Sequence of abrasives for the bare metal guys? whats COLE's SECret

I did a quick search, but didnt find the answer..

cole posted photos of a bare naked 36 ford.. the body was taken down to bare metal.. it appeared to have the same "finish" all over the body..

I would like to know what sequence of abrasives was used, and further what tools were used to accomplish this process..

fwiw.. I am metal finishing a pair of rear fenders. they have been taken to
bare steel through a combination of stripper, wire brush and DA work.. however this has resulted in a less than uniform sheen.


what can I use/ do to get the fenders more "uniform"

sawzall

 

i have good luck with the scotch brite discs, medium or fine

 

Scotch brite pads and a lot of elbow grease

 

Cole did post details here,with numbers,
and said he goes finer than necessary.

 

i would have to also say scotchbrite pads green ones if that helps...i worked for rod bods and used to scrub the bodies down with scotch brite and some wd40 and it looked awesome!

 

i thought that I had it saved...spent some time diggin through my files and found nothing..

sorry t
ok

 

Getting the metal Too smooth/slick and the primer may loose adhesion.....
better use Etch primer only I suppose

 

That's where I'm at on the 51.I'm a gibbs addict!Try compound/polishing pad.If it doesn't work for you,I won't try it.haha

 

s.o.s. padz........

 

The round black 3M Scotchbrite pads on a 7" variable speed buffer. Eastwood sells them or check your local autobody supplier. They are actually in 3Ms industrial line.

 

Do you think he scuffed it up after all the shows and photoshoots when it was finally ready for paint?

 

We always hit em with the 3M disks and just left them. But, it is like a desert out here, no humidity. Humid areas will flash rust very quickly. When ready for paint I just wiped the metal down with thinner then wax and grease remover before bodywork.

 

After you use your D/A to get the body close to where you want it, you can use whatever grit of Scotch-Brite pads you want by hand to get a uniform, brushed finish. Then, you can protect it with Gibbs Brand. That's what Cole used on the '36. If you use it, and if you put more of it on every few months (depending on the environment it's in) so the body stays slightly wet to the touch, you won't have to mess around with it.

If you have any questions for Cole, you can reach him at (831) 424-7753.

Cole's site: http://www.salinasboys.com/

Gibbs Brand: http://www.roadsters.com/gibbs/

Dave Mann
(602) 233-8400 weekdays
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

i know that some of the stuff i had media blasted looked pretty good like that.....i wonder if you blasted it when you were done if it'd make it look more uniform.
george

 

I do not know what Cole did, but if that is a pic of his coupe, he is on top.


Scotchbrite or sand paper will work the same by hand for finishing.

It is all the work that you do before finishing that gives you the final look.

I hammered out some armor for halloween out of steel. It polished up great, and with a few coats of bowling alley wax it still looks good. If I had a buck for every time some one put there caustic fingers on it (sheesh).

The plates I polished, looked pretty good at 400 grit, but looked great at 2,000 (wet). I did use a little compound on them at the end for fun.

This is sort of stating the obvious, but make sure that you do not skip any grit stages in your process. If you do not get all of the marks out from the grit before... do not go to the next finer grit.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, when using a finer grit, if you discover that co****r grit marks are showing through (that are not the grit you just used)... Go back to the last grit and finish it out, or prepare to use more of the finer grit, and elbow grease to get those marks out.

 

One more thing...

Be prepared for what you will accomplish if you get close to polishing the metal. If your metal is not straight, the finer you take the grit, the more that you will show off your substrate.

That could be good, but it could be bad.

Sq.

 

I ASKED COLE THIS SAME ? BACK IN FEB. WHEN I WAS TALKING MY 50 FORD DOWN BARE. COLE SAID,"USE A DA ,LOCK IT ON SPIN OR A BUFFER WITH A FOAM PAD WITH SCOTCHBRITE PADS USE WD40 AS U GO..DA I USE 180-280."....there ya go end of story..good nite.

 

We use only Gibbs Brand oil on everything. Part of the trick is to use Acid wash to get even colour prior to the scotchbrite and Gibbs, D.A. etc.

 

Sounds good.

The DA paper we use at work goes down to 220. Things are getting pretty smooth. The finer sand paper grits do not have a long service life I guess that is where the scotchbrite excells.

SQ.

 

Hokay. Now here's what I want to know. If you want to keep that "just finished" metalwork look, while keeping it weather proof, what would be the best way to do it? Oiling it all the time seems laborious, and if you do a one-stage or a flat clear over that, you hide all the file marks and "character".

Any tips or tricks would be great.

 

You could read the page that I provided a link to earlier: http://www.roadsters.com/gibbs/

Dave Mann
(602) 233-8400 weekdays
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

Nice read. If you did that to the body of a car, could you run it like that?

 

Yes, you can drive a bare-metal car that's coated with Gibbs Brand. As for how often you would have to re-apply it, that would depend on the environment that it's used in. A coat of Gibbs Brand will last a year or more on something that's left inside in a dry climate. On a daily driver, you may want to add another coat every month or so. When the metal is no longer slightly wet to the touch, it's ready for another coat.

My experience has been that metal parts that are coated with Gibbs Brand are easier to take care of than parts that are painted or plated. (And it sure costs a lot less than a rattle-can paint job.)

Dave Mann
(602) 233-8400 weekdays
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

Can metal treated with Gibbs later be cleaned, prepped and painted?

 

how will this stuff do in high humidity areas such as Florida?
i am very interested.

 

Yes. Read the page at http://www.roadsters.com/gibbs/

Dave Mann
(602) 233-8400 weekdays
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

Since I haven't tried it in your climate, about all I can do is suggest that you keep it slightly wet to the touch.

Dave Mann
(602) 233-8400 weekdays
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

i am curious of the sequence numbers of grit that is used for bare metal look.
it is a painted surface to start with.