NOTE: You can always click on the images in my blog to see them in higher resolutions :)
Buffing your clearcoat is probably the most rewarding(and difficult) stage in this project. With a lot of elbow grease – you slowly create the mirror like finish that will surely solicit stares from everyone :)
If the clearcoat has been applied properly, the car looks decent without buffing. Since it is better to wait for the paint to completely dry before buffing – I couldn’t resist the urge to assemble the car back together and use it while drying out the paint.
You have to have faith and patience when buffing out your car. Believe that everything will be fine even though it is hard to sand down an almost perfect paint job and just hope that you will be able to make it shine again.. See how dull the hood became when I was done sanding it down.
Why patience? I tried to buff out my car after week but the results were not satisfactory so I decided to let it dry out for a couple more weeks before I aggressively buffed it out. TIP: If you buff out your car too soon – you end up with what I call as “paint burns” (dunno what professionals call this) – this is when the clearcoat doesn’t shine back up after buffing and remains flat – in some cases – there were patches that were shiny and parts that were not. Lesson learned – patience is always a virtue :) TIP: If you can wait for the paint to dry before putting everything back together – better – this will allow you to evenly buff out everything. See that the black lines in the fenders are already in place (it is important to show these lines when restoring your bug)
Buff out your car a section at the time – this way you are not pressured to finish buffing everything in just one pass and will allow you to be more keen to details.Sand it down (wetsand) lightly with 1200 grit or 1500 grit sandpaper– don’t be afraid – it’s okay :) I noticed that when I used 2000 grit – the surface doesn’t shine out as well as when I use the 1200 or 1500 grit.
According to the store where I buy my paint – the Anzhal Carshow Clear top coat can’t be buffed with your regular rubbing compound as it will scratch the top coat rather than polish it. They recommended that I use Bril 852. It costs 350 per tube and it is enough to buff out the entire car :) TIP: I’ve tried using the cheap rubbing compound sold in some paint shops (cost me 50 pesos per 60ml can) and it just didn’t do the trick.
Invest in a good rubbing compound and polishing pad. I bought a 3m buffing pad for 900 pesos. It is a little expensive than other pads (you can get one for 600) but I figured that since it is my main tool in bringing out the “hidden” shine of my car – better buy good quality products rather than skimping out and being sorry later on.
After sanding down the panel you’re going to buff out – time to apply a little rubbing compound and buff it out with your polisher. I borrowed a professional buffer from a friend (thanks Bry!) for a week but since I wanted to take my time in buffing, I had to eventually buy my own buffing pad and retrofit it to my power drill (read about it here). TIP: If you have placed everything back together, it is advisable that you remove whatever you can remove before buffing like the lights, the side mirrors, antenna, etc. This will allow you to buff the corners and crevices.
Here are some pictures of the buffed out panels…
Buffing really brings out the mirror like finish that Anzahl has promised :)
More pictures of the new Voxy next time! :)
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