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Funny thing I've noticed is that when I've used rustoleum in spray cans, and even when I mixed some spray together in my refillable spray can, the paint has dried VERY hard in a matter of days or a week. I can't leave indentations in it with my fingernails like I can with the rolled on stuff.

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The carrier in the spray paint is much more evaporative then the carrier in the paints which we use. So that and the thickness of the layers we 'roll on' go a long way towards the longer curing time needed as compared to the spray bombs.

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The strange thing is that I am spraying on THICK layers, and they seem to dry hard much faster than the rolled stuff.

I have used actual rattle can material (safety red in a rustoleum rattlecan), sprayed it on so it colored completely in one coat, and in a few weeks it was as tough as nails.

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Just for kicks, I'm getting some new terry cloths and I'm going to try buffing using spirits. One kind for the buffer and one kind for the operator
I'll post my results at a later date.

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Errrmm... please ensure that your home owner insurance and car insurance are paid up...

I am getting this dark vision of the vapors from your mineral spirit soaked rag igniting from the sparks being generated by your buffer.

You have to remember that the electric engine in a buffer is not specifically designed to be operating around combustible vapors

In fact some of the electric paint sprayers that 'were' on the market had to be re-called, discontinued or re-engineered because they were catching on fire when a highly combustible liquid was used in them...

Just thought I would offer that warning...

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But like the roller process, the key to the more successful spray bomb jobs is to begin with an excellent surface, take your time spraying layers and be fanatical and exercise great patience in the multiple wet sandings.

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Just remember that if you put lipstick on a pig... it is still just a pig.

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HMmmmm... Have you been sneaking out and looking at my truck? LOL

I had the very same thought re: the vapor flash point, and I don't plan to use thinners to wet the buffer, as such. I'll mix the compound with a small amount and apply the paste to the cloth pad.
that should keep things a little less explosive, and I'm going to be working outdoors in an open industrial yard, so any fireworks should be for display purposes only

Thanks for the caution, though, it's something for us all to keep in mind when using the flammable mixtures involved in this process. Sometimes the strangest items can become an ignition source and all paints, thinners, etc. create vapors that can and do explode without any warning.

I wonder if I have time to learn smoke signals?

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Marq, do you know what polish product/method you'll be using to shine everything up? I don't think I'll be able to skip wetsand on final coat. I get too many goobers in my paint, despite painstaking measures to keep paint, surface, applicators, floor and air clean.

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I still have not made a firm decision on how I will go about the polish and waxing. I have never done it before and I am looking at three alternatives...

a) it turns out that one of my nephews use to work in a detailing shop that serviced a limousine company. He has the tools and the knowledge... But if I let him do it and he screws up I would probably kick myself in the butt

b)I even thought about sending the car over to an excellent detailing shop that is just a few blocks away from here. But the problem with that idea is that unlike a 'normal' car coming in for a polishing and waxing ( which might only take two hours ), this job might take five or six hours. They may charge me up the ying yang...

c) the leading contender at the moment is to buy my own polishing machine and do it myself. From everything that I have read elsewhere regarding the polishing of polyurathane.. the process is the very same as the one being used to polish and wax the Tremclad/Rustoleum paint job. The benefit to doing it myself is that I would be able to keep the polisher and then use it on the Cobra and the Roadmaster after

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Camron,

I am in the same boat you are.

I am using brightside black (after an attempt with some orange paint I didnt like the color of). I, too, am working outside and there is no way a final coat will look good by itself. Way too much dust and bugs in the air. I have also sanded it, mostly with 1000, down to a pretty uniform dark satiny grey color. I will try polishing it next to see what I can come up with.

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When I rinse off the trunk with water after wetsanding, it looks absolutely sick! super shiny and reflective, as good as any factory paint job, a few small ripples but no orange peel. Im just hoping i can get that effect by polishing enough.

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That is what I should expect if I can polish it absolutely smooth, correct?

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I think Marq had considered skipping final wetsand and going straight to polish, but I believe I still have too many faint brush marks to pull this off. I'd like to be able to skip as much wetsanding as possible, but I'm just not going to cut corners with my elbow grease!

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No. At the moment I am driving the car around with its final coat of paint sitting on it. When I gear up to do the polishing and waxing chore I will probably do a double wet sanding... hit it once with a 1000 grit and the do it all again using a 2000 grit wet sand.

I will then wash the car down completely with a bucket of warm water and a dash of detergent to get any trace of wet sanding slurry of the car.

Then it will be a full rinse down with the hose to hopefully leave the body in a squeeky clean state.

I will then leave the car alone and untouched in the garage for a few days to let any newly exposed paint cure fully ( just in case the wet sanding exposed any uncured paint ).

When I am about ready to commence the polishing stage I will wipe down the entire body with a couple of fresh 'tack' cloths... to pick up any dust, bugs, hair, lint, dandruff etc that may have landed on the car since the washdown.

I'll be using the 'el cheapo' Turtle wax polish. Which we are lead to understand will be the equivalent of doing a 3000 grit wet sanding. The furniture guys oddly enough also recommend the 'el cheapo' Turtle wax polish for the big rub down... for polyurathanes. But I am also leaning strongly to the 3M Finesse It II product as the guys who have been using it on polyurathane have been getting outstanding results. ( More about that in one of the following messages ).

If Charger's calculations are correct I should be polishing for quite a few hours This is also confirmed by the furniture restoration guys who are more familiar with the polyurathane paint finishes and what it takes to creat a mirror finish on furniture.

For the waxing stage... the furniture resto guys all seem pretty sold on using a 'straight' carnuba wax. They also seem pretty much in agreement to not use a combined wax and polish for the final shining effort.

At this point it looks like I will probably be doing the polishing and shining myself. If I end up screwing things up... I will only have my lack of talent to blame But I think things will work out well as long as I take my time and don't try to rush the polishing and wax stage.

So that is the game plan so far... and it will probably go down on Saturday, Aug 19th. Pictures will be available at the end of the process...

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This may be a bit of encourgement for those approaching the buffing stage.
This was polished with Turtle Wax compound and an El-Cheapo Turtle Wax random orbit 10" polisher.
I left half the hood unpolished to show the difference between the polished and unpolished sections.
Even with my less than perfect body and prep work, things are looking good.
Sorry about the dark pic, but my camera bites indoors.

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that's looking good there shows what a differnece polishing does. polishing with spirits will do squat, there are no abrasives in spirits, in the turtle wax polishing compound is about the equivilent of a 3000+ grit sand paper, and the tutrle wax rubbing coumpound is about a 1000grit, and way too harsh. but you could use the rubbing coumpound first, then go to the polishing coumpound, i just found wetsanding eaiser.

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polishing with spirits will do squat

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It really depends on how much you consume

Actually, I was blending the paste compound with mineral spirits to try to alleviate the white haze as mentioned by Exit1965. I had thought that water being forced into the open wetsanded surface might be the cause, because I got the same haze in spots. Didn't make any difference, though.
I did find that polishing in stages seemed to help, buff the entire section, then wash, chamois dry and repeat.
I also found applying water to the surface rather than to the bonnet during polishing easier and faster.
The haze did disappear as polishing progressed, and for the last polish, I let the buffer run almost dry and then rubbed the residue off with paper towel. No haze afterward.
I love this process, even if it is a bit of work. My labor is free, and I can go back over the body and smooth things out in the future, then just blend in new paint or recoat an entire panel as I go.
I'm impressed, especially by anything Free!