WTR388

Car needs a wet sand and buff, orange peel and dust after paint.
If I wet sand 1500, then 2500 can I use this system to polish it out:
http://3mauto.com/products/paint-scr...tem-39053.html

TireSmokin'

I would use the 3M Perfect-It system.

Ron U.S.M.C.

Just a word of caution, if you have a new expensive paint job, have the shop that did it do the wet sanding and buffing especially if you have never done it before.
Even a pro. if not carful around edges or bends can burn through the clear and paint with a buffer.

86TA355SR

iTrader: (1)

Ron just gave some excellent advice.

Let's see some pics when it's done. can't wait.

WTR388

No possible way I'm bringing it back there... I wanted factory look, I didn't need glass but there is orange peel, some rough spray and dust... I saw it being sprayed with clear and was not impressed. Paint budget got spent and I don't have the $1000 plus for a pro job.
I only intend to improve the orange peel, take the dust out best I can and then polish it.

86TA355SR

iTrader: (1)

I'd be very careful here. Speaking from experience.

If they didn't apply much clear you'll have bigger problems than dust and orange peel. Wet sanding through clear will ruin your day...

Ask how I know.

That was the only time it happened, now I'll only do wet sanding/color buffing if I know [I]exactly who painted it[I] or I know how much clear was applied...the latter is my preference.

I've also done stock paint with no issues. Just have to be careful.

Let us know how it turns out. Good luck.

scottmoyer

If you wet sand and buff yourself, use the 3M perfect it system. Are you using a rotary or DA polisher? I wetsanded my neighbors 1989 IROC-Z after a repaint and used a rotary with a wool pad and 3M Rubbing Compound. I then followed up with a polishing compound and a waffle foam pad. The finish looks flawless. You do need to be careful on the edges and don't overwork the rotary. If you go too fast, you'll get ghosting and too slow can burn the paint.

WTR388

I know they did 3 coats of clear, I was at the shop watching. I'll be staying away from edges, I'm only going far enough with sanding to take the tops of dust and the worst of the peel out and then polishing.
I can't find a DA in my price range, found a cheap 7" rotary at our version of harbor freight. Since I'll only be doing this stuff for me I'm ok with cheap tools here and there.
I'll be using the meguiars system if I go ahead with this, as everything is matched as far as product with pads and I can get them easier around here.

Not too afraid of messing it up, I tend to take my time with stuff like this. Not looking for show car, I just want it to look like a well preserved original.

scottmoyer

There's a big difference in a rotary vs DA. The DA usually has a max speed of 5 or 6 and you want to run the DA at those speeds when compounding and polishing. The rotary will probably have 5 or 6 as a max and you'll want to be around 2 on the dial. You need to be sure not to exceed 1800 rpm on the rotary and keep it moving, just not too fast. The DA really can't hurt the finish, but the rotary can burn the paint and the edges in a flash!

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Harbor freight da polisher is the same as the porter cable and has good reviews and lots of YouTube videos, I own one.
The 3M perfect it system is really good, I used it when I painted my car last. This time around however I will try the summit brand series because it is much less expensive and I have a feeling that like much else, it's the same thing just rebottled or relabled. If it is bad I have Meguiar's 105 and 205 which after wetsanding should work fine. I have also tried the wizards rubbing and polishing compounds and was extremely disappointed. Their wax and sealant is great but compounds were bad.

scottmoyer

You get what you pay for, that's why you were satisfied with the 3M product. If it works, why try a cheaper product? You probably won't get the same results.

The Chinese branded DA polishers are not the same as the Porter Cable. They may be similar, but they might not be as balanced, or operate as smoothly. The Porter Cable only costs $100 and has proven itself as a viable tool to the professionals. You can buy a cheap screwdriver at Harbor Freight also, and it should remove a screw as it's designed to do, but the tip could strip, the driver could separate from the handle, the handle could break, etc. It's cheaper, but definitely not the same as the higher quality tools.

WTR388

I think I'm going to go with a DA instead of a rotary, just less chance to mess it up that way. With a rotary I feel safe going cheaper, but I'm going to get the porter cable DA, it's $190 up here... So I'll wait for it to go on sale.

Where can I find the proper 7" backing plate to use on it, since it seems all of the pads are 7"?? Or can I just throw a 7" pad over the 6" backing plate if I use a hook and loop system?

scottmoyer

You can get everything you need from autogeek.com. They have the backing plates, the pads and the compounds. They can probably get you a better price on the DA than you are finding locally. My wife got me the PC 7424XP for Christmas a couple years ago at Home Depot. I think she ordered it and they delivered to the house.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Your post is contradictory. You speak negatively about harbor freight because they are made in China and speak well of porter cable because??? Porter cable has been owned by black and Decker for years and their production has been moved to China. So you cannot speak negatively about harbor freight because they are made in China when porter cable is also made in China. And if you haven't used it don't knock it.

