polishing up my new paint job

I'm not sure how you guys polish your cars in England, but over here we *very rarely* use an ice cream. We almost never use a full blown ice cream Sunday.

Did you, by chance, mean to upload a different image?

Ted

That is not to imply that we are upset about the image.  Mmmmmmm........

Correct. I have no problem with the image. I was just wondering how crepes and chocolate sauce played into polishing the new paint.

Mmm considering it is England I am not surprised it was not a cup of Tea with scones and cream...

I have spare front black fiberglass hood --- but suspect translation it real English for "hood" is vinyl/convertible "convertible top".  VS has both vinyl and Haartz cloth convas.  Guess what I have is the "bonnet."  

Ah, now here's where semantic confusion sets in.

The British nomenclature for the engine lid is "Bonnet" but that's always been in the front of their vehicles between the headlights and the windshield.

So I'm not sure if "Bonnet" strictly refers to an engine access lid...be it front OR rear engine...or if it's the name of ONLY the front lifting panel no matter what's under it?

Rear lid or Porsche engine cover is the Boot.  Only English term that makes sense to me is Dynamo for Generator.  Don't say Muffler in a female crowd (derrogatory term for part of female anatomy) - it's Silencer.  Courtesy of my English Mum (maiden name Wellington).

Corn starch ! 2kg = $1.00 will give a machine glaze after I had bought about $100. of other products.

Mexican told me and I used on a totally useless clear coat.

Buy a heavy duty two speed hand mixer (Braun) and use a juice container.

The corn starch will settle quickly to the bottom so mix every time. Used a variable speed Makita at 3 (mid setting),foam pad for polishing. Large enough bucket so that the foam will fit in and can be spun clean and get wet. Mix corn starch so that when you apply to a wet vertical surface by hand will start to slowly run. Keep pad wet and moving. Second pass if you want to thin out even more. I have a black car and there is a carnuba black box by Turtle wax. Four part system but I only used the black wax. No swirl marks and easy without big $

Kenj, I'm all for effective ideas/results that save me money...but I need some clarification.

A Mexican told you that your $100 worth of products was "totally useless" when used on a clear coat?...but buffing a clear coat finish with your corn starch solution wasn't?

After remixing the settling corn starch each time in the juice container you then poured enough into a separate container that accommodated the diameter of your foam polishing pad?...or the separate container is simply water and the foam pad is swished in it for cleaning?

The carnuba 'black wax' was applied by hand and then mechanically buffed?...or soft cloth polished by hand?

Hi Carl, Just looked at my notes and there are some gaps. the juice container is only used to mix the corn starch paste so that I could pat onto the damp car.

The larger bucket is used to spin out the pad for cleaning and reduce the water in the foam Could do at your knees but a bit messy. Easy cleanup in nearby areas as when the corn starch dries it just brushes of the walls or what ever.

My clear coat never dried properly and I was told it just balled up when buffed (No Kidding) Took the car home and they said they would sand and spray again, met the Mexican gent in the meantime, left the black car out in the sun for 3 days then tried his suggestion "That's what we always did" 

The black carnuba was just applied by hand and then soft cloth finished

Oh, yeah.......  Like I'm gonna try THAT on a $6,000 paint job!

"Balling" during leveling is from too little "fixer" used when mixing/spraying the paint.  I totally agree with letting it cure in the Sun for a few days, though.  Especially on a darker car.  If you don't have a baking booth to cure the paint in for a few hours, then the Sun is a good second choice! (As long as you remember to turn the car every day!)

Yeah I was pretty worried as well but faced with a 1 month wait (maybe longer) before they could redo the car I thought lets see what this paste comes out like when mixed with the hand blender. He had told me to get to a mix ratio that would slowly run down a vertical (door). Played around a bit with approx. ratio's and learned it very quickly would settle the bottom of the juice container and need another hit with the blender.

Bottom line when rubbed between thumb and palm felt like a heavy hand cream. Hell of allot smoother than any of my fine compounds and ended up just getting smoother until time for another area. Wet and well blended are the key.

I certainly agree "pro. shop" messed up big on this paint job.

$6,000 ? I think they saw you coming with a cool car.

If you want to see what it looks like take a check back about 10 days for 

" 356 CMC WB Outlaw coming up for sale "

Yes I was amazed and no second run / try at her. Very minimal swirls, (My fault , too dry, too thick) that the black carnuba covered by hand application.

Sometimes you just have to listen to the old school guys who did not have all the fancy stuff that is promoted as the only answer to us.