Bantan-
I appreciate Billy's (Triathlete) confidence in me,but I was an just an airbrusher. Most of the time the finishing work got done by a pro. So whatever I share is sort of on the level of a knows-enough-to-be-dangerous wannabe, and others here will hopefully have corrections and suggestions. In your original post you mentioned acid rain, and I don't think we have that here in AZ. (Hope not. It sounds bad.) Is it worse than our evil sunshine?
Anyhow... The VXcaver and Triathlete Steps to a Killer Finish:
Ahead of time get: a) good polisher. Mine is a Black and Decker thats got hundeds of hours on it. It's the kind with a handle on one side, which is killer for getting into tight spaces. Also spins at variable rpms. b) polishing pad. This will only come from a pro auto paint supply house. I love the Mequires foam pads. The specific one we used was a Mequire's soft buff W-7000, 7 inch. You also need a backing plate, which doesn't come with the pad. Get that at the auto paint place, too. c) Polish. I saw some suggestions above that I wanted to try on Billy's, but the paint shop was closed so I went with my old standby all purpose can't screw it up 3M Imperial Microfinishing Compound-Liquid. It comes in quart bottles, I think about $15 per. d) rags. Lots of rags.
1. Wash the car real good. Gotta get every bit of dust and grit off first. Even a little grain of sand can make a mess.
2. Remove the old wax. We skipped this step, on account of me not wanting to risk using my wax remover anywhere near the cladding. (I use a wax remover by PPG (DX330) but its not recommended for use around plastics, etc. Something crazy about static electric build up and sparks and devastating explosions....)
3. Fire up your polisher and get busy. Billy's clear was in good shape, just a little scuffed from run-ins with tree branches, so we didn't actually buff the whole car. We went at the bad spots. While polishing, I like to keep things wet. Kind of a balancing act, not wanting to get electrocuted while running the polisher. It's also good to wipe up the polishing compoud as you go. Done right, the whole truck can be polished in an hour or less.
4. Wash the car again. Cleanliness makes everything easy.
5. Start waxing. Billy Triathlete used Zymol. His finish looks almost like old-school black laquer -- deep and glassy. Very cool look. A lot of hard work.
Hope that's a little useful, and on topic with your post. Also, t2p mentioned finding an experienced person to do the buffing, which is right on. I can't really explain buffing technique here. It's not rocket science, but a little mistake can have consequences. If you do it yourself, go slow, keep everything clean, and check your progress frequently.
Later!
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