Polishing Tips

[Irun]

The paint on my 2001 needs help. I am not sure if this is a DIY for a total beginner and have been researching it a bit lately so this thread is timely.

My choices are:
1. Leaveit and live with it, wash and clean it
2. DIY like in this thread
3. Pay a pro once to work on the paint and then maintain it after

Here is what I am starting with:
Hood Closeup:

View attachment 235102

Hood from front:

View attachment 235104


Door with large circle scrape, same on other door, I believe from how the PO stored them when off as the circle matches on both sides:
View attachment 235103

Interested in any feedback. I am not affraid of a project but also come into this with zero knowledge or history of how to do this. I have washed a car by hand before and that is the extent of my polishing and waxing experience.

Thanks.

You can do this yourself, save money, and end up with good results. You won't get everything out, but you can significantly improve over what you have now. As a small sample, here's one area I had:

Which when fixed looked like this:

Your hood will be the hardest part, and, in some cases, may just need a re-paint. You won't know though until you try. You learn something in the process and can say I did it myself!

 

[Irun]

Incredible results! What did you use to get the stuck on dirt from where the flares and tire carrier were?

Forgot to also mention, get some Goo Gone. It works great to get hard to remove stuff off. I had a bunch of stickers to remove. The heat gun and Goo Gone worked wonders.

 

[Johnfromphilly]

Forgot to also mention, get some Goo Gone. It works great to get hard to remove stuff off. I had a bunch of stickers to remove. The heat gun and Goo Gone worked wonders.

View attachment 235110

View attachment 235111

The PO had added wind guards to the doors and one broke. I removed them and there was a TON of high bond tape stuck to the doors. Goof Off was not working so I bought this wheel. It worked great, just have to be a "little" careful not to go too hard in one spot but it is hard to burn through the paint if you are careful.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VFACQRE/?tag=wranglerorg-20

 

[Cheetokps]

If you get it, you won't regret it. Just make sure to use a lighter cut cleaner/polish, like the one I linked to. Also, per the list by @AndyG, keep the speed down. You want to let the polisher do the work, i.e. you don't need to press hard. The great thing about a random orbital is it's really hard to screw up the paint. All you need to do is keep applying the polish and keep it moving.

Honestly, the hardest part of the entire job is the prep work. To do it right, you need to remove everything possible. This makes the job look better and cleanup time is reduced significantly!

I bought the mother’s clay bar kit as well as a foam cannon, so I should be able to get all the dirt off. Definitely want to get around to buying a polisher eventually, but I have other more important things I could put that money towards like a ball joint tool. I’ll watch for harbor fright sales though

 

[Blackiosh]

The paint on my 2001 needs help. I am not sure if this is a DIY for a total beginner and have been researching it a bit lately so this thread is timely.

My choices are:
1. Leaveit and live with it, wash and clean it
2. DIY like in this thread
3. Pay a pro once to work on the paint and then maintain it after

Here is what I am starting with:
Hood Closeup:

View attachment 235102

Hood from front:

View attachment 235104


Door with large circle scrape, same on other door, I believe from how the PO stored them when off as the circle matches on both sides:
View attachment 235103

Interested in any feedback. I am not affraid of a project but also come into this with zero knowledge or history of how to do this. I have washed a car by hand before and that is the extent of my polishing and waxing experience.

Thanks.

I got a Mcguires MT300 DA Polisher for my B-day a few years back and it works great, but pricey (I'm sure the polishers mentioned by others here that are much cheaper work just fine) . It came with the correct pads for the job and explains the pad speed for each particular job. I would clay bar, then use a compound, then a polish and finally, I use a synthetic wax called Wolfgang 3.0. I've been told a coat of carnauba wax over the synthetic looks nice but I've never done that. The synthetic wax will last much longer than carnauba and it doesn't stain plastic. Once you get the paint to your liking, just wax it occassionally and you really shouldn't have to do all the steps I mentioned above. I've never used a ceramic coating but have considered it.
When using a polisher to correct paint, be patient and know that it takes many passes to get the desired outcome. I've watched a lot of videos from Mike Phillips on Autogeek.net and have learned a lot. Good luck.

 

[Johnfromphilly]

I got a Mcguires MT300 DA Polisher for my B-day a few years back and it works great, but pricey (I'm sure the polishers mentioned by others here that are much cheaper work just fine) . It came with the correct pads for the job and explains the pad speed for each particular job. I would clay bar, then use a compound, then a polish and finally, I use a synthetic wax called Wolfgang 3.0. I've been told a coat of carnauba wax over the synthetic looks nice but I've never done that. The synthetic wax will last much longer than carnauba and it doesn't stain plastic. Once you get the paint to your liking, just wax it occassionally and you really shouldn't have to do all the steps I mentioned above. I've never used a ceramic coating but have considered it.
When using a polisher to correct paint, be patient and know that it takes many passes to get the desired outcome. I've watched a lot of videos from Mike Phillips on Autogeek.net and have learned a lot. Good luck.

Thanks! I really need a start to finish tutorial. I will check out the Mike Phillips videos you referenced. I just don't want to do more harm thatn good. Is the paint I have fixable?

 

[cliffish]

Forgot to also mention, get some Goo Gone. It works great to get hard to remove stuff off. I had a bunch of stickers to remove. The heat gun and Goo Gone worked wonders.

View attachment 235110

View attachment 235111

Obviously a liberal chick owned that before you judging by the cute and vegan decal

 

[Irun]

Obviously a liberal chick owned that before you judging by the cute and vegan decal

What gave it away?

 

[IrishWake]

Forgot to also mention, get some Goo Gone. It works great to get hard to remove stuff off. I had a bunch of stickers to remove. The heat gun and Goo Gone worked wonders.

View attachment 235110

View attachment 235111

I'm shocked you didn't want to keep those