I took my restoration shop buddy's advise and started painting my car in sections instead of trying to get it done in one shot. I figured if I planned on a pinstrip around the cabin area just below the windows, I could paint the roof, firewall and window areas all in one shot and not have a blend area to contend with, so that's what I did. At the bottom of the front door post, I stopped the paint just at the front of the rocker so I'll have a seam line there I can mask off when I do the lower body.After spending about 30 hours fri, sat and sun. morning blocking it out, I got it finally ready for paint, however the winds here had picked up to 30-40 miles and hour and had turned the sky brown with dust and silt, and was imposible to keep out of the garage, so I waited until today, and the weather was perfect. I got the sealer on, then the basecoat. The metalics in the paint laid down perfectly and the clearcoat flowed great with no dryspots and no runs. Very minimal orangepeel. I loved the color I had picked, and it glistens like a jewel even with no buffing. The great part about it,there is not one area that I thought to myself I should have spent more time. After 5 years it's absolutly wonderful sqirting something shiney on the car and being absolutly thrilled with the results. Now on to wetsanding and buffing so I can move on to the rest of the car. Rich
Rich Congrats!!!!! I can't wait for that feeling. I got tickled pink just installing the Pertonix conversion. I bet I quote Larry the Cable Gut when I finally get the paint on, "I just crapped my pants" :002:
What, no pics?
Rick look at a product that is a foam rope like masking product. You can jam the car, the doors, trunk area and under the hood, mask the edge with this stuff and close the door, the trunk the hood and shoot away. No tape line and the very little hazy area just under the edge of the foam can be buffed out by hand. Really a neat produce.
Bill, I thought about that and decided to paint the car disassebled..It would just be easier for me in my very tight working area. If I decide as planned to do the semi-ghost flame job on the nose of the car and down the sides, I'll look into that product for the hood and doors.
a few pics...
The second pic has the roof joists reflecting in the paint..makes an interesting design..
"photoshoped" red pinstripe to show the line I was talking about in the opening post. This is where I'll do the hard masking and actually paint the red stripe and the gray all in one shooting. same way you'd do pinstriped edges on flames without actually brushing them. Rich
guessing that's about as rewarding a feeling one gets.
Zap- :unitedstates:
hey Zap...you're absolutly right. As I have said before, this is my first build, and I also keep saying "I can do this, I can do this". Mostly the reason I keep saying it is to give encouragement to others who are doing or contemplating a first build..You can do it too.
Very very nice, well done sir!
Is that gray or silver? It looks awesome.....makes me second guess my color choice, lol....more photos please.
One of my favorite accomplishments,is what you're doing. Next
being a stout engine build. :003: Looks great.
Thanks guys. The g.m. color name for it is "dark Tarnished Silver". To me looks like a medium gray, but with direct lights on it it it's gray with a dark siver cast to it. It was on a 2006 chevy HR one of the woman drives at work, so I got to look at it in all light conditions. It's a very neutral "gray" and remains that way thruout all lighting conditions. I liked that...some grays can get very taupie or cool in certain lights. If your looking at HR's on the road, gm offered at least a half dozen silvers and grays that year alone.
If you guys ever see a newer car in a parking lot that you like the color of, and want the paint code...just copy the vin #(redundant I know) visible thru the windshield on dash and call the dealer for that make of car. From the Vin they can look up the paint code. That I can tell, the new cars don't have paint codes on the vehicle ID plates any more.
Years ago a body and paint guy told me the best paint chip was a car. When you look at paint chips in a store at best its going to be close to what you'll end up with. And at the very least you should take the chip outside and see it under natural light. Your thought process of watching the car in lots of conditions is spot on perfect. Some colors look great in the sun and just ho-hum in low light times of the day.
Do believe all cars do have a paint code on them someplace, otherwise it would play hell for body shops. They're not always in the best places. Few years back I was at the paint store and another customer couldn't find the paint code and figured they would know at the counter. came to find out there were 3 different dark greens for that particular year and make mini van. The counter man however did know that the code was hidden behind an interior body panel. So with some borrowed tools they performed minor surgery and got the right color. Ranger I was working on had 2 different non metallic reds and one metallic red that year. On all late model fords I own the code is on a big white sticker on the driver door jamb.
Car looks good Rich.