You get what you pay for isn't always true either. Electronic devices that were top of the line 8, 5 or even 2 years ago can be had for small fraction of their original price today. Many car care products as I said earlier are simply relabled and sold under a different name for a higher price. Black magic, rain x , blue coral and armor all are perfect examples of this as they are owned by the same company. Every air compressor tank is made by devilbiss then painted a new color and marked up. Many engine hoists and stands are simply mig welded tubes, just because craftsman wants to sell it at twice the price of harbor freight doesn't make it any better. Taurus bought the berretta factory years ago and started making their version of the 92 for hundreds less even though it's the same gun made at the same factory. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if 3M made summits line of liquid abrasives. Summit and Eastwood paint is made by Kirker.

Even in the alcohol industry most small batch distillery buy their liquor from the same large ethanol or whiskey producers. Costco vodka is made by grey goose and their whiskey is Jim beam. Victoria secret panties my wife buys are made by Hanes. Craftsman and kobalt sockets are the same. Ryobi, rigid, AEG and Milwaukee are all made by techtronic industries of Hong Kong.

scottmoyer

I'm not being contradictory at all. The Chines branded gear from Harbor Freight are designed and built with the inferior Chinese materials. The Porter Cable, while made in China, is made to Porter Cables specifications.Just because something is manufactured in China, doesn't mean it's crap. It's the design and engineering to different specs that make up the difference. Porter Cable is owned by B&D, but they were purchased by B&D and the design specs and materials originally used are much better than the B&D brand itself.

Are you gonna say that a late 80s Lamborghini is just a cheap late 80s Chrysler? They became owned by Chrysler, but the manufacturing remained the same as it was before the buy out.

I'm not saying this is the case, because I don't know this for a fact, but a Craftsman engine hoist may be made of a heavier grade steel tubing, or have stronger welds. They also have cheaper models that they sell. You can see and feel the difference.

As far as Beretta and Taurus, you're off your rocker now. Yes Taurus bought the Brazilian factory, it's tooling and it's parts, but they were only identical to the Beretta 92 in the early days of that buy. Since then, Taurus has retooled and made design changes enough that most parts from one gun won't work on the other. The finish is also different in that Taurus only uses standard bluing, while the Beretta has the Bruniton finish. The extractor is better on the Beretta and the Taurus magazines have issues with nose-diving and not locking back after the final round is fired.

So, again, I say that you get what you pay for with the products listed in this thread.

Porter Cable is better than the cheap Harbor Freight model.
3M is better than most off the shelf brands. I have no knowledge of the Summit branded stuff, but I have seen Summit rebranding some cheaper products and selling them as their own.

I have used Harbor Freight tools. I've purchased a few items from them and they are not the tools that are used by reputable shops for a reason. They might have a lifetime warranty and can be replaced easily, but they are cheap in comparison. So, you can relax knowing that I've tried it, so i can knock it?

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

The Lamborghini example is the most extreme argument you could pick and really isn't a good comparison but yeah, you can see and read about how quality of a certain product will change when it's company is acquired by another.

I don't want to be the one to turn this into a harbor freight thread so I will keep it short talking about them. No they are not professional tools that professional shops use. We agree there. However, they do make some just plain great products and some other products that are great because of the price. Some of their tools receive high praises and have been proved to be very underrated..... for the average hobbyist/homeowner/shade tree mechanic. Any Harbor freight tool can be knocked if it goes up against an actual professional tool, but you and I, nor the OP need to pay for the professional name brand tools when we are going to use them a few times/weekends a year.

The argument you and I are having about the engine hoists, you really seem to be stretching for a reason in defense of others' higher price.

I enjoy arguing and I could argue with you all day but I think for him he would be just fine fine with paying half the cost of the Porter Cable for the Harbor Freight model. Neither of those are professional tools and both receive good reviews and the Harbor Freight has some you tube videos about common stuff with their DA. If he really enjoys and excels at paint finishes he could then just bypass the Porter cable and step up to one of the DAs in the $200-300 range.

scottmoyer

I don't want to turn this into a product knocking conversation. I speak from experience and try to help others spend less in the long run. I'm guilty of this probably as much as everybody else. How many times have you bought something with the thought that your saving money? Or tried to fix something yourself that you really have no clue how to fix and it ends up costing you twice as much than it should have if you just bought the better product or paid for the proper repair the first time? That's the point to this. I've tried saving money buying the less expensive waxes, because wax is wax, right? When it doesn't last or provide the results I wanted, I ended up spending the cost of the better product, plus the cost of the cheap wax and paid more than I should have by cutting corners.

That's the point to my statements.

Oh and in response to the engine hoists comments...I have zero experience with any of them. I'm just saying that these could be the difference between say a Matco/SnapOn hoist versus the Harbor Freight or even Craftsman model.