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Dave, where can I get this Diamond Cut stuff?

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Another picture

Somebody could tell me how to put my pictures in here?

Thanks

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I tried what GTSDave suggested, and the results are encouraging-



If you look close, you can see the reflection of the grinder case. In case it doesn't show well in the pic, there is a much nicer reflection on the right side. The right side was done with Meguiars swirl remover 2.0 then the #7 glaze polish. I used a marker to show the area, and the line was taped when I was doing the polishing so the sides were totally separate. I started applying the swirl remover with my polisher, but then the !@#$* foam bonnet came off, and it was a pain to get it partially on anyways, so I did the whole area again by hand a couple times.

The left side I treated with only the #7 glaze, so the difference is the swirl remover.

Staring into it, I can see my mug staring back now, which I couldn't on the microscratchy side. I bet it would be even better if I had used the machine the whole time or used a more aggressive scratch remover like Dave did. I will do it again when I've got the bonnet all the way on. It does look like most of the swirl marks are gone now, but there are other tiny imperfections..not sure what from, probably there all along.

If it's sunny tomorrow I'll haul it into the sun for some pictures compared to the left side.

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Nice dude, that looks nice! Keep going

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I tried what GTSDave suggested, and the results are encouraging-
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If it's sunny tomorrow I'll haul it into the sun for some pictures compared to the left side.

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Exit1965,
Is that finish using Rustoleum and mineral spirits? Looks good. I'm still debating whether to try Penetrol or use mineral spirits.

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It's with mineral spirits. I don't know about Penetrol, it would be nice to see how well it holds up.

Im going to visit local Miracle auto body today to see the competition and how they do single stage metallics .. I'm kind of leaning towards a light silver metallic now, after seeing mmissle's macomb missle..
https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/upload2/2512587-100_0242.JPG

The missle isn't single stage, but

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keep in mind guys that basically all of you trying this method have no previous painting expirence, and you're pulling off good results. painting takes years to learn, and for $50, a respectable paint job is awesome. there's a learning curve, but the only way to learn is to do it, once you have it down pat, and know all the tricks, then you'll find it is really a easy process, there is no other way to paint your car for less with these results, even a rattle can paint job will cost more, plus it's a clean process, and you can take your time.

EXIT1965- regarding the buffing, the turtle wax polishing compound has a grit rating as i mentioned before of 2500+ grit. that being said, that small test area would take me over 20mins to finish, perhapps you did'nt polish long enough. you can use the tutrle wax rubbing compound, which i think is about 1000 grit equivilent. but i found it too agressive using a electric polisher. i polished my charger for about a good solid day, probablly over 8hours, but it's easy work, you just stand there and let the polisher do the work. your test area is small, and i actually would find it eaiser to polish a larger area than a small test area like yours. you should try a whole trunk lid for example, i think you'll find it alot eaiser. the final result all depends on how good the prep is, prep is everything no matter how you actually paint the car.

as for the shine, i think it's also good to remember that these cars originally from the factory had paint simmilar to my results, it's only in the last 20yrs, that BC/CC paint came into play, and that "wet paint" look is what we're all comparing this technique to. i really actually perfer the warm enamel finish to a BC/CC job on a old car, but if i were to paint my 2002 Mustang GT for example, i'd definatly go the BC/CC route.

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Cool. that test area didn't take me more than 3 minutes to "polish", I guess I didnt spend enough time on it. My issue now is I should have used more than 180 on the final surface before starting, I'm seeing lots of scratches in there that I think are too big to be from the fine grit sandpaper during wetsanding.

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180 is way to harsh to prep with, i'd say 300-400 final prep at least. polishing is tricky, you can achieve fast results with a harsher or higher grit equivelant polish compound, or take your time and use a fine compound, the benifit to the finer compound (turtle wax polishing compound paste) is that there is virtually no way to burn or damage the paint with it even if you polish for hours, it only gets better, there are many polishing coumpounds available, i only reccommended the turtle wax polishing compound cause for a amature it's easy to get awesome results, and the chances of really screwing up are very slim. like painting, polishing and wetsanding is also a learned skill. i could have reccommended the 3M 3 step process compounds, but most likely, if you've never done it before you will really screw up. turtle wax polishing compound works really nice with a electric buffer and water, goes a long way, and is very cheap, and i found it to be the best polish compound for this job, i have a shelf full of 3M, mothers, meguires, ect....never use the stuff after i tried the turtle wax stuff. but if you know what your'e doing, use what your confortable with, just don't complain when you burn the paint!!!! lol keep in mind the paint is fresh when polishing, and cutting it with a harsh compound is not wise, sometimes the the cheapest is the best.....sometimes; we are all on a "budget" after all are'nt we????.