Giving a proper gloss?

[LaurenceGough]

Hi guys,

I purchased some rubbing compound the other day to finish my canopy off but it's removing the gloss so it seems far too abbrasive.

I have some very slight clear coat overspray I want to remove and to give a long lasting gloss finish.

Looking around it seems T Cut should do the job, which one would you recommend?

WAX (removes light scratches) - CarPlan Car Care - T-Cut Wax

Original - CarPlan Car Care - T-Cut Original

Cheers,

Laurence

[Eckchaz]

Normal rubbing compound is way to harsh as you have found out... I find it too harsh on a car! lol! If I had to out of the two.. I would go for original.. the other one is a wax and you dont want it waxed.. unless you get a detailing spray and clay it clean afterwards!

Have you thought about getting some 3000 grade emery paper to rub it down with instead?...

[LaurenceGough]

Yeah, I kind of regret wasting my money on it now, just no need for it on a heli canopy, I guess it could be useful for polishing headlight covers and that before a final finish.

So you reckon the original mate, cheers .

As for the sandpaper I really don't fancy using it as the final one, I wanted to use a compound for a change to get a mirror finish .

[Eckchaz]

Sorry Laurence.. I totally misread your OP... I thought you were cleaning/removing the existing gloss off to finish it again properly.. my bad

In that case. both are fine.. or use this Autoglym - car cleaning products, car care products, car valeting, car detailing

[Jimbo]

Tried AutoGlym paint renovator? It's midly abrasive for restoring colour to faded paint, it might be just enough to remove the overspray, then wax it afterwards.
If not, then i'd say give a claying.

[LaurenceGough]

Going to go for the AutoGlym Super Resin Polish, should be good for when I get a Supra too . T-Cut is too abrasive from what I could gather.

Cheers guys

[buckers]

IMO................I would wet sand the overspray off. Then progressively wet sand with finer and finer grades. (I stop at 1200).

THEN I polish.

I use 3M or Maguires, but also have some AutoGlym. Whatever you use, ensure it's ammonia free.
HTH

[Mikej]

Laurence, I asked a mate of mine (who owns / runs a bodyshop) this and he recommended Farecla G3. It is much less harsh than T-cut etc.

[LaurenceGough]

Buckers so I guess you see no need for rubbing compound either . I might give another crack at using the rubbing compound on the overspray but with more water, I'm sure it can't be as harsh as 1200 grit paper! Right??

[millerman]

i have always done as buckers said fine grades of wet and dry then polish afterwards

[wadders]

Use some G10 finishing compound........

[p4ddy]

As MikeJ said G3 it's what i use on my car, bike, canopy. It's 1000x than Tcut, IMO Tcut is shyte. Usually if you put enough laquer on you can use 1200-1600 (I use superfine 1600 ) grit wet & dry to remove the over spray & any orange peel then G3 to remove all the sanding scuffs then polish to a high gloss. I used to use 3M polish then autoglym polish. If you've put a thick enough coat on (both laquer & top coat) you should be alright but if you haven't be very carefull not to take the paint back off.

[buckers]

Buckers so I guess you see no need for rubbing compound either . I might give another crack at using the rubbing compound on the overspray but with more water, I'm sure it can't be as harsh as 1200 grit paper! Right??

Well TBH, my understanding is that it's all a rubbing compound, it's just the abrasiveness that varies. Even the wet and dry, albeit stuck onto a substrate.

The polishes (or whatever each manufacturer deems to call them), should be used in the correct order, and also to suit different problems, like swirls, deep cuts, etc, but as long as you work progressively finer with whatever make you choose, you should get there. Might make your elbow ache tho'
HTH

[LaurenceGough]

AutoGlym Super Resin Polish IS THE DOG'S DANGILY BITS!!!

It works bloody awesome!

I first used more rubbing compound, but with these proper polishing clothes I got it worked a bit better, still didn't do much other than take the gloss off. Next up I used some standard T-Cut, again didn't seem to do too much but was less course than the rubbing compound.

Then I tried out the AutoGlym, after some polishing you could feel and see the results straight away, this stuff is amazing! In areas where the clearcoat was already nice it left a mirror finish and smoother than silk. Although as to be expected any reasonable chips and low spots it did not fill really at all which my canopy seems to have gathered already .

I took some close up pictures but they didn't really come out very well.