Polishing new paint

[Hotrod47]

Just finished color sanding the paint on my 46 Hudson pickup with 2000 grit paper.

What combination of pads and compound should I be using and in what order.

Thanks

[greg0303]

Re: Polishing new paint

There are couple roads you could go:

1. refine sanding with higher grit sanding paper, like 3000, then cut the paint with aggressive compound, like M105 or M95, and after that restore gloss/ remove side defects left by compound with M205 Ultra Finishing Polish; this step would save you time with compounding/ polishing;

2. go straight to M105(95)/ M205 combo for compound/ polish steps.

Because you sanded the entire vehicle I would recommend to go with a rotary buffer for compounding as a DA polisher may be much slower and less effective.

[Hotrod47]

Re: Polishing new paint

Thanks for the info.

I pickup some 3000 paper.

The paint supply store did not have the Meguiar's products you mentioned.

They did have Mequiar's heavy cut cleaner #4
Meguiar's medium cut cleaner #1
Meguiar's fine cut clearner #2
and the following foam pads. W7000 cutting pad, W8000 polishing pad, and w9000 finishing pad.

Will any of these work as well as the compounds you mentioned.

Thanks

[greg0303]

Re: Polishing new paint

You would normally go with M95 or M105 Compound and either wool or foam cutting pad.

If you refine sanding with 3000 grit paper then M04 Heavy Cut Cleaner and W7000 Foam Cutting Pad should do the trick. You also need some cleaner polish as a follow up after compounding: M205 (best), SwirlX, D151, M83, M80, M9 would be good.

[BS MXRacer]

Re: Polishing new paint

Only thing I would be careful about is D151 paint reconditioning cream is an AIO (all in one) product so it contains some protection or wax and depending on how recently your vehicle was repainted you will need to allow the solvents to cure for a while (30-90 days usually) before applying any wax or sealant, so I'd stay away from D151 until the outgas time is over.

[Hotrod47]

Re: Polishing new paint

Thanks this should really help.

[greg0303]

Re: Polishing new paint

Only thing I would be careful about is D151 paint reconditioning cream is an AIO (all in one) product so it contains some protection or wax and depending on how recently your vehicle was repainted you will need to allow the solvents to cure for a while (30-90 days usually) before applying any wax or sealant, so I'd stay away from D151 until the outgas time is over.

Very good point. I forgot about wax in D151.

Of course fresh paint has to fully outgas.