How many times can it be buffed

[keeotee]

I asked this question on Auto Geek and got a couple replies. I always appreciate every response to a question I pose, but I'm afraid I still need more - or hope for more anyway. And so I thought I would also post my question here.

Essentially I am asking if anyone knows how often a car can be buffed using the Porter Cable 7424XP with a light swirl remover and light cutting or polishing pad.

Surely there are those out there that have daily drivers and have had them for six, seven or more years and have the PC and have used it to buff their car.

I began thinking about this, and if one is to invest in a buffer, pads and product, if only to buff their car one time, then it seems a fair bit of money is to be spent with little return. But if one using the items I mentioned and can safely buff their car several times over the course of say seven to ten years, then the investment seems much more reasonable.

So in summary then, using the PC, light swirl remover and a light cutting or polishing pad, how often over the life of a car can it be buffed without removing so much clear coat that it fails?

[black bart]

How many times will depend on how thick the paint is and how aggressive the polish but you will be able to polish dozens of times.

Here is my 18 year old Explorer and it don't even have clear coat it is just single stage paint.

Don't look like the paint is shot yet does it.


http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Y8VYCVwelRU/Sw...plorer_9_5.JPG




http://lh5.ggpht.com/_Y8VYCVwelRU/Sv...Explorer_7.JPG

[mrclean81]

Jesus Bart, that's the cleanest older Explorer I've ever seen lol.

[keeotee]

Originally Posted by black bart

How many times will depend on how thick the paint is and how aggressive the polish but you will be able to polish dozens of times.

Here is my 18 year old Explorer and it don't even have clear coat it is just single stage paint.

Don't look like the paint is shot yet does it.


http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Y8VYCVwelRU/Sw...plorer_9_5.JPG



http://lh5.ggpht.com/_Y8VYCVwelRU/Sv...Explorer_7.JPG

First, thank you for your reply. This is helpful. Second, WOW. Your vehicle looks fantastic. I absolutely love to see old cars that have been taken care of and look so good as does yours. That is so cool!

Follow up question: Is single stage paint less durable than the clear coat? That seems implied from your comment that it is single stage and not clear coat.

[black bart]

Originally Posted by keeotee

First, thank you for your reply. This is helpful. Second, WOW. Your vehicle looks fantastic. I absolutely love to see old cars that have been taken care of and look so good as does yours. That is so cool!

Follow up question: Is single stage paint less durable than the clear coat? That seems implied from your comment that it is single stage and not clear coat.

Properly sprayed and polished single stage will look just as good as a base coat clear coat.

Only advantage to CC is if neglected it will last longer.

However a neglected SS that has oxidized can be polished back to perfection once a neglected CC starts to fail it is toast nothing but a repaint will help at that point.

Some of the cars from the teens and 20's still have original paint if you take care of it I prefer single stage over Clear Coat but for the average Joe Six Pack Clear Coat is better because it will not be properly cared for.

[black bart]

Originally Posted by mrclean81

Jesus Bart, that's the cleanest older Explorer I've ever seen lol.

Thank you sir I try to take care of it.

I keep it just as good mechanically as it is clean, I plan on driving it for many more years if I live that long.

At my age it will last longer than I will.

[G.T.Subie]

Originally Posted by mrclean81

Jesus Bart, that's the cleanest older Explorer I've ever seen lol.

That's exactly what i thought.
That doesn't have a clear coat?

[black bart]

Originally Posted by G.T.Subie

That's exactly what i thought.
That doesn't have a clear coat?

nope it is single stage paint

[G.T.Subie]

Looks pretty dam good

[black bart]

When you polish it the pads will turn Red and load up with paint pigment.
Since it is hard to clean out of my pads I bought some cheap 10 inch pads on E-Bay and polished it with a $15:00 wax spreader from Wal-Mart.

I think about that every time I read that it is impossible to do paint correction with one of those.

I do understand it is softer than clear coat but I think if you were patient enough it would remove a scratch from clear coat but I would not want to do the whole car but it is not bad on single stage actually works pretty good.

[mrclean81]

I done a full correction on a pink Freightliner a few months back and ruined almost ever pad I had on it. 6 wool pads, 3 or 4 polishing pads, even my app pads for wax were pink. It turned out amazing inside and out, took 60 hours total, and was the highest paying job to date. I personally love correcting SS paint.

[black bart]

Originally Posted by mrclean81

I done a full correction on a pink Freightliner a few months back and ruined almost ever pad I had on it. 6 wool pads, 3 or 4 polishing pads, even my app pads for wax were pink. It turned out amazing inside and out, took 60 hours total, and was the highest paying job to date. I personally love correcting SS paint.

As soon as I finished I threw my pads in a bucket of APC mixture and left them soak overnight and they came out looking pretty good just a slight red tint too them.

If I had the option when buying a new car I would prefer single stage paint it is so much easier to fix a deep scratch and easy to polish to awesome gloss.