Zap- :unitedstates:
Even with the color code you may not be getting an exact match. The color I picked had 6 versions of the same color code...since I wasn't trying to blend to a color that was already on the car, it didn't matter in my case so I just picked the one with the least amount of metallics. They do this to be able to match what may start out as one color, but varies due to the different spraying conditions at different factories,weather conditions,fluctuations in manufacturing the original paint, etc. They had slightly different tones and metalic levels. My paint guy told me Ford explorers had a silver that had 28 versions of the same color code! Rich
And primer color will also affect the final coat.
Zap- :unitedstates:
absolutly right as usual Zap...I made that mistake on my sister-in-laws repair job 3 years ago. I scratched the damaged area down to the primer to see what color it was and I was surprised to see it looked like it was black, so that's what I went with. In dim lights it's a perfect match, but in bright lights it's shades darker than the rest of the car, telling me the black primer I used was not reflecting back like whatever was under the rest of the car.
Quote from: JPotter57 on 2011-04-12 00:21
Is that gray or silver? It looks awesome.....makes me second guess my color choice, lol....more photos please.
here's more pics...stage 2..got the ass end blocked and painted this weekend. I was really happy with the way my body work looked with some shiney stuff sqirted on...especially the hand formed rolled pan. Now 30 or so hours of colorsanding and buffing and touching up a few places here and there.
The first pic is after the basecoat.
and some more...hope I'm not boring you guys with too many pics. The last pic shows the rear quarter/rocker area I was talking abiut on another post about it not being right because the quarter was out too far, and the rocker was too far in. I sliced the quarter underneath to remove some sheetmetal, then moved it in where it was suppose to be..and the rocker I cut out about 2 ft., and welded in e section cut from a new rocker. Now it's straight (almost..very close) :burnout:
That looks awesome, Rich...Man, it makes me wanna go silver...
looks KILLER, perfect. can you post a straight o shot of the rear am curious how the pan came out.
and please continue boring us
Zap- :unitedstates:
"awesome", "killer","perfect".....hard to do much better than that...thanks guys.
Zap not sure what you're wanting to see..if you're talking about a "straight on" shot from the back, I don't have enough room behind the car to get a shot that way. If you're talking about a side shot so you can see how the pan "came out" away from the body in a curvature, I'll try to get a better shot of that.
Most of the rear pans I have seen on other cars involved just filling in the gap that was there, which leaves, imho, a rather flat looking pan. Making the pan extend out,curved and extending past the center of the verticle rounded fender 'ends', so that it wraps around the side slightly, I thought added a subtle blended look. There was nothing subtle about the number of hours it took to hand form that panel though.
Rich
Guess I'll wait till the car rolls out and then get that straight shot, no problem. Really looks good so far.
Zap- :unitedstates:
Very nice Rich,
Nice color and good job spraying it. Always liked the Greys and you won't tire of it like
some other colors. :002:
That is some beautiful paintwork Rich! You may have posted before and i missed it but, what method did you use for molding in your taillight housings?
Quote from: Zapato on 2011-05-17 10:03
Guess I'll wait till the car rolls out and then get that straight shot, no problem. Really looks good so far.
Zap- :unitedstates:
This is the best shot I could get. (You'll notice I couldn'rt resist seeing how the Galaxie taillights worked with the Grey paint) Rich
That's exactly what I wanted to see. The look many bowtie owners will get used to in the future. Really looks great and the time you put into shows. Great workmanship.
Zap- :unitedstates:
Thanks again Zap..here's a few pics after color sanding and 2 passes with the buffer and "diamond cut" on one fender.One has a shot of old grey beard looking back. :003:
A tip I got from my restoration shop buddy: once you start color sanding, finish what you started because once the "skin" is removed from the clearcoat, it dries out and hardens 2 or 3 times faster than it would otherwise. So it is better to do all your colorsanding progression and buff to finish on one panel than to try to do too many panels letting the sanding sit before it is buffed.
Quote from: cool57 on 2011-05-17 12:52
That is some beautiful paintwork Rich! You may have posted before and i missed it but, what method did you use for molding in your taillight housings?
