1952 Jowett Jupiter Sports Restoration - Engine

Wow, you can really see the effect of all the skill and hard work. Thanks for the ongoing updates.
James

I find when flatting that I often get micro scratches in the paint so need to re flat to get rid of them - not sure if they are from tiny bits of paint in the paper - how do you flat off to avoid this?
I do use plenty of clean water when flatting.

Firstly depends on how fine the grade is that you rubbing back with you can use 1500 followed by 2000 if you are careful and are confident that you have reasonable depth / thickness of paint - however 2000 is the norm for flatting / polishing - sometimes the paper may stick whilst flatting back and then sometimes you may hear a screech type sound has a corner / edge of the paper travels over the paint this often cuts a little deeper into the paint - trick here is use a little soap (just a plain bar of hand soap) to lubricate the paper - this will help prevent the paper from digging in - especially on paints / lacquers that are still curing

Secondly - I would only ever use high quality polishes - personally I don't rate the Farecla range at all - I use the 3M range in this order after flatting - First stage: Fast Cut Plus (compound) Second stage: Extra Fine Compound (What it says on the bottle) Third stage: Ultrafina (finishing polish) - 3m do a colour coded 150mm polishing pad that matches the top colour of the polish - these are all Velcro backed hence quick change with a machine polisher which I use at the slowest speed setting - link to 3M polish range www.3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/bodyshop-solutions/how-to/compounding-polishing/ - At circa £30 + a bottle its not cheap plus if you are purchasing the pads (only sold in twos) and then the backing pad for the polisher you are heading for £200 of expenditure - however it will last you an age and give results that no other polish that I know of can.

A couple of final tips and apologies if I am stating the obvious - Compounds contain polymer fillers after compounding I always wash these out before commencing my next stage - so after stages 1 & 2 - I use a household spray on (non aggressive) window cleaner and paper towel to wipe back off - I also wash the compounding / polishing pads out with warm water on a regular basis then spin them dry on the machine at high speed - finally before starting a polishing job I always cut my finger nails short so that they cannot dig into the paint / lacquer whilst undertaking the polishing process

Hope this helps but let me know should you have any further questions - Chris

Thanks for the detailed answer Chris, very interesting info.

As I get a little more orange peel than you (and put more paint on) I tend to use either 1000/1200/1500/2000/2500 (as required depending on finish).

I think it could be the paper edge or maybe a bit of paint debris? as scratches are tiny but (on deep black paint) obvious to my level of perfection at least. Interesting tip on fingernails though! I did flat my flip front using a slow running hose over the panel as I sanded which reduced the scratch issue quite a lot.

I use Farecla G3/G10/ and then 3M finesse it finishing with 3M machine glaze (amazing stuff). Interesting about your views on the Farecla stuff as I thought that was good polish.

I do follow your usage with dedicated Farecla velcro waffle mops with plenty of rinsing/spin drying during/after use.

The variation of tones that paint produces is lovely, in some of those pictures it almost looks brown. I imagine it's even more impressive in person.

Thanks and I am glad I am not the only one that goes to this extent - you could say old habits die hard and over the last few years others have branded it has 'OCD' - I recently mentioned the term 'OCD' when talking about a paint finish to a very wise old sage at which point he responded 'My dear boy I have to correct you, that is not by any means OCD, It is but 'STS' - Obviously I pressed him in order to understand his coded abbreviation - to which he responded with a beaming smile 'Setting the Standards' - We laughed , shook hands and went made a couple of mugs of tea !!

No hijack apology required - looks spot on to me

Imagine if BPR and GN built a car together...

Pressing on - The satin black was applied to the cockpit



Steering column fitted (steering wheel is a old spare) so that I could move the car about



The two stone guards that fit under the bonnet were cleaned up & prepped - then painted up at the same time has the cockpit



With car now de-masked and back on the floor I could push it outside and have a decent clean up of the workshop - took a few daylight shots so that you can get a proper look at the colour











Flatted both rear wings along with both doors, just leaves the front wings, windscreen frame and a few small panels to flat and then these can go into basecoat & lacquer tomorrow