Styling Forget T-Cut, get a bodyshop polisher.

[Harllequin]

Leading on from Firstcar-Y10's post and not wanting to go off topic on it I thought I best start a new thread about T-Cut and paintwork sanding / polishing.

I bought myself a bodywork polishing machine a few years back and have never looked back. I used to use rubbing compound or T-Cut a lot but found you had to keep doing it every 6 months or so.

Then I got this machine when I was painting a car for a friends son.

You have to be very careful but the rewards are 100 fold.

The theory the way I see it, likely not the professional paint persons view but its how I see it
New paint like old paint needs a good going over to remove a thin layer from the top, in the case of old paint the oxidised paint and in the case of new paint the orange peal / cellulite effect, no matter how well you put the last coat on there is always some of it you can see.

Using 1200 or 2000 wet and dry, depending on how bad it is, you carefully sand it back till your happy with it.

Then using G3 polish and the polishing machine you buff it back up. Job done.

The polishing machine is not a £10 special from Halfords though but a variable speed fancy thing the body shop guys use. They are a lot more expensive (I think mine was about £70 but that was a long while ago now)

Anyway here are some pics of a friends MX5. It would not hold a shine at all, he had tried T-Cut and the Maguire’s polish but it still looked crap. So we set too one day and this was what we did, I'm afraid I don’t have any pics of the before, but I have some of the during and after.

The first pic shows the rear already done and us moving onto the door and front wing.
Second Pic is of the bonnet being done.
Third is the bonnet finished.
Last pic is the boot lid showing the reflection of our house.

I'll get some pics of Bex's bonnet onto here asap to show you the new paint pics.

 

[allen fletcher]

Very nice job I would worry about the edges and taking paint off down to undercoat? I'v done the 1000 gauge wet and dry as I used to help in a bodyshop. I always complained to painter about wet and drying his paint jobs, in his words it's all about hills and valleys the deeper the higher they are the better the shine dam hard work but they did have a good shine when I'd done my bit

 

[alexbpl]

Yep, G3 cutting compund is definately one of the best products out there.

Firstly its water based, so it comes off very easily with a better finish as opposed to T cut, and has none of that nasty ammonia in it to do damage to your paint. It starts out very thick and you can water it down to suit, too.

The only downside is that its quite expensive, but watering down does make it last. Also if your not quite sure what your doing it would be very easy to cut right through the top coat back to primer - if not metal depending on how thick the paint was.

It's also great for taking paint runs, orange peel effects and paint reactions out as it will completely wipe out all the high spots on the surface.

 

[VmanC]

I've been doing quite alot of cutting and polishing myself recently, I keep buying red Pandas!!! :bang:. I'm having to do it the hard way at the moment, but have had a proper variable speed polisher on my shopping list for some time. I can confirm that they do a brilliant job if used carefully.

It's all about hills and valleys the deeper the higher they are the better the shine.

Surely it's the lower and shallower they are the better the shine! I've never been able to see myself in a corrugated iron shed.

 

[rele]

Hi all.I have alot experiencein polishing and painting.I use farecla compaund( G6-G3-G10 in that order) for less demanding stuff.For the real good polish I use 3M paste's.I have 2 variable speed polisher's,bigger for cars and smaller for bike's. I use 2000 wet sanding,for 3M I have 2 rounds for each compaund.
Here are some pics.All wet sended(2000) and then polished with 3M.

 

[VmanC]

I've been polishing up my new Terra this weekend so thought I'd show you the results. I don't have a professional polisher yet so had to use cutting compound and elbow grease. It's alot more surface area than a Panda so I did try an electric polisher to save time, and yes it was a £20 one from Halfords, but can only confirm that despite being cheap, they are a waste of money. The one I used gave up with worn brushes half way through the first side. It is a couple of years old but the owner I borrowed it from said that it hadn't had a great deal of use. Plus, when I was using it it was only any good for large flat areas due to it's size.

Before...........



And after..........







It did come out quite well considering, but it would have been even better and more easily achieved with the right kit.

Sorry! Who said this post was just a ploy to get my Terra in the Panda section? As if I would do such a thing!

If you do want to see or hear any more of her though, don't forget to visit us over in the 'Members motors (non Fiat) section. You'll have to bring your own tea and biscuits.

 

[Harllequin]

This is a re post of pics but its a shame not to finish off this post.

Pics are painted, sanded polished

 

[Chas Uno]

Here's the result of T-Cut and a 'hand job' (*snigger*!) on my 1986 Uno's very faded red paintwork

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Vernon if you lived nearer I'd be employing you to keep our cars looking like that.

I've never had much luck with t-cut

 

[VmanC]

Vernon if you lived nearer I'd be employing you to keep our cars looking like that.

I've never had much luck with t-cut

I think you'd be better off with Harllequin or Chas uno Jon, looking at thier last two posts.