Sorry it took so long to reply..I had done it so long ago I had to think about it a while.
short answer: epoxies
my usual too long answer: first I enlarged a few mounting screw holes to make sure I could position the housing where I wanted it. next I wire brushed at slow speed to really roughen-up the mating surfaces on both the housing and the end of fender for the epoxy to grip.I used an epoxy putty made by por-15 because of it's long working time, waterproof, and high tensile strength. I kneaded a rope about 1/4" dia and applied it all the way around the housing. I used the 4 mounting screws to tighten up the housing squishing the excess putty out. Before I put the screws in I used 2 washers on each of the screws between the fender and the housing to fill up the air space that was there, allowing me to lock down the screws very tightly without distorting the fender. On the outside of the housing where it required some buidup to blend to the fender, I used "kitty hair" bondo with glass fibers. On the inside I applied as much of the por-15 epoxy putty as I could reach and apply with my fingers. I also brushed a liberal amount of por-15 on the inside to seal of the bare surfaces. It also adds a very strong bonding factor as well.
By the way, I experimented with no sucess with low temp brazing rods hoping to braze the housing to the fender. The map gas torch was melting the housing before the brazing rod. Rich
Thanks Rich, it is a nice look, noticeable-but clean and subtle too.
Great progress Rich!!
You are very ambitious.
Can't wait to see it in person.
A little more progress this week. Got the trunk lid painted inside and out/buffed and installed but not adjusted yet. Got my trunk area paint freshened up a little, and my tailights installed. No problem at all with the paint match...which I was greatly relieved at since I had decided to paint the car in stages rather than all at once.
also got one fender blocked out and painted. First pic shows final blocking with guide coat and 400 grit. By the time I got the blocking done about noon time, the temp had crept up to 100 again, so I had to wait until about 7 pm for it to cool down enough to paint...almost waited too long..I put the last coat of clear on about 9:15 in the dark!...I'll have to wait until morning to see if I got any runs. The last two pics were taken with the flash. Rich
Looking good, Rich. I'm really liking that gray, man....
Thanks James..I'm really really happy I made the last minute decision to change from Torch Red..I'm even surprised that I like the red underpan with the gray..not what I would have chosen if I had planned the grey all along...but it works well. I really think the Grey will go so much better with the crazy interior I've got started and will give the car the overall more contemporary look I was hoping to get. I'm also thinking, and I'm not sure why, when I pick my wheels they also will be a more contemporary style. When I had planned the red, I was visualizing the traditional torque thrusters with the gray centers. Now I'm thinking the Gray/silver paint would look better with the some big polished mothers. Now I'm anxious to get some of that new smoked gray glass I've got installed. Rich
That is Beautiful Rich!
Really looks good Rich. The glass will look good also. I was gonna use the smoke too, but it's illegal here.
With the sound of my car and my driving record I went with orig. tint. :001:
Quote from: shopratwoody on 2011-06-13 11:26
Really looks good Rich. The glass will look good also. I was gonna use the smoke too, but it's illegal here.
With the sound of my car and my driving record I went with orig. tint. :001:
Wow! Some things never change. someone explain to me how smoke tinted glass becomes illegal but every limousine out there has tint so dark that no one can see in. If the argument was to protect law enforcement officers then every "celebrity" riding in a limo is riding in a moving violation. back in the late 60s early 70s the lowrider clubs in So-Cal made this case in court and won, seems they were singled out for tinted glass.
But anyway Rich your car is looking great, hope mine comes out half as good. There's still time to add some torch red to the exterior if you change your mind. It can always end up with a traditional 2 tone paint job. I know I shouldn't be giving you any second thoughts but somehow know you've had them.
Also like your idea of larger wheels but myself love 5 spoke wheels. Check out any of the mustang magazines and you'll find the torq-thrust looking factory wheels in 3-4 finishes and several sizes for around $125 each.
Zap- :unitedstates :felix:
Rich:
I'm really impressed with the job you are doing with your 57. A much more extensive project than I'm doing and beyond that YOU ARE DOING IT ALL YOURSELF. I'm sure that will add considerably to your pride of ownership in the completed car. It is really looking great. I'll bet that you like me can hardly wait to see the finished product and getting the car back on the road.
Bob
57 AGIN
Looking good Rich,you are going to have a beautiful car.Nice job . Tarheel57 :001:
Thanks for all the great comments. It's been very gratifying and a huge relief as I've had that big question mark hovering over my head for the past 5 years...was I going to like it, and was it going to be good enough to make me happy.I was never expecting perfect..just something good enough to be proud of it.
