Using Rubbing Compound and Swirl Remover

Using Rubbing Compound and Swirl Remover

Rubbing compound is like a fine sandpaper, but comes in a liquidy paste form. The one I used was Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound, and it looks like this:



You rub the Rubbing Compound over the surface. I used a back and forth motion on it and you need to put some muscle into it to level the surface out nicely. You will notice the surface looks dull but you should be able to feel its more level and not gritty.

Once you think the surface is level, then I used 3M Swirl Remover. With this, I did it by hand and went in a back and forth motion really quickly. I didn't put too much pressure on it, but just enough and rubbed quickly. I rubbed back and forth about 30 times or so generating some heat on the cloth I was using.

You basically continue until the Swirl Remover liquid was hard to see, then wiped off the surface. I repeated the swirl remover 3 times per location. This made the surface really shine up. I will post up some pictures shortly of the before and after. You will be amazed as I was.

You can do the Swirl Remover by machine as well, but I won't give advice on that since i've never done it. With a machine, if you do it to long you can burn through the clear coat. By hand is safer, but takes longer as well.

Regards,
Michael Kralj
Get the information about Used Car Buying in Ontario in my other blog.

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OEM Lip Kit Painted

OEM Lip Kit Painted

Here is the update where my Lip Kit has finally been painted my Clover Green Pearl. As with all painting, hold the spray can about 6-12 inches from the parts and do not lay too thick coats. The thinner coats are better as it avoids drips, but put enough to cover all areas adequately and evenly.

Here is a picture of the rear valence with 2 coats of green applied:


A closer shot of rear valence painted:


When applying the clear coat, ensure to give about 20 minutes of drying time on the base coat. The time to wait also depends on the paint, and on my spray can it recommended 20 minutes. Follow directions on your can.

Here are the rear valences drying with clear coat on it:


Closer shot of rear valences clear coated:


The OEM Front Lip with clear drying on it and the side skirts with only basecoat applied:


Front lip clear coated:


Another shot of the front lip:


Picture of the sides with clear coat on it:


Here I was anxious to see how well the paint matched, so I put it on the car quickly to see. Color match looks good:


Another view of the lip on my car:


Side shot with some light hitting it:


And yet another pic of the front lip:


Here is a picture of all the parts painted a fresh coat of green:


Picture of me holding the side skirt in place to see the color match:


Rear valences held in place to see the color match:


Once this was done, I had let my Lip Kit pieces dry for about a week and a half. Some recommend more, while others say less. This is to let the paint cure and harden. At this stage, once it hardens I took out the rubbing compound and swirl remover to make it shine. Stay tuned to see how I did this in posts to come.

Regards,
Michael Kralj
Buy a Car in Ontario and then buy some car detailing products.

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Primer the Kit

Car Primer on the Kit

I got around to actually spraying Primer onto the OEM Lip kit. Here are the steps and some pictures from this stage of the automotive painting process.

First step, is to clean the pieces to be painted. I used dish soap on my rear valences as pictured:


My primer of choice for this project, Duplicolor sandable black primer:


Then spray the primer about 6 - 12 inches from the pieces being painted. Here are the rear valences after being sprayed with primer (coat number 2) :


A closer pic of the primed rear valences:


Here is a picture of the Front Lip Primered:


Different view of lip primed:


The Front Lip and Rear Valences primed together:


Here is a picture of the Side Skirts not primed yet:


And now the Side Skirts are primed:


Close up shots of the side skirts primed:


After this was completed, I waited one week for it to dry. You can simply go to painting, however i've read primer takes a bit of time to dry so it wont flex in the future. So I chose to wait one week (also due to not having time that day).

Then the next weekend I Wet Sanded the primed pieces with 600 grit wet / dry sandpaper very lightly. You will notice the primer has a rough gritty feel to it that you don't want your paint to be like. Sanding with 600 grit gets rid of this gritty feel and makes it smooth to the touch, but not too smooth for the base coat paint to stick to it.

Keep tuned to see the Lip Kit pieces painted.

Regards,
Michael Kralj
Learn about Buying a Car in Ontario and then make it shine by Detailing Your Car.

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Wet Sanding

How To Wet Sand

I found a good link discussing how to wet sand. As the link will show you, wet sanding is basically sanding but using water, so not to trap the particles in the sandpaper. This way it does the sanding as intended.

http://www.hotworldcustoms.com/wet.htm

There you go.

Regards,
Michael Kralj
Learn about Buying a Car in Ontario

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Wet Sanding Preparation

Wet Sanding Preparation

So here I started the project of Wet sanding after work and between the days of rain. Here you will see the pieces prior to wet sanding, and afterwards to see how far you may want to go with the Wet Sanding process. Here the front lip and rear valences have been completed.

OEM Acura Front Lip in Burning Red Pearl before sanding:


My weapons of attack: Wet Sand with 320 grit and 400 grit wet / dry sandpaper


Here is an up close shot of the Front Lip paint Untouched:


Here is the Front Lip all sanded with white residue from the wet sanding (it is white because of wet sanding the clear coat, making it turn white.


Here you see a picture of the rear valences untouched:


And here I have completed sanding one Rear Valences and the other one is not:


Closer shot of one piece sanded and the other one not:


Here are both valences sanded:


The side skirts will be sanded as well, and then I will move on to priming the Kit with the Duplicolor Black Primer.

Also, look for an article here describing the process of Wet Sanding to come.

Regards,
Michael Kralj
Learn about Car Detailing in my other blog.

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