Polishing Clear Coat

[ddaniels]

The 30 day wait time used to be the rule with old enamel paints. Not an issue with today's laquers and urethane paints. I always wait 2 days and it's always enough. I alos set it out in bright sunlight for a few hours after the final clearcoat to help the curing process. Just don't start sanding right after taking it out of the sun. It has to cool completely first.

[rustybronco]

What happens if I sand through the clear? Can I spray on top of the clear and showing paint or do I need to sand all the clear off or remove all paint and start again?

If your base was a straight color and you sanded through the clear into the base coat you might get away with degreasing and CAREFULLY sanding the rest of clear with the recommended grit paper, then reclearing. if it's a metallic base, more than likely you will need to sand, rebase and reclear.

read the Mfg's technical data sheets, it should tell you what you need to know.

[Dave8338]

One other note on the "I sanded through the clear...can I recoat" possibility: It USUALLY shows a little darker in color contrast, if you have a "spot" that you sanded through the clear and just re clear the part.

Not "always" the case and reds and blacks are better at being recleared.
Silver (as metallic was mentioned earlier by Dale) is a NO GO for a spot fix.

[Mop Bucket]

I am mostly finished with the polishing. Thanks everyone for the help and advice. The parts turned out pretty good. This is what I ended up doing. I sanded all tins down until there wasn't anything shiny. I than started to use the electric buffer than the words of Nessism echoed in my head.

I strongly advise against using a machine to polish the paint unless you are experienced in using one. It is really easy to cut though the paint and destroy all your hard work. You can get a really nice shine by hand polishing so I advise doing that and only go to the machine if you can't get a shine any other way.

I pulled out the hand buffers and got to work. I started with McGuire’s extra fine cleaner. After that shined it up pretty good I went for McGuire’s polish #7. I was told that I should use #7 for 6 months so the paint can finish curing then add McGuire’s #26 polish.

The results

[Hoosier Daddy]

That'll do!!

[Mop Bucket]

The shine hazed up about an hour after applying #7... anyone have ideas as to why or what I did wrong?

[Nessism]

#7 is a glaze right? If so, it's mostly oil so it most likely soaked in. Glaze is sort of like wax, and doesn't have any abrasives.

It's customary to first use a cutting compound, followed by a polishing compound which has a finner grit. Instead of that #7 you should use a polish of some sort. Save the #7 for the final stage.

[Mop Bucket]

Update, a few hours after I finished polishing, the tins started to dull. Don't know if I need to keep polishing with #7 or use something else. I went over the pieces twice with the polish. Any suggestions?

[Nessism]

Like I said already, #7 is not a polish, it's a glaze, which is like a wax. You need a polishing compound. Fine Cut has medium grit, polish has fine grit. First use the cutting compound, then the polish. Use that #7 last.

[Mop Bucket]

Sorry about double post, I had two many windows open and opened an old window thinking I forgot to post and double posted.

So will I need to use a grease and wax remover and then hit it with a real polish like Mcguiars 205?

http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-M20532-Ultra-Finishing-Polish/dp/B001O7PNXC/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I6H8CT977JEGG&colid=R21JKQVNOQZE

[Nessism]

You don't need wax and grease remover, just the polish. That Meguiar's stuff looks good, but a little expensive.

[Woodsy]

You dont need to use high $ polish, cheaper stuff will do the same job.