Uh...yeah...it's the polish / wax that keeps it shiny...
Paint will always oxidize.
Polish / wax will prevent / minimize the oxidizing of the paint too.


-Ted

That's some ghetto fabulous shit.

Looks great!

Most people don't realise that the proper bodywork applies no matter what paint you ultimately chose and is going to be 90% of the work. And that any paint can be made to look brilliant with a bit of wet standing, a nice clear and a polish.

To the original poster:

If you don't care about orange-peel or surface imperfections, I would DEFINITELY wet-sand your car with 2000 grit paper, and then rent/borrow a high-speed (rotary) polishing tool. Buy two circular foam pads, meant for use with your tool. One a "cutting" pad, and the other a "polishing" pad. Buy some heavy "cutting" compound--Maguiers or 3M, and then some polishing/swirl-removing compound.

Wetsand with 2000, wash and dry the car and then use the foam cutting pad, and heavy compound and just buff/cut one section of a panel at a time. After you're done with (for example) a fender, come back and wipe off all of the excess compound. It's best to not use too much compound, because it can start to make a mess and soil your cleaning rags pretty quickly (and get in every crack). Do the entire car with the heavy compound and finish with the swirl-removing compound. Use different rags/towels to wipe off the swirl/polish compound.

Your car will look 100x better. I'm surprised at how few people actually know how easy it is to restore paint (or dramatically improve $30 paint-jobs :p:).

This is one of my RX-7's that had CRAPPY, spider-webbed, scratched, dull and neglected stock paint when I got it... WISH I had before pics to show you. Anyways, one Saturday and $70 for supplies got me an AWESOME finish:

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...n/DSCN1778.jpg

My daily-driver after a cut and buff, with previously oxidized, 22 year old paint OEM paint:

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...n/DSC06990.jpg

Old TII when I got it--with generic rattle-can flat-black:

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...iksseven/1.jpg

After a 2000grit WET-SANDED, $80 Krylon semi-flat job:

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...blelowered.jpg

My point is: AFTER painting is just as important as the painting itself. You won't regret "finishing" it. :bigthumb:

Very Nice Alex!!!! I wanted to see how it turned out. I wish I was there to help out though. -.-

Things just kept turning up. It looks amazing though!!!!!

Don't do it to your FD though.......

this past summer i rolled my car with a poly based boat paint. it was during my time off from work due to a major surgery. so i wasnt exactly feeling up to par. it was WAY harder than i anticipated. all that sanding!! i got in a rush and mine orange peeled. the front bumper was coming out perfect, but i wanted the car to match so i laid the paint on a little thicker the next coat. all i wanted was a matching car, that looked good 15 feet away, and didnt have such a nice job id be so worried about. plus i wanted to try out this method.

after it was all said and done, i wouldnt do it again. too much damn work!! i even cut mine short. i agree whole heartedly with the post above about the work after the paint. my next economical paint job will be with an air compressor, but i will still use the boat paint.

look through that thread linked above, youll be BLWON AWAY at some of the pictures out how it comes out.

My paint had all the same problems as eriksseven, and missing clearcoat in some areas. I clayed it and applied some Zaino polish. No rubbing compound at all. Looks like new now, or better. People ask me where I got my paint job. The clay made the dull paint smooth again, the Zaino (Z-5) completely hid the billion swirl marks and shined it up. Even the areas w/o clearcoat are shiny. You have to look at the clear/non-clear side by side to tell. I don't think I ever had oxidation, but then again it is white paint. Still haven't gotten around to uploading my pics.

That was my wallpaper for like 2 weeks :D

^I love the look of that car those s5 lights look good. I cant wait to have my 2nd gen done having a guy paint mine the expensive way but it is a 10th ae.

I'm sure that Zaino stuff (or whatever) is what helped your paint. Clay-bars are basically worthless compared to a high-speed//machine polishing tool with good pads and compound. There's just no comparison.

Haha, the only reason I say this is because I have friends who insist on "claying" their cars on a semi-consistent basis and it does nowhere near what a machine-polish can do, BUT it takes almost as long... :D

ericsseven i want you to paint my car! :icon_tup:

Haha, I've actually been doing that a lot recently. Working on painting another members car as we speak... Just bought all the final supplies today. :)

Your car looks "murdered out"... all matte black like Rob's Truck..

Check out a couple of my paint adventures.

Color sand, buff and put like 4 coats of clear and you'll have a great OEM quality finish IMO.

Still looks good anyway, good job.

No way will that be OEM quality finish... Depending on how many coats of paint he did I would venture to bet he will cut through the paint when he sands.

The power of rattle can!
I was thinking for my up and coming paint job 'Flourencent Yellow' caution paint, OH YEAH!

...Or pink
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g5...0741060vm5.gif

glossy polished rustoleum is indeed nowhere near as glossy as an oem original paint job.

What paint did you use? That looks AMAZING!

LOL is that a compliment?
this is going in the record book for sure.:lol2:

And I'm not suprised at how many people think its that easy to restore paint. Take a closer look under some 1000 watt halogens or direct sunlight and you'll probably notice all the holograms and trails in your paint.

Zaino Z5 is a chemical based cleaner that contains no abrasives, only fillers. In short, you're only filling in your paints swirl marks and imperfections. After a few washes you'll be back to where you started.

Claying is a necessary step in full paint restoration. It is a fine abrasive that can clean bonded contaminants off and prepare the paint for polishing. I don't know about you, but I sure don't like polishing paint that hasn't been clayed and has baked on brake dust and overspray on it, to name a few; it all just ends up on your pads and ruining them.

Does anyone know what it takes to maintain that matte 30$ paint job after a polish/buff? Would you need to consistently wax it?

Ahh... Not really. I'm no "seasoned-veteran", but I am meticulous. Then again, I don't have a habit of setting up "1000 watt halogens" just to "take a closer look"... All of my restoration-jobs have been either for me, or for close personal friends. That being said, all of my sand/cut/polish/wax, sand/cut/polish, cut/polish, pure-polish and/or polish/wax jobs look excellent in direct sunlight and/or harsh-fluorescents.

It's obvious that you do this as a profession, or have a much higher standard than I... Clay-bars have been useless to me, and I've never been able to notice remaining "bonded-contaminants" after a good polish. Then again, perhaps my pads are wearing 2% faster... I'll probably never know because I don't check those under 1000 watt halogens either.

Understand this; my opinions in this thread are tailored to a person asking for input on his $30 paint-job... Someone recommended a clay-bar for restoring "dull" paint, and I know FULL WELL that rubbing a 'wet bar of clay' on a generic "dull surface", or a $30 rattle-can surface will do nothing.

This is another one of my examples (restorative polish only):

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...D/DSC06779.jpg

Don't get me wrong, I spoke incorrectly when I said doing this is "easy"... It's not. Then again, the results (in my case) have easily justified the means. All that's necessary to achieve a good result is basic equipment, good compounds, patience and aptitude.

To the OP. You are the "Krylon King" ( well maybe the Rustoleum king) LOL. look good.

I'm glad most people like it. I was expecting more mixed feelings.

Wow. That looks really good.

I'll have to give it a try when i find the time.

Very nice. Cant beat that paintjob for the price