Basic polishing tips (Charlie's style)

[clintonnut 126]

Hi Guys,

This weather has me stuck inside to work on little stuff. I was looking at my 1277 which as sat outside from July until now and it didn't show any signs of weathering but with the 11" of rain I didn't want it to get drenched. I also am putting on Fun Engineer's seat cover soon so I wanted something a little nicer for the cover. Paint was put on the 1277 hood 3 years ago and is just Valspar rattle can. Here's what it looked like on completion.

This is 800 grit on a 702 shield. A quick scuffing shows the orange peel:

Applied Mother's aluminum wheel cleaner with a paper towel. It has cleaning agents in it so its great to remove dirt and oxidation:

Wiped off:

You can see how the light does not reflect across the unpolished part:

Here's the hood the day I painted it. Not much gloss:

The 1277's current finish. As you can see it hasn't changed even with being outside and used every week for mowing, snow plowing or hauling brush. I have to mow under pine trees so the hood gets scuffed up pretty easily.

Hood after a quick rub down with basically a bath washcloth and compound:

After 800 grit:

After 1000 grit:

The 1000 grit result was achieved by:

1: wiping any dust/dirt/grime off

2: dry sanding with 800 grit

3: dry sanding with 1000 grit

4: rub down with compound and "washcloth"

5: gentle rub down with a softer "washcloth"

6: glass cleaner and a soft cloth

7: mother's back to black light rub down with soft cloth

8: glass cleaner and soft cloth.

This process only took a total of 30 mins on the hood. A couple of tips I find useful is to change the circular sanding motion between counterclockwise and clockwise. If you feel paint "rolling" it is a sign of too much friction and pressure. When using the polish and back to black with a soft cloth continue to change up your circular rotation. This helps to prevent putting an edge on the paint (usually identified by circular scratch-like marks. Edging is extremely noticeable on metallics which is why metallics are usually base coat / clear coat. Metallics when sanded will "pull" and create an uneven finish. Sanding directly on a metallic is never done because of this. Instead, clear coat is applied and then that gives a good polishing base.

I do not intend to clear coat this hood. I don't really see it necessary. Rattle can clears never hold up and will fade quickly.

Charlie

[HorseFixer 2,012]

Looks good Charlie.

~Duke

[Coadster32 793]

Big difference. Thanks for the tips. :thanks:

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

Very nice charlie! :handgestures-thumbup:

[AMC RULES 36,954]

Yep, Mothers brought my 653's original paint back to life too.

Good stuff.

[krazy_horse 59]

A little time made her look great!