Thanks Thanks Jersey... Mr. G's had just the fasteners I was looking for. No real updates. Turns out that 1000 grit was WAY to course for the colorsand in my dark cherry red, the haze I was seeing was actually sanding marks. I am now painstakingly re-sanding in 2000 grit in an attempt to remove all the 1000 grit marks. Wish I had just started in 2000 to begin with!!! I guess I'll know for next time!!!
:shock: I hope you dont have to repaint it in any shape or form (clear or otherwise)... that paint job is beautiful and after color sanding it will be stunning!
....read you were using Machine Glaze ?? An Old-schooler body man told me to use the GM Hand Glaze, not the machine glaze with an orbital polisher. I've been using it for years this way.....
Finally back!!!!!!! Sorry Gents that it's been so long. I got really frustrated with the whole buffing scene, and needed to take a break and think things through. What I wound up doing.... I decided to go old school on her. I tossed the waffled foam pads, and the 3M perfect it 2 compounds. That stuff is crap. Instead I drove to Vegas for some Perfect It 3 (It's illegal in California). I used the whole line, rubbing, machine, and hand glaze. Then I went back to 1985 with the agressive wool pad at about 3000 rpm. That did the trick. I followed with a yellow compound flat pad (with rounded edges) and a second stage of rubbing compound. Then swirl mark remover with the black flat pad (again rounded edges). Finally Pefect it 3 hand glaze. Wound up with about 3 eight hour days of buffing, but it came out GREAT. I think the wool pad was the trick, the body supply store didn't want to sell it to me, because he thought I'd burn through paint everywhere. I recommend it to anyone wanting a do-it-yourself truely beautiful finish. Enough blabber, here are some pics
Damn.....nice:beer I used the wool pad on my LeSabre and it worked awesome. All you have to do is take it slow and you'll get the feel for it pretty quick. Glad to see some progress on that car!! It's looking REALLY good!
I gotta say, this is argueably the smoothest buick A-body on the planet. It came out exactly like I had envisioned.
But wait, there's more! These are those new fangled xenon 2 piece projector lights from Original Parts Group. They are like 300% brighter, and really follow that whole modern/classic mix-up of a look I am going for. They ran like $100. Well worth the raised eyebrows when folks notice the blue tint to the lights!
movin on Well, that's probably gonna be it for a while, I'm pulling stakes and headed to Colorado this Jan. Where I am happy to say I will be the proud owner of a 2 car garage. If anyone can link me up with some Buick enthusiasts in the Colorado Springs area, I'd sure apprechiate it. Oh, and thanks SMARTIN for the compliment. I will never buff without starting in wool again! TTFN
skymangs C Springs, eh? I take it you're PCSing to Carson. They have T-H-E most complete Auto Craft Shop I have seen in my 28 years in the ARMY: 6 x 2-post asymmetric lifts; 8 "other?" 2-post lifts; 2 paint booths; one booth dedicated to frame straightening; the sign-out tools are all Snap-On; brake lathes, an engine/tranny rebuilding area -- it goes on and on. The Springs has quite a car following. Being high desert, the cars do NOT surfer from rust; the city uses sand rather than salt or chemicals during the winter. The sprimgs has 320 days / year of sunshine -- so when it does snow, it melts away in hours/days. On the car-nut thing, there is (or was when I was last home) a weekly informal car show in the parking lot of a large Food Warehouse at, if I remember correctly, Austin Bluffs parkway and Academy Blvd North (or maybe it is N Carefree Circle). The cars that were there 2 years ago were a very eclectic collection: 60's/70's muscle cars (have seen a GSX there, but its a MOPAR heavy crowd); 30s-40s-50s; hot rods; 56 T-Bird; pick-ups; a VW Thing; newer cars with big stereos (yeah -- some ricers) and so on. Like I said a real mixed bag. I'm thinking is was Saturday afternoon (1500-ish) til dark o No: Look forward to seeing your ride in person :TU: . In the meanwhile, how about posting a shot of two of the engine or interior (or is the interior not done yet?). Craig in Kabul (but with a house in C Springs)
Only looks ready to drive Sorry Craig, it's not nearly as far along as it looks. Interior isn't finished, motor isnt finished either. o No: In fact, that's priority one when we get to CO. I'm ready to cruise this thing. Thanks for all the info on car stuff, I am going to check out that warehouse. I take it you are from Colo Springs? Chris
Absolutely Stunning! The car is looking fantastic. I was thinking about your project at the beginning of the week wondering if you'd made progress. Incredibly sinister. I'm sure the last thing you need is more painting and polishing, but have you considered painting the rims to match the car?
Chris Let's put it this way: I've been making payments on a house on the NE side the Springs for nearly three years. I've physically lived in the thing for maybe 5 months. Have put maybe $25-30,000 in home improvements into a 3 year house: rock wall around the inner and outer edges of the circle drive; replaced a window with a door/deck; put cabinets and work bench in the 3+ car garage, window treatments in the dining room (I never knew "treatments" were $6,000) :shock: . Next project is mine: a 30 x 78 foot out building (I have 2.5 acres -- lots o' room). 30 x 30 feet of it will be for my playroom (with, eventually, a 2-post lift) :TU: Hope to see you around -- Craig
Buffing That's one thing you have to play with for a while in order to understand what the buffing is doing to the paint.. I myself have not figured it out yet but a few more hundred times I will be on the right track!!! Go Joe Dirt!! Love that movie!!! Thankyou for sharing all your Ideas!!! Awesome work and imagination!! I expecially like the rear disk brakes... Is it Done Yet?? :3gears: Randy
Yeah, I had toyed with the Idea, but my lovely wife says no.... If you are married, you will understand my philosophy: A Happy Wife Makes a Happy Buick Enthusiast!!! LoL
Someday my time will come, when I can have a nice chunk of land with a shop that is mine, not shared with bikes and lawnmowers etc. I look forward to being somewhere where fellow Buick nuts are not so few and far between! :TU:
yeah, it takes a certain skill. You kinda gotta feel the pad working. I won't say I've mastered it yet, but I kinda have the feel for it now. I think my next paint job will turn out much better. And Joe Dirt is my hero! Thanks Skyman
Skymangs, Please keep the updates to this thread going. Your progress and photos on this project are outstanding. Definitely a keeper for the subscription list.
Hiya, Chris. That car is looking awesome. Quite an inspiration for the rest of us!! You should be very proud of the work you have done. I have a quick question on the color. It seems to me that somewhere you said it was a Cadillac color, but I'll be tied if I can find it. So the question is 'What color is that? and do you mind if I use it on one of my projects?' It is not nearly the undertaking of your project, but I think it would look great in that particular color. Thanks for keeping us updated. Oh, yeah. I had a very good friend stationed at Ft. Cartoon in the late 80's while I was stationed at Lowry in Denver. They do, indeed, have the best hobby shop I have ever seen in the military. You're gonna love it!!! Greg
