Heres a typical freshly...
Heres a typical freshly painted panel. You can see that the reflection is diffused due to the slight orange peel. This surface will become smooth and highly reflective by the end of the color-sanding process.
Serafin starts with a clean...
Serafin starts with a clean car, 1000-grit sandpaper, and a squirt bottle filled with clean water. Using the bottle to keep the paper wet, he sands in a linear motion (thats back and forth, not round and round) only until he cuts the orange peel down to a smooth surface. Be sure and keep it plenty wet so the paper doesnt clog up. He uses light pressure and lets the sandpaper do the cutting. An easy way to verify that youve gotten all of the orange peel is to rinse and dry the panel. Youll see shiny spots if you havent sanded enough. Once hes got it smooth, he lightly wet-sands it again with 1500-grit.
Once the surface is sanded...
Once the surface is sanded free of orange peel, Serafin uses 1/4-inch masking tape to tape up all of the edges of body contours to avoid burning through them with the buffer. He buffs the low areas, peels the tape, and then gently hits the high spots.
Serafin uses 3M Perfect-It...
Serafin uses 3M Perfect-It II Rubbing Compound with a wool pad for the cutting operation. He uses a moderate amount of rubbing compound, sets his buffer to about 900 rpm and uses light pressure, keeping the head moving constantly. He says if you stop in one spot, use too much pressure or go too slowly, you run the risk of heating up the paint and actually melting it. Needless to say, this will ruin the paint. This step mostly removes the tiny scratches left behind by the sandpaper.
Once he has the entire car...
Once he has the entire car cut with the wool pad, he switches to his foam pad and uses the same rubbing compound to go over the car again. He typically works the car over in a back-and-forth pattern, concentrating on sections that are about a foot square. The foam pad has a smoother surface and actually polishes the surface, further removing any signs of sanding.
After completing his trip...
After completing his trip around the car with the foam pad and rubbing compound, Serafin switches compounds to 3M Perfect-It Foam Polishing Pad Glaze. The glaze is a finer-grade compound that polishes the surface to a mirror finish. Again, he only uses light pressure, just sort of floating the pad across the surface and letting the pad and compound do the work.
With the sanding, buffing,...
With the sanding, buffing, and polishing steps completed, Serafin rewashes and dries the car, then hand-applies a coat of CoachWax Mark V car wax, lets it dry for a few minutes, then hand-buffs with a clean, soft cotton towel. Look closely in the reflection of the paint finishyou can see that his shoes are properly tied. Hows that for glossy?
Its the final touch after painting your car and its something that can change peoples comments from nice to wow. Color-sanding doesnt have to be magic only performed by swamis and genies, though. With some patience and practice you can make your car stand out with the mirror finish you think it deserves.
We caught up with Serafin Patino from Serafinish Custom Auto Detail at Santinis Auto Body. Pete Santini is known for his outstanding custom paint work and trusts Serafin to color-sand and detail just about every car from the Santini spray booth. He was working on Bob Townsends Deuce roadster, so we bellied up for a look-see.
With todays enviro-sensitive materials, there arent many painters who can flow a flawless finish right out of the gun, so to get that mirror finish, color-sanding is essential. Serafin usually waits a full week after a car is shot before hell begin the polishing process. This gives the paint ample time to gas off, catalyze, and harden all the way through the finish to its primer base. If its cold you might want to wait even longer. Townsends roadster was shot with single-stage paint, but this technique can be used with two-stage systems as well. Youll just be polishing the clear instead of the painted layer.