Question please on cutting to 5000 vrs buffing

2

20mercury

Promoted Users
In this continuing quest to better my paint results I decided to cut the recently finished 72 Corvette with 800, change my booth to negative pressure from positive with 4 box fans exhaust, and spray 4 more coats of Euro. Results with a negative pressure booth was MUCH improved with very very little trash, & some little orange peel (my bad but improving; goal was no orange peel).
Polished with Rupes long throw per Esotheric's YouTube how to and I am always amazed at how Euro polishes up so super.

So now got a few inside curves where I can not get the 6" pad too good and question please: should I polish with 2000/2500/3000/5000 and maybe get similar mirror shine??
Or sand with 2000 and try to buff by hand
Or I could hook up a drill with a polishing ball about 600 800rpm and buff (sounds risky me thinks)

Or how do you buff the small radius inside curves???
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I use 3" foam pads as well as the larger ones like you have. The smaller diameter really allows much better access to those spots. I got a cheap kit from Barbour Freight for about $10.
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The negative pressure really makes a difference for home booths where not everything is set up optimal and ideal for positive pressure. And for exhausting bad things, there's a reason the fume hoods we use in our laboratories are negative pressure as well.

3" foam pads (like the ones you get in headlight polishing kits) work perfect for those types of curves. I put one on a drill.

I actually buy the 3M headlight polishing kits just for the foam pad and backing, and they come with trizact 3000 sanding discs too. I priced everything out individually and it was actually cheaper in the kit. The trizact is good for final sanding the compound curves and then the small pad gets it a nice buff.

Those small pads also work well on ends and edges of panels. I will buff those areas carefully with my big buffer (you need to hold it at an angle and make sure the buffing pad is spinning OFF the panel and not ON to the panel) but I never dwell on those areas too long because I'm worried about buffing through. As a result, those areas sometimes end up a little cloudier or less polished than the rest of the car. I go back over them with the small 3" pads because I have a lot more control. Can buff right up to the edge without having to go off the edge, and see everything you're doing. Since it's on a drill I just go at a low, controlled speed. I'm just a home enthusiast so I do everything slower, but taking a little more time here can save me a LOT of time if it prevents a burn through on an edge. Since I'm on the topic, I'll also tape over edges sometimes too.
 
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to do those areas, you want to angle the pad and feather the trigger. On and off. Or get the 3 inch pads and do the same. You should be able to reach 95+% of the car that way. If you have to do it by hand, the ACA 500 works better than most anything else. You'll have to rub pretty hard though.:)
 
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