Zap...I'll check out those mags for wheels. My color plans since I changed to the grey included some Torch Red in the form of a flame job coming off the nose of the car and all the way back to the rear wheels. It's a final decision I'll make down the road after the car is all painted and assembled. If I really like the grey alone I may just leave it...but I keep looking at a pic of a pickup truck that was in the Goodguys Gazette a while back (I gave them their due credits, James lol). Probably the prettiest flame job I've ever seen. It would be a hell of a first flame job challenge for me..it's a pretty complicated layout and a lot of shadows, shading, highlights, ect., but it could be so awesome on a '57. Rich
So...what do you guys think of a flame jobs like this on a 2 dr custom?
I like the look of the base paint as the top layer of flame color...keeps it from getting to busy, and I must say I usually don't like tribal flames, (the bottom ones with the reverse licks),but I do like these...for my taste they have a great flow and balance of width vs. length.
What's real interesting about these particular flames is that what looks like the top layer of flames I'm guessing was just a clever and well carried out use of the base paint. I'm probably not explaining that correctly..I guess what I mean is that it's probable the top layer of flames were not actually painted after the bottom layer..the base paint was just artfully masked of to look that way and later highlighted and shadowed.
believe you described it right, could have been done either way, does the clear you used so far allow paint above it? I personally love flames better than anything else custom paint wise, as long as they're not ghost flames. Too much work for so little effect. Go for it practice on a junk panel you can usually grab a fender, hood or door at most body shops. Hardest part will be laying out smooth flowing curves, also take time to practice your shading technique. bad shading can kill an otherwise beautiful set of flames,
Zap- :unitedstates:
and again car is looking great!
Rich:
Here are a couple of "flamed" 57's from Southern Calif.
Bob
57 AGIN
Rich, funny that this popped up, I just made the decision not to save the flame job on my ranchero. I like a good flame job, especially ghost flames. But my car came with a fresh paint job, wouldn't have been my call to go with the flames. I like the look of that dodge pickups flames over silver, It will look great no matter what you chose. Mark
Quote from: shopratwoody on 2011-06-13 11:26
Really looks good Rich. The glass will look good also. I was gonna use the smoke too, but it's illegal here.
With the sound of my car and my driving record I went with orig. tint. :001:meant to comment on this the other day...The glass I'm using is a tinted smoke grey not any darker than what comes out of Detroit on almost everything nowadays..not the real dark, can't see inside, tint. That tint can't be illegal in cal is it?
Zap..."believe you described it right, could have been done either way, does the clear you used so far allow paint above it?"... I wasn't aware there would be a problem painting over a clear...I'll have to check into it. I thought the majority of custom paint effects would be done over clears because of the relatively short window of time you have to clear over a basecoat.
Also, I need to do alot of practicing with the airbrush...but how's this for an idea...looking at airbrush articles, the first thing they always tell you is to practice alot on making patterns, being able to put a dot or line where you want it. I was thinking it may be helpful for a beginner like me to have a little laser light attachment on the airbrush....OK if anybody markets this and makes a million off the idea, I'd really like a new Ford crate engine for the concept. lol Rich
Rich, I'm not a painter so remember that, but I've had the opportunity to attend a couple of seminars at one of the community colleges put on by giants of the paint world. And also have a couple of friends that are really good and if they wanted to do it full time would never get a day off. my understanding is that there are some clears that are specifically made to go between layers of paint. Called I believe ''intra'' clears. Some strictly topcoat, and probably I'm guessing that allow both. I'd go back to your MSDS sheets and any product info you got with your clear and see what it says and if it doesn't answer the question call the manufacturer.
I found about the intra clears when a friend was painting a speed boat with an incredible checker board pattern as a background and every layer was covered with clear. He started with a white background,then clear,black squares,clear, shading on white,clear,shading on black,clear,and on and on probably 40-50 different steps. alternating with the design and clear.and the finish clear was different from the rest.
But not being a painter myself, I'm not sure f that was a personal preference or a necessity. But when I went to the seminar with House of Kolors they finished the evening by painting a golf cart and he did use 2 different clears.There surely has to be a painter on this site that hopefully will chime in.
Zap- :unitedstates:
Quote from: 57AGIN on 2011-06-14 13:37
Rich:
Here are a couple of "flamed" 57's from Southern Calif.
Bob
57 AGIN
Perfect pair of flame examples, showing two different approaches. First one has the flames starting part way into the hood really a panel paint job gone ''HOT''. The second example is my personal preferred style. Flames fully engulfing the front rolling out of the grille and wheel wells. So that a straight on shot only shows the flame color.
