Which foam Buff pads to use ?

[Dartswinger70]

We had a chat about compounds, now which pads and for what? Is the old school wool pad for single stage etc.? I Need a rookie buff thread LOL! anyway the wife got me a bag of different color velcro foam pads and I'm like "Ok where do I start?" I have a Harbor freight electric DA etc 6 inch and am ready to buff (I think?) I also have th elarger old school wool pad setup on a non DA style polisher and an air DA if that applies etc. Also we are talking about buffng Urethane base / clear etc. with the usual rookie imperfections runs, orange peel rtc.

 

[340sport]

Wool pads will cut, they can be used on anything that needs aggressive cutting. If you know what you're doing you can use the wool pad with a rotary machine. If not, stick with a DA and use foam pads. Typically red is firm and will cut (of course the compound will have it's limitations too). Next step down would be yellow, then orange and then onto grey. This isn't always the case, but typical with some pad manufacturers. You can buy a kit from a good pad company such Lake County. Again, some differ and the tool and compound will determine a lot too. Do some research and make an educated decision before purchasing. Where are you located on the east coast? Maybe I could help.

 

[Dartswinger70]

I'm outside of reading Pa. I shot the paint on my car in my home garage not the most sanitary but I've been "painting my car " for years and got impatient. To the layperson it looks good but needs finished the usual runs and orange peel etc. The thing is I have my own vision of what is good and I'm just on to the next phase if you will. Now its color sand cut buff and any touch up phase. I am busy with career etc so that's another reason why the "for years " part but trade off is I can afford to finish it LOL!

 

[1MeanA]

Its base/clear? Typically it gets cut (wet sanded) and then buffed. There are lots of videos out there. First you need to denib and cut the runs down with a special tool or very carefully with coarse sand paper. This task makes me the most nervous. After that its wet sanding. I don't like wet sanding with anything coarser than 1500 grit then I go over it with 2000 and 3000 grit. You need lots of water and to keep things clean. As it dries you will see if you have any orange peel left. A wool pad on a rotary polisher with a heavy cut polish will clean it up. Then finish with a milder polish. I just finished my car except from the final polish. I spent more than 20 hours. Its still a work in progress. More than a few times I have turned a mediocre paint job into something pretty nice.

 

[Dartswinger70]

Its base/clear? Typically it gets cut (wet sanded) and then buffed. There are lots of videos out there. First you need to denib and cut the runs down with a special tool or very carefully with coarse sand paper. This task makes me the most nervous. After that its wet sanding. I don't like wet sanding with anything coarser than 1500 grit then I go over it with 2000 and 3000 grit. You need lots of water and to keep things clean. As it dries you will see if you have any orange peel left. A wool pad on a rotary polisher with a heavy cut polish will clean it up. Then finish with a milder polish. I just finished my car except from the final polish. I spent more than 20 hours. Its still a work in progress. More than a few times I have turned a mediocre paint job into something pretty nice.
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Yes Base clear and plum crazy i am actually going for the same effect a vinyl top, a black stripe and go wing I am going body color on the scoops although the wife debated she thinks black scoops would look good match the wing etc..I think the purple doesnt work on any other car except a Mopar LOL! but Im biased mine is a H code with the original FC7 paint code I tried to stay very original but there are some tweaks like a repro tuff wheel and I have the stainless trim over the door cards instead of the black etc. other mods are the E body pistol grip Edelbrock intake and carb etc. so at some point I realized "it isnt going to be original" its actually turning out nice just took a long time and alot of $$$