I have been playing around with 2 stage painting but the buffing/polishing part scares me. I know I can pull off an entire car in "shiney" paint, but I would hate to screw it up at the final step. QUESTION: Is it possible to do the whole job but farm out the buffing/polishing to a pro? What do you think that would cost (ballpark) for a reg size 50/60's car?
and if he burns through your paintjob, it's still YOUR problem. i say DIY, just shoot an extra coat or two of clear if you're really nervous.
interesting approach... but I also don't have the equipment to buff it out so I thought just having someone else do it would be a good option.
First shoot a extra coat or 3 of clear on the body lines where you think you may burn through and then clear the rest of the car as desired. Do minimal sanding on these areas. Save these ridges till last while learning how to buff. The money you spend to have some one else do it will buy all the tools and supplies you need. After the first job, the tools are yours and "owe" you nothing and you can tackle the next one.
Let a pro do it and watch, it's is and art in its self! Look at all the supply's needed to do it the right way.
i do it for a living if you don't know how to do it it would be better if you farmed it out even pro's can mess it up
Painted my son's car black, felt like I had been in a boxing tournament after buffing it three times with wool and three times with foam. I would have LOVED to sip an iced tea while I watched it being done. I'm stupid.
Hey Gooz, How much clear do ya have on this job? If you are talikin' candy, flake, mica or pearl ,this ain't no time to be flyin' a " Training Mission "! I'd hit some of the bigger detail shops in your area & maybe a kustom shop, as well. I'd guess $300-$400 dead presidents for a cat who knows his **** to coloursand & pull up a deep shine outa your rig. There's alittle more involved than jus' pushin' some paper over the job, and holdin a buffer for a couple hours! S****ey Devils C.C. " Humpty Dumpty was pushed "
pay someone! my uncle has a bodyshop and even they burn the paint in some spots, the edges of the doors and trunk are the easy to mess up! i wouldnt mess with it! it will save you a headache if you get a pro. just my two cents. good luck if you are going to try it on your own.
It is the absolute most **** part of a paint job. If you are trusting, farm it out. If you are a fast learner, try it frst. Buff out your wife's car and see how ya do. A few quick tips. I usually shoot an extra 2 coats if I know I'm colorsanding/buffing. Tape the bodylines and edges that are easy to burn through. Take your time, it doesn't have to all happen at once. Check this tech I did on colorsanding, http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=367250 and this one GaryC did on buffing, http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=184233. Good luck!
This question is a lot like the "What does it cost to paint my car?" questions. If you want a quickie buff and shine that will only take an hour or two, you might get it from a detail shop for $129. If you want the car truly cut and buffed to show standards (The better part of a whole day or more), you are talking $1,000 plus. If you don't trust yourself, I wouldn't recommend trying to color sand it before having it buffed to save money. Some of the "art" is in the sanding itself. It also depends on what sort of finish you are sending to a buffer. Most guys like a small tight drier spray if you are going to cut and buff so that you don't have to sand as far (as you would with a production level larger orange peel like seen on newer cars...) And it depends on the size of the car and what trim is on the car (to be buffed around and then cleaned). Ideally, a decent cut and buff is going to take several trips around the car sanding, several more trips around the car with cutting compound, several more trips with finishing compound and several more trips by hand, all using somewhat expensive materials. Easily a $500-$1,200 experience. All that being said, it is easy enough to learn. The real issue is whether it is worth the insurance to have someone else do it. Nothing wrong with either way. Do what makes you feel the best. Good luck!
I usually figure on about 40 hours to color sand my paint jobs..probably cause I'm not that great a "finish" painter. To get the finish I want, I start with 800 or 1000 and go up to 1500 or 2000. So 3 full times around the car, sanding very carefully. Buffing takes less time, but again, 3 times around the car...white fine compound, liquid polish, then a swirl remover/glaze. So another 10-15 hours. But this is a REAL nice finish! You can probably do it yourself with a 160$ buffer, and about 40-50$ worth of pads, and polishes. It's all about learning new skills, and pride in your work!
