opdsgt

After FUBAR'ing my clear coat doing Wheeler Lake trail a couple weeks back (the Willows hang over on both sides of an already tight, narrow trail), I came home, got the JK cleaned up, and endeavored to make my paint right again.

Four hours. Four progressively finer polishing compounds followed by sealant. My paint has never looked better. All the scratches are long gone. No more orange peel either. Unless you spotted the rock rash on the wheels, bumper and undercarriage, you would never know I actually hit real trails in this Jeep!

Anyone else got shiny black paint they want to show off? I still hate myself for buying another black vehicle, but right now I'm feeling pretty good... do you guys find the effort involved worth it?









Note: If you notice what looks like a scratch near the passenger side windshield bumper on the hood, it’s not a scratch. The paint has actually cracked right through to the primer! It’s more prominent now than before, as is its twin in the same spot on the opposite side of the “bonnet.” I’ll lobby the dealership for a new hood under warranty.

mkjeep

Damn, that looks good, what componds did you use. I have some bad one's on my doors.

rubious

great job!! it does look better than factory. do u have any before pictures? i have a black rubi and the paint looks like hell. what compounds did u use?

also correct me if i'm wrong. i have heard that you can only buff a car so many times before you have to repaint it? is that true?

DeepSky

Holy shit dude...that looks amazing. Details?

opdsgt

Thanks MK.

menzernausa 'dot' com

mkjeep

Damn, in business since 1888, I didn't know people polished crap back then. They must know their stuff.

edwin907

What type of polisher id you use?
I've got one of those PC random orbital jobs that has always worked very well for me.

My Jeep is silver, but here's my last black car. Used to get people asking me wher I got it painted all the time.

opdsgt

rubious, Deepsky, thank you both. rubious, sorry, marred paint was about the only thing I didn't document in photos.

h++p://flatlanderjeep.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/wear-and-tear/

Honestly, I can't say how many times you can do something like this before getting too deep into the paint. I had a friend who has been fanatical about the black paint on his Infinity loan me the product array and told me what steps to apply them in (and with what pads). He took a look at the Jeep afterward and declared the finish thick enough we could continue to work the JK's surface in this way several more times.

The polishing steps and products went like this (all Menzerna product):

1. Super Intensive Polish #PO83 w/ orange pad
2. Second full application of #PO83 w/ emphasis on doors and rear sheet metal above the fender flares
3. Super Finish #PO106FA w/white pad
4. Micro Polish #PO87MC w/ black pad
5. Acrylic Jacket #FMJ w/blue pad

The results speak for themselves. While this line of product isn't cheap, I think it would be worth the investment. The only other thing worth mentioning is, you need a pretty big air compressor to run the wheel.

opdsgt

mk, the company is German actually.

edwin, it was an Ingersoll Rand buffer, I'm not sure which model. I borrowed it.

Edit: edwin, that's a sweet GLI.

Joe Lightfoot

WOW Great job, looks like you took your time and did it right. I like how you taped all the plastic off. I hate when people wax there jeeps and get wax all over the plastic.