BobbyG
New member
1999 Dodge Dakota SLT
I noticed some rust beginning to form on one of the body seams underneath my truck that needed attention before it became serious. I ground the area and treated the section with a rust inhibitor known by the trade name; Rust Mort.
Rust Mort is an acid based chemical designed to convert rust to a black or grayish, hard, insoluble, protective coating.
I prepped the area by washing with Klean Strep Prep-All then sanding making it ready for priming and painting. With everything papered and taped, I sprayed 2 coats of primer then 3 coats of color then clear.
My main goal was to repair and paint the area but due to it's lower location I didn't color sand before the clear went on. It did come out nice nevertheless BUT what I didn't realize was some of the overspray had deposited itself on the unprotected surfaces.
Does anyone remember me saying that overspray removal is unacceptable because it's an admission of a poor preparation, paper and tape? I am here to tell you that my paper and taping obviously fell short of what was required so now I had a mess to clean up..Fortunately, because I maintain the finish, simple claying easily removed the overspray but there was still a lot of work to compound and polish the panels..
Products & Equipment Used
Machines
Pads - Rotary
Polish
Cleaner
Getting started I wrapped the exposed areas of the truck to protect it and minimize any additional work due to splatter. I covered the rear wheel and tire for the same reason.
As you can see the fuel door and cap area were pretty bad so some Optimum Opti-Clean and a brush made short work of this mess.
Before
After
Clay & Overspray
I could feel a very light dryness indicative of a like overspray. Using Meguiar's clay and detail spray, took about 10 minutes of effort to remove all of the overspray on the bed side panel.
Compounding was easily accomplished with my Makita 9227, a Orange Lake Country Kompressor foam pad, and Menzerna Power Gloss POS34A
Polishing was straight forward with my Makita 9227, a White Lake Country Kompressor foam pad, and Menzerna Super Finish PO106 FA
Working each section with my rotary really sped up the correction process allowing me to finish the panel with my dual action polisher.
Finish Polishing put the final touch on each panel with my Flex 3401. Using a White Lake Country CCS pad then a Gray Lake Country CCS pad I worked the Menzerna Super Finish PO106 FA to eliminate any swirls or marring creating a mirror like surface.
Once the compounding and polishing was finished I washed the area completely with soap and water then dry the area thoroughly before applying my finish protection..
Protection was so easily accomplished using Duragloss 601 and Duragloss 105 applied with a Porter Cable 7424 and a soft Blue foam pad. This without a doubt was the easiest of any process thus far. Once the products hazed I buffed them to an incredibly high gloss shine. The only way I can describe this to you is the panels appear to have been wrapped in plastic!
Reflective Shots
Silver and most light colors are difficult to obtain dazzling reflective shots but this is the best I could do. I hope you enjoy the photos and explanation....
Thanks for looking!
I noticed some rust beginning to form on one of the body seams underneath my truck that needed attention before it became serious. I ground the area and treated the section with a rust inhibitor known by the trade name; Rust Mort.
Rust Mort is an acid based chemical designed to convert rust to a black or grayish, hard, insoluble, protective coating.
I prepped the area by washing with Klean Strep Prep-All then sanding making it ready for priming and painting. With everything papered and taped, I sprayed 2 coats of primer then 3 coats of color then clear.
My main goal was to repair and paint the area but due to it's lower location I didn't color sand before the clear went on. It did come out nice nevertheless BUT what I didn't realize was some of the overspray had deposited itself on the unprotected surfaces.
Does anyone remember me saying that overspray removal is unacceptable because it's an admission of a poor preparation, paper and tape? I am here to tell you that my paper and taping obviously fell short of what was required so now I had a mess to clean up..Fortunately, because I maintain the finish, simple claying easily removed the overspray but there was still a lot of work to compound and polish the panels..
Products & Equipment Used
Machines
Pads - Rotary
- Orange Kompressor
- White Kompressor
- White CCS
- Gray CCS
- Blue
Polish
Cleaner
- Mineral Spirits
Getting started I wrapped the exposed areas of the truck to protect it and minimize any additional work due to splatter. I covered the rear wheel and tire for the same reason.
As you can see the fuel door and cap area were pretty bad so some Optimum Opti-Clean and a brush made short work of this mess.
Before
After
Clay & Overspray
I could feel a very light dryness indicative of a like overspray. Using Meguiar's clay and detail spray, took about 10 minutes of effort to remove all of the overspray on the bed side panel.
Compounding was easily accomplished with my Makita 9227, a Orange Lake Country Kompressor foam pad, and Menzerna Power Gloss POS34A
Polishing was straight forward with my Makita 9227, a White Lake Country Kompressor foam pad, and Menzerna Super Finish PO106 FA
Working each section with my rotary really sped up the correction process allowing me to finish the panel with my dual action polisher.
Finish Polishing put the final touch on each panel with my Flex 3401. Using a White Lake Country CCS pad then a Gray Lake Country CCS pad I worked the Menzerna Super Finish PO106 FA to eliminate any swirls or marring creating a mirror like surface.
Once the compounding and polishing was finished I washed the area completely with soap and water then dry the area thoroughly before applying my finish protection..
Protection was so easily accomplished using Duragloss 601 and Duragloss 105 applied with a Porter Cable 7424 and a soft Blue foam pad. This without a doubt was the easiest of any process thus far. Once the products hazed I buffed them to an incredibly high gloss shine. The only way I can describe this to you is the panels appear to have been wrapped in plastic!
Reflective Shots
Silver and most light colors are difficult to obtain dazzling reflective shots but this is the best I could do. I hope you enjoy the photos and explanation....
Thanks for looking!
