I have my 91 New Yorker that I’m trying to make look better, finish-wise. It has some, to me, apparently bad scratches, BUT, to my untrained eye, it appears to be superficial, as in doesn’t go through to the primer, or to the metal. So, I went to youtube and got some good tips. Kinda. Then, went to Harbor Freight, and got some tools. I buffed my car, with mixed results. The trunk, looks pretty good, say, 100% better; not perfect, but, almost great for a used car. The hood looks about 30-50% better, so, I’m questioning my equipment/technique.
The polisher I got was 2-3500 rpm. The youtube video said 1500 rpms ought to be plenty, but, I turned it up to max. My muscles aren’t Arnold-quality, but it sure didn’t feel like any 3500 rpms. It didn’t look like the wheel was turning at any 50-70 rpms a second, either, but, I don’t know. Is HF known to exaggerate on their tools performance?
I also got a wool/synthetic bonnet to do the buffing with. I was thinking this might be overkill, but, on the whole, it barely touched the hood.
I just found out that my compound was for light/medium scratches, while I had thought that it was med/heavy. My bad.
So, should I just keep repeating on the hood? Get heavier compound? Heavier polishing bonnet? Raise cain with Harbor Freight for shoddy equipment?
More to come…hit ‘submit’ way too soon.
OK, also…
Does one buff the compound until it is dry/evaporated, or leave plenty on there, keep adding compound, and then clean off compound?
Also, I’m getting sort of a glare, not microscratches, on the finish; kind of like those pictures with halo effects, but, not halos, more straight lines. (Rambling, but, I think you know what I mean.
How do I get rid of those? Polish them out, or go to a foam pad?
Watch the original Karate Kid movie for the proper technique.
I’ve never used power equipment to polish or wax a car. I’ve seen some terrible swirl marks left by people who have done it wrong. However if the car is already a mess, I doubt that it can hurt.
Did you get a random orbit polisher? The orbits are ~3000 but the rotation of the pad is much slower. Go over the parts not up to par with the light/medium compound again. Take things easy, light pressure, multiple times. You don’t want to burn through the paint. Clean off the compound and check your work between applications.
Thanks for this input. It gets me into the ballpark!
I’ll update.
ETA: Uh, i’m not sure what a random orbit polisher is. Is it the kind with no real handle? If so, no, I got the kind that look like a paddle. Wait, here it is.
Look at Labdad’s link for Griot’s Garage. They have a true random orbital polisher on there that is pretty much guaranteed not to scuff your paint. I buy most of my wax/polish products from this guy, and they promptly answer any emails as to methodology of application. Oh, and stay away from Harbor Freight for anything that requires electricity.
Is it possible some of the panels are not factory finish? Any areas repainted by a body shop will likely need slightly different finishing to make them match the factory finish.
Turning the speed too high and applying any force while you’re polishing will cause swirl marks and burning, especially on a 20+ year old car. It’s easy to turn scratched paint into completely destroyed paint.
I would:
Very carefully wash the car and get it as clean as you possibly can.
Dry the car.
Wash the car again, every bit as carefully as you washed it the first time.
Dry the car again.
If you absolutely must try to rub out scratches, work in small sections with a rubbing compound. Use a lot of microfiber towels and work by hand instead of using a power tool. Leaving some of the original scratches behind is a lot better than having a large spot of dead paint. If you’re done rubbing and feel like you should hit another spot again, you can always go back to it.
Wash the car again.
Spray the car with a quick detailer product and dry it with a microfiber towel.
Wax the car by hand. As with the rubbing compound, work in small sections.
I have generally done this whenever I’ve bought a used car and I’ve always been blown away with the results. It takes all day, but it’s worth the effort. I have the same polisher you have but I’ve only used it once on a car I color sanded. By hand is much better if you’re just cleaning up some scratches.
If you can find a paint store that specializes in car paints (an extremely complex niche, if you want to go deep enough) or even a professional tool store (does HF look to you like a professional store?), you can get all the info you need about heavy cut, fine cut, which color bonnets go with which polishes.
And, while you’re there, pick up a few sheets of 1000 and 2000 grit emery cloth and a real (3M) sanding block.
Good tools are a pleasure to work with; crap tools waste your time and produce unfortunate results unless used very carefully.
I am going to grave pointing out that big box stores are not places for people who want real products.
They’re great for food and other use-once-and-throw-away products.
“Turned it up to max?” What’s your hurry? Polishing creates friction. Friction creates heat. Powered polishing creates friction faster. Heat is bad for paint. Heat is excellent for removing paint - quickly.
Apply enough friction and you no longer have to worry about “polishing the paint”, you’ll have to reapply paint.
You don’t need big muscles to polish paint, just time and patience. Personally, I use Meguiar’s line of car care products but any quality line will get good results.
Select a 1, 2 or 3 foot section and “Karate Kid” it until you’re tired or bored. Come back to it later in the day or the next day.