Haven't gone to the SoCalCarCulture.com site for years if its still online there are hundreds of flamed cars to check out for inspiration.
Zap- :unitedstates:
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2011-06-14 23:24
Rich,
The guy that cut my glass for me said anything other that stock was illegal. I really didn't question
him :003:
It's been in triple digits for the better part of 2 or 3 weeks now..really slowing this old man down. I blocked out my hood yesterday outside. The thermometer pic was of it sitting on my hood for 20 minutes while I worked on it....also pic of the first fender after buffing. The paint is a good 3 footer since I got a lot of small black s..t in the clearcoat..not sure where it came from (other than the not having a spraybooth). I used the same gun for the PPG Acrylic sealer as the base and clear....may be coming from the sealer. Next piece (the hood), I'll use a different gun for the sealer after a disassemble and thorough cleaning of both guns. Not sure if I'm going to repaint the fender or not..I may play with trying to "dig" out the black stuff with an exacto knife, then filling the void with clearcoat and an artist brush..and see if I can get it to disappear with blocking and buffing.
Also a problem I've been fighting with the weather...This is the 3rd worst drought in N. Texas on record...Dry is great for painting..but it'd really hard keeping everything clean with so much dust and silt in the air..almost imposible to paint on a windy day..and the wind always blows in Texas.
Also...we were talking about flames and the detailing needed for a good flame job. Went to a small show in Oklahoma Saturday and got to take some close ups of a well done flame job...sprayed outline pinstripes, highlights, shading....just tons of airbrushing techniques.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2011-06-20 06:42
..and the wind always blows in Texas.
Sounds to me that old barb wire fence up there by the Canadian border must have blown down agin.
Zap- :unitedstates:
Rich, wish we could send you some rain, it's raining buckets up here. Hope all those fires are no where near you and yours. Mark
Good day yesterday...a nice balmy mid 90's and we actually got some rain for a few hours late last night.
I got my hood finished..seems like 9 yares ago I was asking about the best way to mold in a hood scoop. That's my wife in the first pic. hmmm can't locate pics in computer..used a different camera..I'll get back with pics
This just might be really cool...I saw an image of an eagle today that got me thinking if I decide not to do the flame job, I just might do an eagle each side like the one in the pic on the shirt. It would be big...window to rocker..mostly on the door. (Maybe I could do him with Obama in one claw). I mean it's "baseball, hotdogs,apple pie and FORD" Right?
Sorry Rich but those tail lights just dont work, I think they would be best on an old family wagon. I'd bettree send you some replacements. :003:
It's looking beautiful my friend.
that eagle reminds me of a whole lot of vans,vegas,trucks done back in the 70s. all those bi-centennial vehicles. adding "O" would date your car. personally think you've seen your car flamed too long to settle for an eagle. lets wait and see where you go with this.
Zap- :unitedstates:
James..here's some more pics..dug the front inner stuff out of dirty storage..I had painted 2 or 3 years ago when I had planned on the car being Torch Red...wanted to see how the fender wells looked with the dark silver...and I don't think it's real great, but since I've got the under side of the car painted in red as well as the control arms...I'm going to live with it.
I still have one door to paint, and the nose piece and splash pan...the later being another post subject. I'm still being slowed down drastically by the weather...and baseball season doesn't help either! lol Rich
Rich that might just look good with the inside of the fender, core support and the lower half of the fire wall red!
Im partial to red anyway. I had considered going back with grey inside my Custom, but I keep looking at the dash that is already red with that white, and it just looks right. Probably going to keep it that way
James..your 1000th post! I guess this is a good time to thank you once again for this website and all the time you've put in for us. For a while I thought I was going to get to 1000 before you..lol
Rich,
That's in 10 years...
lol....
Has it really been that long? Wow...Time really does fly when you're having fun...
A little update...finally got the last major component sprayed today ( passenger side door)...been working on the fun stuff...assembling new parts I've been buying or restoring and having to put on the shelves until car was painted. Got the last piece of stainless restored...the passenger side spear...and put on along with the polished nos striker plate....love the new stuff. It makes all the hard work rewarding.
The door is complete now except for a new key cylinder assembly,and gettig the window frame finished up.The door panel is being finished up..need to rework the pull handle I had on it..., and then get the passenger side done.
