westman

I had my car painted in Feb 2008 by Maaco. I got the Presidential paint service. Which to my understanding is a catalyzed enamel. Overall they did a pretty good job. But I'd like to clean it up a little. I don't trust wet sanding, so should I just buff it out? I've heard "knocking down" new paint with rubbing compound and wool pads is the best way to get a smooth glass-like finish. Any suggestions and product recommendations would be great!

TorqueWolf

I just use the meguiers finest compound they offer( glaze or swirl mark remover). you can pick it up at orileys along with the wool pad. make sure to keep the surface relatively wet and do it out of direct sunlight. Its a good idea to claybar the car first to make sure no contaminants are going to be spinning along with your compound adding scratches. watch your corners as you can eventually burn through them but it takes much much longer with the glaze than other compounds. just be careful and get the feel for it and it will be an easy process. ive restored horrid looking oxidization

If it is the orange peel your talking about. well that's just part of Maaco cheap paint. and im not sure its going to be thick enough to remove the orange peel without cutting through. but you should be able to get a very good shine.

westman

Yeah its got some orange peel. I'll give it a shot with the meguire's.

jeffo402

Im debating going with a macco paint job. Any suggestions?

92 Camaro

iTrader: (1)

if you're worried, just use a finer grit.

TorqueWolf

Just so you know this is the one you need to get

westman

Talk directly to the owner of the shop. Be VERY specific in what you expect. Shop around. For an extra $300 I could've gotten twice the quality paintjob. I've been told that Maaco slacks off when it comes to prep work. I was actually impressed with the prep work they did. After two years my paint still looks brand new. HOWEVER, I let the car cure for almost 6 months.

blackbmagic

You can spend allot of time with the wool pad, machine and that glaze. Your orange peel will still be there. Actually you may do more damage than good with that setup. If you have never used a rotary with professional results or have experience with it dont use it at all. Wet sanding will actually do less harm than that rotary with a wool pad. I dont know how many times I have seen guys come to me with paint damage that's irreversible because of the rotary and wool pad.

Get yourself set of papers a foam block and wet-sand the finish take your time you will be much more happy. Then get yourself a DA like a flex, or Porter cable and a set of foam pads to clean up the flat paint and polish it out to a mirror shine.

try 2000 grit on an area if that's not giving you results go down to 1500. Be careful and go easy on the corners and edges. Maacos paint is especially thin on these areas.

This is coming from a professional detailer of 5 years with 2 years paint correction experience. As well as 8 years auto body and paint experience.

TorqueWolf

Wait a sec your an experianced detailer and yet your suggesting a DA orbital buffer in leau of a foam pad on a proper buffer with a fine compound? It may just be me bit i would think you could get into trouble much faster with 2000 grit on body corner faster then if you lightly hit it with a buffer.

blackbmagic

I never suggested a RODA foam pad combo instead of a light cut compound/foam pad/rotary buffer. I am suggesting a foam pad DA random orbital combo instead of a wool pad and rotary. A wool pad and rotary will burn and marr your paint and get you in more trouble than anything if you are not experienced. A foam pad and a rotary may not marr and burn as easy as a wool pad but it can still burn. Like I said Ive seen more people ruin their paint by using a wool pad and rotary than I can count. Not only car owners but many body shops as well. Many body shops will glaze after and only hide marring. Then the owner will find out 2 weeks down the road that his paint looks terrible.

I do not suggest wet sanding the finish to someone inexperienced. But to rid yourself of orange peel and to cut out the step of a wool pad on a rotary it must be done.

He wants to get rid of the orange peel. A DA random orbital will not get rid of orange peel alone period. Its possible to do it with a rotary buffer only but not recommended unless you are highly experienced with the tool. Ideally you would want to wet-sand, then hit it with the wool pad and rotary, then hit it with the RODA gradually moving the pad cut down along with the compound. Finishing with a finishing pad and a caranuba.

Wet-sanding is not as hard as some people make it out to be. It should be an acquired skill for any car guy especially if you plan on getting into paint work. If you want to keep the orange peel because you are not comfortable with wet-sanding yet a RODA will be plenty to keep you going and keep your paint looking mint. Also its foolproof.

edit: Also the Megs mirror glaze is a glaze it has some very light cutting property but it is a glaze still and will fill more than it cuts. I have not used it often because I also am not a fan of glazes. They are a quick and easy way of hiding surface marring very light scratches. I work hard on paint correction to use only a good caranuba to finish after a polish. I have used megs #3(mirror glaze) but only as a third step to the megs 105/205 combo

The megs 2 step combo is known to be one of the easiest, fastest and common ways in the paint correction world to get rid of surface scratches and marring with great results. For a beginner megs 105/205 is a great choice with a dual action buffer.

Menzerna makes good products as well but I can not order them in bulk/gallons like I can with with the megs. I do not have exp with Menzerna products but hear they do a great job some like them better than megs.

westman

So I just wanted to throw this little tib bit out there. I just got off the phone with the Maaco shop that painted my car. I asked them if there was enough paint to wet or color sand. The answer was a very big fat NO! I got the Presidential paint service which is a single stage urethane. Buff and polish only.