DOH! Advice on a rubbing compound mistake!!

My mistake for the day..... before waxing my car that still has its original paint job, I decided to break out the rubbing compound to address some stubborn tree sap and road tar. Yes- I had tried bug and tar remover first.
I did not use it in the sun, and as I rubbed away on certain areas, there was no paint on the rag, only dirt. But when I removed the excess, I was left with small hazy patches that have fine scratches in them. I've hand waxed over them, but I can still see them when I get at just the right angle. DOH! ou: So, am I left to contemplate my stupidity every time I look at this car, or is there a way to correct it? o No: I wondered if maybe buffing out these spots with a wheel would make a difference, or if there is some product or procedure someone can recommend? I want to keep the original paint job.

 

Scratces in Pain from Rubbing Compound

so what happenedd with your scratches Wildcat?

 

After rubbing compound (orange paste) next comes polishing compound (white paste type). Then go with something like a cleaner type wax and finally a pure carnauba type wax. That process usually gets the scratches smoothed out.
It will probably leave a nice smooth shiny spot on your old paint job and you'll end up using the process (not including the rubbing compound)on the rest of the car to make the old girl stand out like new.

 

BTW if you're using a rotary buffer instead of elbow grease you will want to use products designed for buffers. The manual pastes are WAY to abrasive when used with buffers.

 

I'll second the polishing compound.

 

Im using DRX55 with a clean cotton terry towel by hand to freshen up 30 year old lacquer that is in excellent condition. It is called PPG DRX55 Pastel (Fastcut). It is offwhite in color. Is this a polish ? Do I need another more agressive one first ?

How does the order go ?

Orange
DRX55 offwhite
Swirl Remover
Cleaner/Wax
Straight Wax ?

Is this right ? or can the cleaner/was be the swirl remover ?

Gary

I cant find the info sheets for PPG Rubbing Compounds. Just emailed PPG Im not expecting them to respond. Paint store special ordered it for me but dont have info sheets.

There are 6 grades

Final Buffing Compound DRX10
Power Buffing Compound DRX16
Polishing Compound DRX25
Rubbing Compound Red DRX45
Rubbing Compound - Fast DRX55
Liquid Rubbing Compound DRX65

Not sure what I need. I like PPG though. There stuff worked great on a chevy that I stripped to bare metal and refinished in Acrylic Lacquer, rubbed it all by hand, wet sanded etc.... turned out beautiful.. it was some 10 years ago,, I dont remember exactly what I did or what prodcuts... anyway.. this is different because Im trying to freshen old paint.

Thanks

Gary

 

Tree sap can be removed with hot water and a washcloth......it works for me. The trick is to get it ASAP before it bakes in the sun. Rubbing compound can be dangerous if you aren't careful. :bglasses:

 

Let me know if you get that fixed up. I know rubbing compound is a no no.
But wonder how they buff out and wax cars on those TV shows so fast when that is also a no no. Wax on fresh paint is bad. But its seam like not maybe 10 hrs later you see them taking a giant buffer to the fresh paint.

Though the only thing I picked up so far is that they hand glaze it first?

 

Depending on the tree sap, get a small bottle of turpentine. That works great!

 

Polish

Whats a good polish, white paste? Brand etc..

If I were you wildcat, I would get some white paste, or some DRX55 from PPG and rub those areas with a clean 100% cotton terry towel. That will take out the scratches. Then swirl remover. then wax/cleaner and then wax.

I did my hood and fender today and it turned out very good. I did the same thing you did. I had tar spots and tree sap that wouldn come off with tar remover. So I took the rubbing compund to it and it worked. I used circular motion, fast with some force. (I dont suggest this with the red paste only the off white or white). until they were gone. Then I went over it with wax/cleaner Mothers, and thats it. I need to get some swirl remover and some straight carnuba wax. If its lacquer original paint, you will be fine. Thats the beauty of lacquer. You can rub it out, wet sand it and polish it if needed. Its very polishable. Thats whats great about it. and its easy to touch up and blend. I love lacquer I dont care what anybody says. I used to do it 10 years ago but I forgot a lot, its coming back to me now though.

Dont worry, its not irreversibly damaged. you can always polish lacquer. keep trying.

Gary

 

I've had good luck with Safe Cut by The Wax Shop. Next to impossible to screw up and takes care of virtually all imperfections as well as scratches up to those you can catch your fingernail in.

No product can do it all (especially not in one step) but for me, this works. I follow this with Zaino Bros. Z-2.

 

The best thing to remove tree sap is HOT soapy water. Tree sap is organic ie water based so solvent based cleaners won't work as well as water as hot as you can stand it. Rubbing compound is not real safe to use on 40 year old laquer paint,you may burn through the paint.I've been painting cars for 17 years and had the best luck with soap and water.
Tim

 

Well...... I've been away at Batavia, but I can report that I was able to make some progress using polishing compound and a scratch remover from Meguars (sp?), plus several more coats of my favorite....Liquid Glass. The latter is great stuff...it costs @ 18 a can, but well worth it. It is a laquer, not a wax-but is applied like wax-and Oh the shine!!!
As for my mistake.... I'm still not satisfied yet....but summer isn't over yet!!