Hot Rods On cutting and buffing paint...

I still have an almost full bottle of Liquid Ebony. I take it out and shake it up now n then. Saving it for the final polish of the OG paint 39. When you did it right there was nothing better.

And old? Ok, show of hands, who actually tried cornstarch as a final swirl remover? I did a hood ½, came to the conclusion it was a fkn mess and not worth the effort it took to make it pretty.

 

I would surely go 2000 to cut the 1500 scratches, it'll go fast too, wanna grip the paper to the wet surface. Finish with 3000 on the DA (good high speeds needed but not crazy) which as I stated above almost replaces compound. As you wipe or squeegee dry watch the surface as the wetness fades, you'll see if you still have a scratch or 3. Also, listen to the sanding process. Quite often the little squeek heard is a melted nugget of paint stuck to the paper acting like a stone putting hateful scars in your work.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll get it done before Relix Riot.

 

I'm just lucky...I appreciate all the information that has been put forth here...I usually have everything going against me except for really good prep plus I live in the high dry desert in the dirt.... On a rock pile. Good luck and yes I go to 2000 grit before buff and buff with 3M polishing compound,a foam pad on a Milwaukee Fuel angle buffer/ grinder...no cord to put up

Geezzz...the curvature of the fender ruined my girlish figure...

 

For those that want to sand more and compound less, 3m Trizact discs now go through to 8000. They're expensive but last well (about $20 a piece, but I've done a fenderless 32 coupe and there's still life in the single disc I got) and enable a novice hack like me to achieve astounding results.

Chris

 

I tried cornstarch to remove the black polishing residue after polishing our Spartan, then found white flour worked better. It works amazingly well on aluminum, I don't know about what it would to on paint, but...

 

After sanding to 5000
Made polishing very easy

 

^^^^DAMN!

 

After a round with 5000, you can damn near hand wax it to the final finish.

 

'Back in the day' when we sprayed motorcickle tanks it was done with acrylic lacquer with a bit of clear mixed in with the final coats. Leave a couple of days to harden a bit and block down with 1200 and soapy water. Machine buff with cutting compound and as the compound starts to dry put a squirt of water on it and buff till the swirl marks had gone. If really fussy use tal*** powder mixed into a slurry with water and repeat. This was back in the day of Kawasaki 900s and custom Honda 750s.

 

The old days spray that rock hard lacquer nock it down with 600 finish with 800 use them screaming air buffers going 100 mph. Did you denibe the paint that might be your light spots take all the good advice and finish sand with 3000 and 5000.