Best result I ever got was me paint, pro buff! It turns out that for a pro...... "you can't polish a turd......but you can sure shine it up with the right buff!!!"
Thanks guys. I'm all for doing it myself becuase I understand the trade off between perfection and the satisfaction of knowing I did it on my own. I can live with my work for better or worse. Problem is that final polishing can screw up the whole thing. I think it's worth paying a pro to do that part. PimpnPaint .. gets my vote
Do it yourself, you can do it. Unless your lazy. $300 will buy you an air buffer and some sandpaper and pads. DO IT! If you can't buff a car with 4 coats of clear..that's a ton of clear, then you better have someone else do the whole deal, paint and buff. JMO. Lippy
i agree with most.. farm it out buffing is an art did it for many years and easy to mess up if not careful but if you can watch definitely do so. good luck
do you have a pic of the car in question? how many coats of clear did you spray and what brand? how flat do you want the paint? for super show i would start at 600 grit. not full show 1000-1500.
If you can afford it ... have a pro buff it out ... I did a ****py DIY paint job on my car a few years ago ... tried buffing a few times ... not getting anywhere ... Got a good deal from a young guy starting a mobile detailling service and finally got something acceptable to drive ... Its still a ****py DIY paint job ... but he certainly made it a look a lot better ... I don't know who's more impressed with how well it turned out ... myself or him ... He sure looks proud of his work in this picture, and put a couple of these on his own website ... ( He's in the first pic, not myself, but I'm hidden in the background of the hood shot )
just try it yourself!!!if you were able to paint it then you should be able to cut-buff yourself!!just rember not to sand real close to any bodyline or edge.if these areas have orange peel it is real hard to see and will cleanup with the glaze.sand with 800 then 1000 then 1500.this doesnt take very long and just use alot of water and keep looking at what your doing.if your affraid to use a buffer than you can do it by hand{**** THAT}set the buffer on slow and take your time.its always better to do it yourself because if something happens after a week or so it wont bother you as much!!if your scared just do what i do and have a couple beers and get the liquid couradge in you it will be fine and dont forget HAVE FUN,
that's one way of looking at it. another is: with the skills learned, you can fix problems down the road or other bad, aged paint jobs yourself. having done the work myself, i really don't understand those saying it's some magic process that only highly skilled people can do. oddly most of those people claim to have those skills. hmmm, maybe a bit of an agenda at work? a question for the real painters here since the point i made upthreadwas largely ignored: a guy brings you a painted car for a cut n buff, says there is plenty of clear, there isn't, you burn through, now what? he came to you looking to save a potential headache, it still happened, his paint needs major repair work and he is on the hook to pay you many hundreds for a botched job. there ain't no magic the guy buffing can do to add more paint. my opinion is either do the whole paint job or nothing. i wouldn't shoot it and hand it over to someone to buff, nor would i buff someone else paint without it being clear that i was not responsible for any burn through. if the worst does happen nobody will take responsibility.
hey if your ride is running and are willing to drive it out here is one idea monrovia is not far from you try ferrari bros body shop my brother is the gm ask for lalo have him price it out what the real cost would be they are a very very reputable shop and that will tell you what the cost would be If the price is fair have it done if not drive around back ask for george his my nephew ask what he would charge he does the buffing for them
Shoot man, if you ask me the more useful skill of the two is buffing. If you can paint, you can buff. The secret to the process is talk to a pro and get their exact recipe. Follow it. The person suggesting you're only gonna use $50 of materials is correct, except you're actually gonna have to buy closer to $200 worth, plus the buffer, and you'll have a bunch of half bottles and reuseable pads left over. Meaning the next buff is "free". Kinda. good luck!
Good info all around. Dante.... just getting my ducks in a row right now. SickRitch..... I kow the shop. I had some work done by Ruels Carb shop at the corner. I'll probably try it on a smaller project and just farm it out when I paint my car. Jack of all trades... master of most.
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