She is looking pretty shiney Rich! Nice job!
Thanks Bill.Now that I'm done with my stainless restoration (I think), I'd sure like to find out how the pros do it. I spent 3 full days on the piece in the pic and it wasn't all that bad to begin with. If I ever do any more I'm going to look into 3M skotchbrite wheels for 'roughing' them out prior to final stages. We used them in machine shop for deburring parts back in the 70's. They were just used on a pedistal grinder. I assume they still make them. An 8" x 1" wheel back then was 30+ dollars...I can imagine what they're priced at now. The wheels will remove a small amount of metal without leaving the scratches a normal abrasive would. The closest thing to that that I used were some diamond impregnated rubber wheels for a 4" grinder I had gotten at Harbor Freight. The concave surfaces of the side pieces make it very difficult to do...convex pieces like the widshield and back window are easier to work on.
LOL..looking at the above pics with all the little specs in them..must be time for my annual camera lens cleaning!
BTW, I love it when good things happen by accident. I dug out the window frames/garnish rails last week to do a check fit with the window channels and realized that the pointed chrome spear I had put on the door panel matches the embossed design in the garnish rail. Cool..couldn't have been better if I had planned it. Rich
One note on that polished striker plate....I'm not sure what the material is the main housing is made from. They don't rust, at least I've never seen a rusted one, it is a very tough material..like stainless, and it polishes out like stainless, and they are not plated. However, after about a year or so sitting on the shelf, it had tarnished quite a bit....much more than I think a stainless would have.
Looks good Rich,
What process and products did you use to buff out the paint?
#1 product was elbow grease. With the heat we've had this summer, and my lack of any envoiremental control, I've had a heck of a time getting the clearcoat on anywhere near smooth..almost to the point where it would be embarrasing for anyone to see it before blocking out. Even with slo dry reducer, it's just not flowing well like I've been able to get it in the past, so with that said, this is what I'm doing on the door I finally got painted yesterday:
With a small durablock, I'm going over it with 800 wet to knock down 90% of the orangepeel. Particularly on this step you want to use a small block and one with minimal flex.the block I use for the clearcoat is only about 3/4 x 1 1/2 x 6. If you try anything bigger than that, the suction caused by the water will make it hard to sand, and will also wrinkle your paper. The best papers I've found by the way are Norton black ice. Far superior to 3m. Carburendum also has been good. In fact I've been disapointed in all the 3m papers I've used.
Keep away from all edges and crests until the final sanding.
After the 800, I'll go over it with 1000 wet to remove 100% of the orangepeel. after you sand an area wipe it down with a wet rag, then dry it off with a dry towel. any remaining orangpeel will jump out at you. just keep going over it with the 1000 till all the shiney specs are gone. after that's done go over it once or twice with 1500 wet. Be thorough on this step, because you need to get off all the 1000 grit scratches. most of the 1500 scratches can be buffed, but just to make the buffing easier and quicker, I do the final wetsanding with 2000. After that you can go over your edges and other areas the hard block couldn't get to.
For tightly contoured ares, like around the windows,I prefer a flexible sanding block. "SOFT SANDERS" is a brand if you can find are great..you can use them wet or dry, have tons of diffeent contours in the 7 piece kit, are cheap, but do wear out.
By far the best buffing compound I've found is Maguire's Diamond cut. Next window for that....
August 22 correction...my initial sanding on the rough orangepeel was 600 wet, not 800..then on to the 1000
Maguire's Diamond cut...The shine you see in the photos is from start of buffing to finish with one product. It is not nearly as messy as others I've used, cleans off easily, and leaves no swirl marks. I bought a variable speed buffer at Harbor freight for 30$ I just love...you will need a variable speed...you can't get into tight areas with a single speed buffer without doing damage...you need to slow that puppy down. Throw away the pads and bonnets that come with the buffer..you can do damage with those as well...and buy a good quality wool buffing bonnet at your paint supply shop. I bought foam pads as well, tried them, but had better luck with the wool start to finish. I just did a final cleaning of the paint with maguire's ultimate detailer to remove any film and residue in the corners.
