Buffing edges, reveals and difficult areas

64Rivi

64Rivi

Promoted Users
How do you guys go about buffing small and complex areas?

I'm working through the color sanding of my Riviera but trying to figure out how to buff some of the finer details which the body has a lot of. Multiple hard edges that converge on others along with narrow reveals, small concave and convex curves as well as small reveals between two surfaces.

I plan on doing the majority of the buffing with a 6-inch wool pad on a rotary but these small areas have me both nervous and perplexed on how to attack them without burning through one surface or the other side of compound surfaces.

Here's some pictures of what i'm up against. Thanks in advance for your help.

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Anything hard to buff or high risk I only sanded with 2000 and then 2500. From there it was buffed. You wont get it wave free doing this but it cleans up most of the orange peel and trash with minimal risk if your smart about things.

I used smaller 3 to 4 inch pads as well, usually on my full size buffer. On occasion I used a drill with a chuck attachment for really difficult areas.

I did my tailgate last weekend with these methods, not perfect, but it cleans it up alot.

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Guys, thank you very much for the input! That helps out a lot!

I didn't think to guard the surfaces with tape outside the hard edges. The reveals like you see on the hood where it's only about 1/2 an inch of flat surface rising from the hood to the upper edge had me scratching my head. I'm now thinking a strip of tape on the hood surface along with one on the edge along with a 3-inch buff.

And the 3-inch pad on the full size buffer.....genius. I never even thought of that.....duh!:p
 
I try to lay the clear down extra slick in those tough to buff areas. Something I learned here from Shine I believe it was.
Use a 3" buff from time to time but it's pneumatic and the speed hard to control so it can be risky.
 
And don't forget, sometimes you can do a small area easier by hand.
Just sand it as fine as possible first to make it easier, like 3000 grit minimum.
 
Thank you very much, Jim. That advise was profound in it's simplicity...

I think it's easy to get caught up in new tools and methods that we sometimes forget about the way it used to be done.....or the obvious.;)
 
Hi Mission.
I was actually surprised with how much I could get done with the 6-inch pad and being careful/ mindful of how I was using it along with very little pressure (just the weight of the machine....at most).

Tilting the pad and making sure to run it off the edge (as opposed to into the edge) on reveals worked like a charm. There was a fair amount of small detail areas on this car that needed special attention. As Sprint9 suggested, I used a 2-inch aluminum extension on my full size buffer with both 2-inch and 3-inch foam pads. worked like a charm and there wasn't any area's that I could not get to (or risk burning). Just be careful on those edges! You can see some of the surfaces here in the restoration thread for the Rivi:

1964 Buick Riviera

Incredible work here. Nice, straight, long, black panels. My next project might be black and I'm mentally preparing myself to spend about twice as much time on the bodywork as I did on my blue C10.
www.spiuserforum.com
 
64Rivi said:
Hi Mission.
I was actually surprised with how much I could get done with the 6-inch pad and being careful/ mindful of how I was using it along with very little pressure (just the weight of the machine....at most).

Tilting the pad and making sure to run it off the edge (as opposed to into the edge) on reveals worked like a charm. There was a fair amount of small detail areas on this car that needed special attention. As Sprint9 suggested, I used a 2-inch aluminum extension on my full size buffer with both 2-inch and 3-inch foam pads. worked like a charm and there wasn't any area's that I could not get to (or risk burning). Just be careful on those edges! You can see some of the surfaces here in the restoration thread for the Rivi:

1964 Buick Riviera

Incredible work here. Nice, straight, long, black panels. My next project might be black and I'm mentally preparing myself to spend about twice as much time on the bodywork as I did on my blue C10.
www.spiuserforum.com
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what grit did you start and finish with in these areas. I have some areas as well that I'll be tackling
 
I have the m12 Milwaukee as well. Or you can get electric polishers with 3” pads. I believe griots, flex, etc all make them. You even got polishers like rupes ibrid nano that have 1 & 2 inch pads and can be used for sanding as well as polishing. Flex and Adam’s mike similar machines.
 
I have a milwaukee pistol grip polisher that works great
Whitesnake said:
I have the m12 Milwaukee as well. Or you can get electric polishers with 3” pads. I believe griots, flex, etc all make them. You even got polishers like rupes ibrid nano that have 1 & 2 inch pads and can be used for sanding as well as polishing. Flex and Adam’s mike similar machines.
Click to expand...
I really like my m12. Little pricey, but works great for dash, firewall tight spots, and 3m sells a blue pad that fits for their ultrafina swirl remover
 
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A silver sharpie marker on dark paint will work as guide coat on edges to show you when you've sanded enough to get the texture out. It will possibly swell really fresh paint- do a test to make sure the paint is cured enough. Do your initial cut with 600/1000 or whatever you start with, watch the sharpie marks and stop as soon as the marks are gone, then switch to white Mirka dry guide coat to work up to at least 2500 grit. It's better to go up to 3-5k on tough areas so you don't have to buff as aggressively. It's easier to control where and how much you're sanding vs controlling how much the buffing pad is cutting unless you have a really precise way to buff.

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