How hard is punto paint?

[Ziggy122]

As the title says
On DW - they've help me get setup and polishing

However even with a medium aggressiveness - its struggling to remove swirls....

Is fiat paint usually very firm?

Ziggy

 

[bridges]

it will be a 2k paint system with a 2k lacquer. Is not specific to fiat or a particular model. Although there will be some variables.. product quality etc.
Not however anything noticable as regards toughness etc.
Scratches are not universal and caused by many factors it sounds like the scratches are deeper than you expected.

 

[mehstg]

How hard is punto paint?

I certainly wouldn't want to meet it on a dark night anyway......

 

[Ziggy122]

it will be a 2k paint system with a 2k lacquer. Is not specific to fiat or a particular model. Although there will be some variables.. product quality etc.
Not however anything noticable as regards toughness etc.
Scratches are not universal and caused by many factors it sounds like the scratches are deeper than you expected.

its like german cars are renown for hard paint- it takes some serious cutting power to remove minor defects...

I certainly wouldn't want to meet it on a dark night anyway......

GTFO! :devil:

Ziggy

 

[bridges]

Never seen this personally. Certainly not on my Dads Merc.
Have rubbed back and sprayed several BMW's, VW's etc. It's same stuff.


@mehstg

 

[Mark Elvin]

As the title says
On DW - they've help me get setup and polishing

However even with a medium aggressiveness - its struggling to remove swirls....

Is fiat paint usually very firm?

Ziggy

What products, tools etc are you using?

 

[Ziggy122]

Never seen this personally. Certainly not on my Dads Merc.
Have rubbed back and sprayed several BMW's, VW's etc. It's same stuff.


@mehstg

German paint tho is somewhat known to need more aggresivepolish's and pads

What products, tools etc are you using?

Silverline Random Orbit polisher
Men'z Polishing pad - PB SSR2.5
Even after 2 or 3 blasts with it.... it's reduced the swirls by about 50%

To refine the finish im on Men'z Final Finish II with a Lake County - Blue Light cut/refining pad

The shine and finish is nice - just the swirls are still there....

Ziggy

 

[bridges]

you probably notice it more.
As a sprayer when i'm restoring bodywork we tend to take paint back that little bit more, where you guys are more focused on renovating using less agressive methods.
For example i'd happily use a 1500-2000 dry grit paper used on a DA to renovate scuffed lacquer followed by a 2000 wet&dry also using the DA and then a 4000 grade grit.

People will tell you about digital readings of lacquer thickness etc. Which is very good practice.
However look at the lacquer on most cars inc Fiats and BMW's and for the most part it is utter c**p look at the orange peel which looks like the lacquer is made up from small cornflake pieces. The lacquer can not be a constant thickness. I have seen it on a brand new Punto and one of the worst was a year old 40k BMW. There was not a straight line reflection rather everything was distorted from horrendous orange peel.
Lacquer should be like glass.

Sorry am ranting on lol

 

[auto_detail]

The German manufacturers (BMW, Mercedes, Audi) use Ceramic clear coats which are 6x harder resistant than the conventional 2k lacquer.

As bridges said, the finish on modern paint systems is appauling, they are an absolute nightmare for orange peel.

 

[Ziggy122]

i've found out why it aint been working well

The machine im using is common to have drained torque due to an over greased bearings

So its ossilates but not spinning, just gotta sort the bearing and i'll be on my way!

Gonna mark the pad this time so i know how fast its spinning....

Ziggy

 

[auto_detail]

i've found out why it aint been working well

The machine im using is common to have drained torque due to an over greased bearings

So its ossilates but not spinning, just gotta sort the bearing and i'll be on my way!

Gonna mark the pad this time so i know how fast its spinning....

Ziggy

A random orbital sander isn't the best tool to use, but work it hard enough and it should get rid of the swirl marks. You really need good friction and heat build-up to effectively tackle swirls and scratches. The random oribital won't generate the neccessary heat so be sure to use a hard pad (I'd go for a compounding rather than a polishing head) and a fairly abrasive polish or compound (G3 or 3M Fast Cut). Finish with a polish and Bob's your uncle.

If the above fails I'd be inclined to go over it with 2000 wet 'n' dry and polish out.

 

[Ziggy122]

The problem is - slight pressure meant it stopped spinning....
Doing the mod today - i did the quick test - and i can apply more pressure but still keep spinning

So hopefully
I can get some good results with ease!

Not Sanding the car... dont trust myself!

Ziggy

 

[auto_detail]

The problem is - slight pressure meant it stopped spinning....
Doing the mod today - i did the quick test - and i can apply more pressure but still keep spinning

So hopefully
I can get some good results with ease!

Not Sanding the car... dont trust myself!

Ziggy

Good luck with it

 

[Tris Harris]

if you want to know a car with bad paint, try a new Honda Civic in Milano red... my dad's had a white racing stripe from stone chips after only just 10k miles. appalling. Actually, it was mroe to do with teh thickness- it didnt even register on the paint depth gauge- and yet Honda still took no reponsibility.

I reckon if i'd used a machine polisher on it, it would have gone down to bare metal!

 

[StevenRB45]

if you want to know a car with bad paint, try a new Honda Civic in Milano red... my dad's had a white racing stripe from stone chips after only just 10k miles. appalling. Actually, it was mroe to do with teh thickness- it didnt even register on the paint depth gauge- and yet Honda still took no reponsibility.

I reckon if i'd used a machine polisher on it, it would have gone down to bare metal!

Common on all jap cars....the paint on mine is so thin you can read through it....tbf the metal isn't much thicker like dents a treat when you get a decent stone chip.

 

[Ziggy122]

if you want to know a car with bad paint, try a new Honda Civic in Milano red... my dad's had a white racing stripe from stone chips after only just 10k miles. appalling. Actually, it was mroe to do with teh thickness- it didnt even register on the paint depth gauge- and yet Honda still took no reponsibility.

I reckon if i'd used a machine polisher on it, it would have gone down to bare metal!

Yea i've heard Honda's are bad!!
apprently applying waxe's are enough to correct paint

Ziggy