like every two weeks with daily washs and spray detailers lol

[ASPHALT ROCKET]

I'm with you on that one, Lambos have diamond plated skin. Ridiculously hard. Rocket, did you ever try power gloss on the lambos? I had good success with it on a murci last month.

Yes, even with a wool pad it laughed. So I went back to 105 and it got all the defects out, plus 105 finishes out so much nicer than Power Gloss. It would be nice to see something like 105 from Menzerna, but right now it is hard to beat 105 right now.

[viviorunitia88]

o i guess the reason for the selfhealing clear is since it stays maliuable if by the off chance a scratch gets almost to the base coat he thinks it would be best since the lower layres of clear will heal its self and then all you have to worry about is buffing the ceramic clear.... thats what im told so i listen its all sikkens paint so its good stuff

[viviorunitia88]

Well with all being said with the felx what pads and compounds would you recomend asphalt with have the complete background knowledge of my paint?? also will i really need that aggresive of a compound all the time. I was thinking as long as the paint dident have any swirls or defects i would just use like dodo lime prime as just a glaze/ prewax treatment toped with a sealer and supernatural for the finsher

[ASPHALT ROCKET]

well thanks yeah i have learned a lot and the reason why he is painting my car for free is because i help him out at the shop so i have picked up quite a bit about clear coat but thanks for the info ill probly just pick up the meg with the men package. any ideas on what sealent would bring out the best shine on the paint been looking at the wolfgang and poorboy blackhole then finishing with dodo supernatural or one of the zymol mid lines just cant bring myself to spend the money on swissvax seems all the price is for is marketing. espicaly when im a detail nazi and enjoy waxing my car like every two weeks with daily washs and spray detailers lol

Here is the thing, if you paint is polished correctly your lsp is not going to add anything or if it does when you check by a gloss meter you will not see it with your eye. Your LSP is basically there to protect all your hard work. The Wolfgang sealant is a great sealant, the new DP poli-coat is as well but a little harder to work with. A great mid range Zymol wax would be the Concours and Glasur. Also Swissvax Concorso is a great mid range priced wax. If you look Zymol is priced anout the same if not more than Swissvax. They both have great nubas. Plus when you go up in price range with either the nuba content is higher and they last a lot longer.

[rwright]

I must be an idiot too. I have only used M105/M205 and Cyan/Tangerine Hydro Tech pads for the most part. The 2 black cars I used Menz PO85RD and gray pads, even though it wasn't needed.

[ASPHALT ROCKET]

o i guess the reason for the selfhealing clear is since it stays maliuable if by the off chance a scratch gets almost to the base coat he thinks it would be best since the lower layres of clear will heal its self and then all you have to worry about is buffing the ceramic clear.... thats what im told so i listen its all sikkens paint so its good stuff

Sikkens makes very nice paint, I really like Glasurit(sp) clear.

[Mike Phillips]

im looking for a showcar finish since this will be getting used once im comfortable with it on my rx7 with ashton martin meatorite silver paint that just came out of the booth.

thanks guys

I tend to be very careful with words when I post as it seems there's always someone that want's to try to find fault with something I write, so on that note, if by

Just came out of the booth


You mean within a few days, then usually the best time to do any sanding and buffing is sooner than later before the paint fully hardens.

The reason I prefaced my remarks is because we had people post things like,

My car was just painted

and after digging a little deeper by "just painted" they mean a few months ago up to a year ago... there's a huge difference between a few days ago and a few months ago....

Regardless of which compounds and polishes you go with, if the new/fresh paint is going to be sanded and then buffed I would recommend doing it sooner versus later... your painter should have a good feel for the "Window of time" in which the paint still offers good polishability.

The Meguiar's Twins are pretty hard to beat for projects such as this, the M105 has set the new standard for cut and finish using SMAT instead of DAT

If you're not up to date on SMAT here's a few articles on the subject from my article list...

Compounds - Polishes - Paint Cleaners - Cleaner/Polishes - Pure Polishes - Glazes
The SMAT Pack - Everything you ever wanted to know about Meguiar's SMAT products...
The Aggressiveness Order of SMAT Products - This might surprise you!




Also, if you're going to be helping with the sanding the take a look at machine sanding with any of these,

• Meguiar's Unigrit
• 3M Trizact
• Mirka Abralon

I've used the Mirka Abralon system for years and finishing out at #4000 grit makes removing your sanding marks real easy for you or your painter. The new Meguiar's Unigrit Dampsanding Discs are also top notch and the #3000 grit sanding marks they leave in the finish also buff out real easy with a good quality wool cutting pad and M105

Here's a recent article I wrote on dampsanding...

Damp-Sanding Tools, Tips and Techniques by Mike Phillips


If you're going to be doing any of the compounding after sanding then you should get a rotary buffer, it's the best tool for removing sanding marks at this time...


And Dana's advice on learning from your painter is spot on, when I first got into this industry it was calling on body shops and teaching what's called the "Painter's Helper" how to wetsand, cut and buff using the Meguiar's System, (I was a Trainer for Meguiar's, did this for 3 years in Oregon, Washington and Idaho), and I learned a lot from painters.

While it's true they do know more than most in this industry when it comes to sanding and buffing paint, after some time goes by they tend to like to pass off the sanding and buffing work to the Painter's Helper because it's hard dirty work, most of the really good painter's I've known in my life usually do pass off the sanding and buffing because they are paid top dollar to be the "Painter".

Here's the ironic thing...

"It's the guy that does the sanding and buffing that makes or breaks the paint job" -Mike Phillips

It's not the painter that makes or breaks the paint job unless the car is "not" sanded and buffed.

Make sense?

[viviorunitia88]

well its not getting sikkens clear hes finding some other for it as he wants a clear that matchs the exotics