Buffing Up Paintwork

[Guest Ben Allen]

My Cherry Red GTIs paintwork has faded a fair bit in it's 13 years on the roads

 

My girlfriends brother (who's done a course in bodywork I think) told me that if I used a proper buffer on the paintwork and spent a few hours going over the car in the garage, I could get the paintwork back up to (pretty much) it's original colour.

 

Is this true? If so he's got a buffer lying around at home and he said I could borrow it sometime

 

Also do I need to take any precautions when buffing so I don't strip the paintwork off?

 

Cheers

[Guest Del boy]

I ve heard the same thing ben, i really want to do my xs back to red.

[Guest Dave]

You will need to use it along with some kind of rubbing compound or cutting paste.

We use Farecla G3 at work, which is a slightly abrasive polish which cuts off the top layer of faded paint.

When using an electric buffer, be VERY carefull you dont go right through the paintwork with it. This is easilly done on edges like the tops of the wings etc. Read the instructions for whatever compound you use. The stuff we use works best when the buffer pad is kept damp so it doesnt heat up too much and burn the paint.

Also, remember it is very easy to spray the polish everywhere, which means you and the car and anything nearby will be covered in spots of the stuff. Wear a boiler suit or old clothes, and wash it off the glass and plastic trims etc.

[Guest Ben Allen]

Sounds... fun

Could be a daunting job then, would a bodyshop do it if I asked? what sorta price would I be looking at?

 

Wouldn't really wanna bugger up my paintwork

[Guest Dave]

If you have access to a decent buffer then give it a go, just be carefull!

 

A bodyshop will do it for you, but I have no idea of costs.

[Guest Ben Allen]

Yeah I've got access to one... what's the best way of cleaning pads though?, it's been sat in his garage for ages so it's dirty and I don't really want to scratch the hell out of the paint. Shampoo it? hose it or something?

 

Will I need to use a lot of pressure on the paintwork is is it just a matter of running it aling the paint ittself?

 

Also, my offside rear wing seems to have a 'rough' feel to it rather than the smoothness of the rest of the paint, why is this? Will it be affected by buffing up?

 

Also, I assume I'll have to wash, polish and wax the car again afterwords so the paint is protected again....

 

Sorry for all the Qs, I just don't want to end up a white car

[Guest Dave]

Id just wash the pad with soapy water and let it dry. New pads should only cost a couple of quid from a decent paint factors though so if its really manky just bin it. It wont harm to have a couple of spares to hand in case they get clogged-up half-way through doing it.

 

How hard you press really depends on the speed of the buffer and the grade of cutting compund you are using. I would start of with very light pressure and gradually press harder if it needs it.

 

A rough paint finish may mean the panel has been re-sprayed in the past and has a slight orange-peel effect to it. Buffing it may sort this out, but be aware that if the person who sprayed it didnt do a great job then the paint might be very thin and wont take mutch to rub right through it.

 

Yeah, the car will need a good polish afterwards.

Id recommend Autoglym super-resin polish, then a layer of Autoglym extra-gloss protection afterwards.

[Guest Ben Allen]

Cool, cheers for the advice Dave

Got some Autoglym Super-Resin in the garage as it happens!

 

The rear quarter paint matches the rest of the car perfectly but does have a sligh orange peel effect. It may have been resprayed but I can't find any evidence of it (no evidence of blending)

 

I may have to give this a go sometime soon then. Might speak to my local sprayer (who'll do a good deal for me ) abotu it first and see what he says

 

Cheers

[205turbo 32 2 Cars]

most places charge £60 to have a g3 polish

[Guest dean0]

I've got a cherry red car that has been resprayed on the bonnet and hatch, when I buff it with t-cut etc and polish it the shine comes back for a bit, then it goes back to how it was within a few weeks. Is there any way to sort this out or is it respray time?

[Guest Ben Allen]

Sounds like a G3 polish is on the cards then

Cheers Paul

 

Dean, why not try the same?

[Guest dean0]

I think I'd be wasting £60 on my paintwork, it's more in need of a full respray thanks to local pikeys having keyed it, for the second time .

[205man 0]

ive just g3 polished my car today (calibra), my friend works at a bodyshop and bought some over and showed me what to do and not do, the job is very easy really just take your time and dont work the edges to much as you will wear the paint away (as dave said)

 

so if you can get some g3 yourself it may be worth having a go and could be alot cheaper (AS LONG AS YOU DONT GET CARRIED AWAY AND STRIP THE PAINT)

 

my car isnt faded but did have quite alot of fine swirl marks in the paint and some other small marks, and we have now managed to remove nearly all of them.

 

iwas going to post some photos but they came out to dark so ill take some in the morning if the weathers dry

 

 

alan

[Guest puggti]

A buffer basically does what TCUT does, it takes the point away to another fresh coat, but just be careful becuase it proberly will return dull again cos there is only so much you can do!

[Guest Ben Allen]

will just have to keep it polished/waxed up then

[Guest richt]

Do non metallic 205s have a clearcoat?

 

You can buy products that will do the above work by hand.

[Guest j_turnell]

Nah i think laquer is only used on metalic paint to protect it and is not used on colours such as cherry red etc.

[Robsbc 0 1 Cars]

Nah i think laquer is only used on metalic paint to protect it and is not used on colours such as cherry red etc.

Peugeot used a soild colour and 2 pack paint (lacquer) on Cherry Red. U can tell ny polishing the car, no redness on the cloth means it is a 2 pack paint, redness means it's a solid colour.

 

Rob

[Guest Ricey155]

Gotta say i started and after about 2 hrs id given up

 

 

i had a Draper pro buffer drill type thing and some g3 compound

 

 

it would take a week to make mine look like new so fooooooook that

 

repray instead, nice met purple luvly

[Guest AlastairH]

yeh Ben you can buy new pads for a couple of quid. ive used the buffer plenty of times on my cars, as long as you dont press too hard youll be ok, Your best putting the buffer on a slow setting aswell. If you press to hard like some one said on the tops of wings etc youll suddenly come to a little patch of white which is not good on a red car.

[les3002 0]

i did this to my red 205 and it does come up well although it does fade again as mentioned be carefull with the 205 paint as i managed to buff through the paint on the edge of the roof even though ive buffed hundreds of cars you can buff it with g3 and water makes it harder to buff through youll defo need a jetwash to get it off though to get rid of swirl marks after polish it really hard with normal auto polish and dont leave any g3 on it as it goes rock hard

[C_W 3 1 Cars]

and breathe.

[nick 3]

[flick 0]

Quote " so why is the bonnet up now? I thought it was finished......." copyright, my missus.

 

sounds like an echo form mine

 

Echo'in everything said really ... did my fez and it came up the dog ... had a few over enthusiastic white edges but otherwise looks cool.

 

Its does go everywhere though, and dont be tempted like i was to stick a buffing pad on an angle grinder unless you fancy the primer look

 

i found a sponge on a drill at lowest speed the best (only cost £8 for back pad and sponge) just keep going over till it starts looking shinny .. then polish .. comes up great ... and feels sooo smooth

[nick 3]

and dont be tempted like i was to stick a buffing pad on an angle grinder  unless you fancy the primer look

 

I bought a proper buffing sponge from Machine mart and stuck it on my angle grinder, I spun it up in the kitchen just to see (as you do ) and touched the kitchen door with it, it was down to bare wood in less than a second

Thank f**k I didn't try it in the middle of my bonnet straight away

 

Nick