What Cutters & Polish to use on Two-Pac first time off?

[stradlater]

I need to cut and polish the car, it's never been polished at all.

Straight off the gun - twopac, what should I use and how should it be done?

[mullett]

I used turtlewax on mine. Are you saying it's not 'glossy off the gun' and needs to be rubbed back to get the gloss?

-RM

[stradlater]

Smoothed back, yeah. Needs a cut and polish

Plus I took to it with a bit of 2000 grit, needs some work now!

[Cuzzo]

2pac is probably a bit far dead for him to buff out.

2pak shouldn't need a buff off the gun. Did you clear it?

[stradlater]

2pak. That's it!

Yeah, it's been cleared. Just could use flattening out.

["Z" UTE]

Stradlater, if you have attacked the 2pak with 2000 wet, then you should have got all the orange peel off, as that is the idea anyway. You need to use a proper cutting compound such as G3 or JUICE. These are liquid compounds and not a solid as found in some cans. You need a variable speed buffing machine, they are effectively a very large angle grinder. I saw one chap try to use a 2 handled random ordital polisher from SupaCrap, well that certainly did not work lol.

You need to get hold of the pink, white or yellow foam pads for the buffer, use the compound sparingly and let the weight of the machine do the work. pressing down only increases the chance of burning a hole through the paint. Always orientate the machine so that the pad always runs off the edge of a panel. going the other way will rip the paint clean off.

When finished with the compounding switch pads to the lightweight black foam, and attack the car again with some swirl remover.

When you are happy with the gloss level, give the car a wash down, to remove all traces of compound. When dried off you then apply a sealer and glaze, using microfibre cloths buff that off, then apply a good quality wax. Again use microfibre cloths to buff off the excess wax.

Stand back and admire your hanywork and enjoy a cooling beveridge.

The speed for the machine should be set no higher than 3.5, too much speed equals too much heat equals stuffed paint.


UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES USE A WOOL BUFFING MOP, they have a tendency to tear into 2pac.


cheers Chuck.

[stradlater]

THanks Chuck.

Comprehensive run-down, think you've just talked me out of doing anything at all now. :-)

[wirysage]

2pac is probably a bit far dead for him to buff out.

2pak shouldn't need a buff off the gun. Did you clear it?

2pak has clear coat of sorts inside it why would you ask if he had cleared it?

[Cuzzo]

Cause I know nothing bout 2 pak yet to paint mine.

[Joshstix]

2pak has clear coat of sorts inside it why would you ask if he had cleared it?

WTF 2 pak paint is reffering to a paint that dries by a catalysed chemical process rather than evaporation. It has nothing to do with if the paint is a base coat, clear coat or any other specialty paint. Some 2 pak touch up paints are a blend of base coat and clear coat to give some gloss and UV stability.

Stages is the more telling descriptor for this situation. Most modern cars are painted in a base coat clear coat or 2 stage process where the base coat provides the colour and possible effects such as metallic flake etc while the clear coat provides the shine and protection. A single stage will be just a colour coat that includes the protective components and still comes up glossy without a clear coat. There is much more complicated multi stage systems but they're probably not important in this discussion. However you can get both single stage and multi stage systems in 2 pak or acrylic.

The reason why whether it is a multi stage system or not is important is because you have less room for material removal on a multi stage process. Most paint films are reasonably consistent in the thickness at which they are at rick of failing and with a multi stage system each products layer tends to be thinner than the layer of a single stage process. Basically you need to be carefull to remove the absolute minimum amount of clear coat possible to give the result needed.

I'd advise getting advice from people far more knowledgable on this topic than the typical car forum member since you don't want to kill a new paint job. Take a look over at Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online particularly in the rotary polisher section and ask some questions to get good advice for your specific situation.

[1JZ-Rolla]

Chuck and Josh have got it wirysage is just confusing the matter........ LOL

I can't recommend "Juice" cutting compoung enough (as Chuck mentioned) as a suitable first cut liquid buffing solution that also produces great gloss as it breaks down on the surface. Not cheap at around $60 a bottle, but saves a lot of time, and is quite forgiving. It is suitable as a hand buff also for those hard to reach places, spot fixes, or complex surfaces.

[wirysage]

Chuck and Josh have got it wirysage is just confusing the matter........ LOL

I can't recommend "Juice" cutting compoung enough (as Chuck mentioned) as a suitable first cut liquid buffing solution that also produces great gloss as it breaks down on the surface. Not cheap at around $60 a bottle, but saves a lot of time, and is quite forgiving. It is suitable as a hand buff also for those hard to reach places, spot fixes, or complex surfaces.

yea I get it lol I'm using autothane CV for my respray and I am using it because it is a blend paint.

So how much would you need to pay a professional detailer to buff your paint after a respray $1500?

["Z" UTE]

yea I get it lol I'm using autothane CV for my respray and I am using it because it is a blend paint.

So how much would you need to pay a professional detailer to buff your paint after a respray $1500?

They will not touch resprays WITH AN EIGHTY FOOT BARGE POLE, as they do not know what depth the paint cover is, and are worried about rub through's.
same deal with a paint shop. You sprayed it you buff it, end of story.

cheers Chuck.

[wirysage]

They will not touch resprays WITH AN EIGHTY FOOT BARGE POLE, as they do not know what depth the paint cover is, and are worried about rub through's.
same deal with a paint shop. You sprayed it you buff it, end of story.

cheers Chuck.

Let me guess those paint depth meters only measure down to the metal? I doubt they'd be able to distinguish between different base coat and primer layers.