Polishing paint and polishing chrome

[grilla]

If I can get even half the shine of Cube's cars I'll be a happy man. However, I listened to the whole song, and as enjoyable as it was he has little in the way of tips regarding the effect of metal and paint polishing compounds on decals. I expected more of him to be frank, no wonder NWA ditched him.

Hahaha excellent post!

Not sure if it will, try a tiny little bit in a hidden area?

Sadly all of the decals are in highly visible areas, the frame is Italian, and therefore a tad shouty in terms of who it's made by and what it's made from. Oh to have a decal tucked away inside the bb shell...

 

[unkleGsif]

As an aside, is there anything more tedious than, a, watching instructional autoglym polishing videos on the internet, and then b, comparing prices of said polishing product on ebay and other online retailers?

Yep, reading the rantings of keyboard warriors with an axe to grind on most internet forums
But thats a completely different subject, and easily avoided

G

 

[grilla]

As an aside, is there anything more tedious than, a, watching instructional autoglym polishing videos on the internet, and then b, comparing prices of said polishing product on ebay and other online retailers?

Yep, reading the rantings of keyboard warriors with an axe to grind on most internet forums
But thats a completely different subject, and easily avoided

G

All sounding very familiar

 

[silverclaws]

i would be careful of autosol on the paint - it is pretty abrasive.

OK, I'll see how it goes. I hadn't thought it would be that abrasive myself! I'll go carefully at the joins between chrome and paint.

Silverclaws - from your description of the two different kinds of polish it sounds like the autoglym fits more into the "akin to wax" category, what with a name like "super resin wax polish"...

Do you have any expert tips, do you build it up in coats of polishing, or just do it all in one go? Also, from your experience is the polish likely to damage the likes of old columbus frame stickers?

Cheers

I understand the problem with any finish is that it I under constant attack from the environment, so measures may be necessary to prevent or at least slow down that attack, but one thing that is particular to items that go outside, is UV from the sun, which ages well, everything including us. So if seeking a product, look for UV protection, as to how effective that protection is, is debatable, but if good products are within the budget, try a vehicle detailing website, as they tend to know what the best stuff is, but a name I gleaned from a US website was Meguiars as a reliable and highly thought of product, but as to cost, no idea, as I don't need that level of finishing and furthermore can not be bothered with that level of maintenance of the finish.

Oh and spraying paintwork with GT85 and buffing gives a nice shine.

 

[firedfromthecircus]

DON'T look at a car detailing website, whatever you do.
If you have the slightest penchant for keeping paintwork shiny then car detailing websites are very dangerous places. Many thousands of pounds (seriously) can be lost to detailing products. :cry:

To answer your question though, the SRP will not hurt the chrome, but as lewis said, keep the autosol off the paint, and especially the decals.
A line of masking tape around the edge of the paint at the top of the chrome will make it easier to keep it off the paint. Do the chrome first and then the paint. It won't matter if you overlap on the chrome. In fact, if you are using SRP then it won't be a bad thing at all to do the chrome as well after polishing with autosol.
SRP is a very mildly abrasive polish and protectant in one. Actually a pretty good product considering it can be bought in every Halfords in the land.
Remember to use a good microfibre cloth for the buffing, and most importantly, show us the photos.

 

[grilla]

DON'T look at a car detailing website, whatever you do.
If you have the slightest penchant for keeping paintwork shiny then car detailing websites are very dangerous places. Many thousands of pounds (seriously) can be lost to detailing products. :cry:

To answer your question though, the SRP will not hurt the chrome, but as lewis said, keep the autosol off the paint, and especially the decals.
A line of masking tape around the edge of the paint at the top of the chrome will make it easier to keep it off the paint. Do the chrome first and then the paint. It won't matter if you overlap on the chrome. In fact, if you are using SRP then it won't be a bad thing at all to do the chrome as well after polishing with autosol.
SRP is a very mildly abrasive polish and protectant in one. Actually a pretty good product considering it can be bought in every Halfords in the land.
Remember to use a good microfibre cloth for the buffing, and most importantly, show us the photos.

Great, thanks for all the advice, and everyone else too. It might be a while, as I'm pretty busy over the next month, but I'm slowly preparing everything in order to get the bike built and ready for some serious miles over summer. I have a list taped to my wall, of things to do, things to source etc., and slowly slowly things are getting crossed off!

Do you think, once polished, and new decals have been applied I should bother with a clear coat for further protection, or just leave it as is?

 

[gregs656]

The thing to remember about polishing is that it is hard work, if you're finding it easy then you're not doing it properly. Work hard when you buff it up and remove it also, the harder you work, the better the finish will be.

I personally wouldn't use super resin wax polish (or what ever the order is) to polish the frame initially, it's not going to cut through the years (presumably) of grime and crap on the paint very quickly. Something like t-cut (or any proper polish) is a better bet, then use the super resin stuff at the end over all of it.

That is just my opinion, YMMV.

 

[grilla]

This is proving to not be so clear cut, pardon the pun. Some people say t cut is good, some people don't. :?

The paint itself is ok, a little dull but not to the point that I think it needs something like t cut. I was rather hoping the wax/polish/buff would be enough, perhaps I'll test a bit when it arrives (it is currently working its way to me via Royal Mail) and report back here.

 

[grilla]

This is proving to not be so clear cut, pardon the pun. Some people say t cut is good, some people don't. :?

The paint itself is ok, a little dull but not to the point that I think it needs something like t cut. I was rather hoping the wax/polish/buff would be enough, perhaps I'll test a bit when it arrives (it is currently working its way to me via Royal Mail) and report back here.

 

[gregs656]

I say t cut because it is easily available, but they do charge a premium for the name. I think you will see results with the resin polish but it would be an awful lot quicker with something a bit more abrasive. Have a look in halfords and see if they have a thicker polish for sale at a sensible price.

I worked at a valeter for 3 years, and used a whole lot of different polishes and cutting compounds.