If you go shopping for rubbing compound, I am assuming that you plan to
use an electric or air polishing tool, and not your hand to do the entire
car. Doing it by hand may yeild fore-arms like Popeye's with all of the
acreage on your Imperial. It is much more precise, but the machine is
what the pro's use....
With some practice (start on somone's old "not-Imperial" car first), you
can acheive specatcular results. I recently went shopping for cutting
glaze (rougher) and polishing glaze (finer, second stage). I was
immediately drawn like a moth to the cans of IMPERIAL polish, but was
scolded by the clerk.
The IMPERIAL formula is an older concoction and has particulate that
donesn't break down, hence it is less desireable, especially if you're not
making a living with a polisher.
I was directed to the Perfect IT III glaze that Kerry mentioned. When
used with a machine, it slowly breaks down as it is swirled around between
the pad and your paint, using a decreasing size polishing particle. I was
explicitly instructed to do an area at a time, and to apply new goo when I
moved to the next area, and it worked wonderfully. Please be aware that
the 3M Hookit polishing pads come in White for cutting and Grey for
polishing, and are designed to be a system that works with the Perfect-It
III glazes to do what you need to do.
Remember: practice on a clunker. It's easy to make mistakes, and they're
better on a car that will look better with the mistakes and a shine than
it did with a dull paint job. Your neighbors will love you.
Careful on those edges. Spin the pad off the edge, and not onto it, just
like with the sander.
Good luck!
=====
Kenyon Wills
6o LeBaron - America's Most Carefully Built Car
73 LeBaron - Long Low & Luxurious
San Lorenzo/SF Bay Area
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
http://shopping.yahoo.com
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network