Cutting and buffing car that sat for years.

Discuss anything after that final masking comes off.

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 12:00 pm
Hey everyone looking to get some opinions on what to do to my car.
It has sat outside for a few years. Maybe 3, it needed so many parts I didn't have the funds to get it running(although the engine was new)
Now that I'm going to finally drive it around I want to color sand it and buff it.

Should I clay bar it first to make sure I get rid of anything that settled on the car?
I don't think a good wash will get rid of everything.
If I sand it after a good wash will I be fine or is I better to use a clay bar then color sand?
Thanks

*edit. Can someone change the word "say" in my title to "sat".
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 1:53 pm
Wash, buff, polish, drive.

Colour sanding is only necessary to reduce peel on new paint or, in very rare cases, very aggressive defect rectification.

Clay bars are nice for certain applications but, in my business we would buff/polish two cars/day and probably only break out the clay bar once every 3 months.
Chris

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:55 pm
Okay thanks NFT5.
I'll just be polishing it then. :goodjob:
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:50 pm
Was the car in question repainted or does it have an older factory finish? Up until recently, OEM finishes were pretty widely known for having orange peel.

You can color sand a factory finish without problem, its going to be harder than cutting new paint but is done none the less. If you want a flatter more perfect finish, color sand it. I've cut and buff 20 year old factory finishes to remove factory orange peel, its more difficult and takes more finesse but it can be done and has its place depending on what your goal is.
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 8:27 pm
I had the car repainted in 2011 and drove it for about 3 years till 2014 after 3-4 engines being blown I just parked it because it was too much to fix.
I'm not sure how much clear the guy used but it looked great.
I'm going to try and buff it and polish it to restore the shine.

This was the car in its prime time!
image.jpeg

image.jpeg


This is how it sits in neglect. You can can see the poor body work on the hood has begun chipping off.
image.jpeg
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 10:07 am
That hood is beyond the cut and buff stage. Once clear coat fails you need to strip it.
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ACTS 16:31

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 2:25 pm
Yes it is. It's not so much clear coat failing but I think it's the base coat failing. Some areas come off in chips on the hood. I plan to strip the hood down to metal and start from the bottom on that. The rest of the car is good aside from some deep scratches. But till I repaint it, hopefully the buff and polish get ride of anything that settled on the paint.
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