Polishing Questions for the Gurus'.

[surf'n safari]

I have a 62' Safari in need of Polishing. I've spent countless hours removing clearcoat and compounding/ polishing with Nuvite G,F,C,S with a slow speed Dewalt drill. I've made great progress with the help of this forum, however I have "miles and miles to go". I must say that I'm not one to take short-cuts, but I believe in working smart. I read every post regarding polishing. There is great knowlege here, however I always leads to the same technique...slow speed polishing with courser grades of Nuvite (or comparible polish), then cyclo with finer grades. Getting to my question...Has anyone tried sisal buff with black or brown rouge bar? Then cyclo with C and S? I've been looking outside this website and confirmed some professional detailer use this technique with airplanes. Any thoughts or experiences?

[InsideOut]

...we have polished our '64!

The Alclad layer of purer aluminum on an Airstream is very thin. I would be concerned with going through the Alclad and exposing the stronger, less pure aluminum underneath using polishing compounds and pads that are too coarse. The result is that the underlayer of aluminum is a 'greyer' color than the Alclad which is very 'white'. The two materials will oxidze at different rates leaving a splotchy finish that unless you are prepared to remove the Alclad everywhere, it will be noticeable.

We have a 2"x2" area on one small door panel that we actually went through the Alclad trying to get out a deep scratch...it doesn't photo well, but you can see it in person. It looks like it's still oxidized or dirty looking, which is how it's so easy to think you need to polish it more which actually makes it worse. We plan on replacing that door someday...

Shari

[Creampuff]

Originally Posted by surf'n safari

.Has anyone tried sisal buff with black or brown rouge bar? Then cyclo with C and S? I've been looking outside this website and confirmed some professional detailer use this technique with airplanes. Any thoughts or experiences?

Yes and it works pretty well- main thing is have a good "spur' to clean your buffs as when they 'cake up' you'll get instant compounding scratches that are hard to polish out. I compounded most of my last trailer like that and it's cheap, effective and not too dirty. Wear a dust mask as the lint gets you. The brown rouge works good and I think the white second with a finer buff. Then do your Nuvite 'S'.