The Diamond cut..if you're doin' a whole car you will need a gallon. about 3 thorough buffs on each area will get it pretty well. Put a lot on, spread it around a little with a paper towel to keep the buffer from throwing it around the room,and keep buffing till it's gone. The stuff breaks down into smaller grits as it is being worked, to it ends up doing a final polish without the normal swirl maks....You can actually see this...If you look at the paint surface closly while your cleaning off the last of the compond, you will see a fine layer of the stuff still swiling around. Maybe more than you wanted to know..but you know me. Rich
P.S. one last thing buff the clear as soon as you finish sanding and do all of it as soon as you can after painting...the longer the wait, the harder it is to sand and buff, but it still can be done. Also, the Diamond cut is paint shop friendly..no silicons to interfere with paint adhesion in case of needed touchups or getting on another project. The ultimate detailer I'm not sure if it is paint shop friendly or not..got to find out..I hope so, I love that stuff.
Some more stuff that's probably a lot more than you wanted to know...Two terms I've learned alot about in paintin..FLAT and SMOOTH...The flatness is determined by your final blocking prior to paint and isn't going to change after painting. With respect to autobody panels flat doesn't really mean flat..even the old volkswagon buses didn't have flat panels...it just means maintaining the body contour without any wavyness that wasn't neant to be there. Smooth is what is gained with the blocking after clearcoating. As I said, that final wetsanding isn't going to change the flatness, which is why you can do the final with smaller blocks...no longboards here!
The other thing I've learned, and the reason I was asking Bob if he knew if Santini was going to use a sealer under the basecoat: When you do your final blocking prior to paint, you get it flat and smooth..then you seal, basecoat, and clear. After you do your final wetsanding and buffing, you will probably still see the effect of orangepeel!!! Why? I believe it is because the sealer has orangepeel, and so does the basecoat. Even though you sand the clear smooth as silk, some of the light reflections are bouncing off the paint, rather than the clear giving the appearance of a little orangepeel. This is an effect I actually prefer because I think a paint that is too smooth or flat looks unatural. This effect is obviously more prominent in a metalic paint.
BTW: if you use a block that is too soft for your initial wetsanding, it will not pick up on little runs or imperfections in the clear as a durablock-type block will. Once you get that initial blocking done, you can go to a softer block if you prefer.
Rich I use a 1/8" X 2" X 4" bar stock to do the final sanding prior to buffing. The curved areas are with a similar sized firm rubber block and the really odd areas are by hand and buffed by hand. The bar stock is cold rolled and buffed to a high gloss with the edges rounded off, the rubber is also smooth with rounded edges. I assume you put a few drops of Dawn dish soap in your water bucket or the jug you fill the squirt bottle from. Having just the small touch of soap really gives a clean cut by the paper and makes the buff stages much easier. I have found the clear being two days old (out of the sun) then working it gives the best results (Dupont 7500), all the gassing is done, all the srinking is done and the paint isn't so hard that you need 40 grit to get the orange peel out of it. I prefer the wool pad for the intial cut then foam pads for the follow on buffing. I do prefer and use 3M products as that is what I grew up with.
I hadn't heard of the Dawn soap...I'll give it a try tommorrow
Bill...the Dawn dishsoap works great..helps the paper glide so it doesn't have a tendency to wrinkle up on you. Should save in paper costs as once that paper is wrinkled it should be discarded. Also Bill, I was wondering how you held on to that 1/8 metal block..do you have a handle attached?
Ron..The photos are of 4 of the 7 Soft Sanders I mentioned above..I think my wife ate the other 3...these work great around the tailight fins and windows. Also an overhead view of the crosspatern I block with on all surfaces. Note the block is always pointed along the access of the crown, but is moved at an angle to it, then the same in the opposite direction.I do this even on the radius areas around the windows.
Around here the pros color sand with a DA :004:
No handle, just wrap the paper around once (start at the long edge, around and end at the opposite edge) two fingers and the thumb, light pressure and sand. And yes, always cross your strokes....one other thought, I would use a little more water to keep the most of the residue off the surface. It looks like you have quite a bit of paint on the work surface. I just splash water from my bucket when working vertical and use my hand to wipe it off with frequent dips and swishes of the sanding block. On horizontal I use a squirt bottle and a wet rag to keep the work area clean.
Bill...I had intentionally left the residue on and let it dry for the sake of being able to photograph it..
Ron..I knew they make up to 3000 grit foam pads for the da's...thought about trying it at least for the safer areas (no high crowns)..but figured I had enough things going on to screw up as it was.
Also, I forgot to mention I also use a 3" pneumatic buffer for the tight areas.