Td5 D2 bodywork - Buffin the peel away.

Having recently resprayed the offside doors and wing, the time has come to finally buff the peel away. I had already started on this task but I figured it was best to complete the task once all the panels were resprayed and I could 'match' them up better.

Back in May when I started the respray work I knew nothing about 'buffing' the paintwork, and I thought that to get the panel to shine only required the application of lacquer..

I recall how the excitement of respraying the rear door quickly diminished when the finish was closely studied... orange peel all the way.

Still, a bit of research and encouragement soon got those pips to squeak!!

Things to buy....

It is possible to hand buff a panel but the amount of labour and effort required for an even finish is too much. Power tools are available ranging from a basic big Orbital Car Polisher up to powerful rotary polishers that resemble angle grinders with foam 'mops' instead of cutting wheels.

The 'Silverline' machine shown above was chosen as a starter for a reasonable £20. It comes with two 'bonnets' and has a big 10" orbital polishing head. 

The next thing to get is 'rubbing compound'. Basically fine abrasive paste which produces the required shine when used with the polisher. 

'Farecla G3' in the middle of the photo is the industry standard compound and the other one is Halfords own brand at half the price. I bought both for a comparison. Other compound grades are available from Farecla who produce a whole range of them for body-shop use.

Wet and dry abrasive 1200 and even 2000 for fine work. 

Plenty of clean micro fibre cloths.

Lots of clean water from a handy spray bottle.

When paint spraying the door panels, I had the presence of mind to spray a piece of metal plate with the colour and lacquer coat so that I could practise with the buffer before committing to the door panels. As I recall, doing this used the last contents of both the original colour and lacquer rattle cans.

The painted section is only about 12"Sq. but the presence of orange peel can easily be seen on its surface. The 'peel' effect produces a diffuse sheen finish that is in no way mirror like.

My first attempt at buffing began by taping over one half of the painted section on the plate and then working the exposed area by wetting it and lightly sanding with 1200 grit. This produced an even more diffused surface but it did feel smoother under the finger. I then applied some compound using a damp cloth and rubbed it all over by hand. I sprayed the surface and the buffer liberally and switched on, and held on!!

I stopped after a minute of light pressure and of just getting used to the feel of the machine. Wiping the surface down revealed the start of a mirror like shine! I was impressed already, and repeated the process with more compound to get a 'deeper' shine. When the tape was removed from the untreated side the comparison was startling...

I decided to use the result obtained on the metal plate as the first 'target' finish for the door panels.

This photo attempts to show the 'orange peel'

texture in question. It is a close up of the practise panel described above.

And here is the same panel with its upper half buffed to a mirror like shine. The near vertical lines are reflections from some nearby vertical window blinds. It can be seen how the orange peel texture creates a 'sheen' and the buffed area creates a 'shine'...

Not bad for 5 minutes work. The shine could go a lot deeper if desired. If I can get the newly painted door panels to look like this I'll be a happy bunny.