In case anybody missed it, I really really hate painting. My next house is going to be made of metal, where I can use a welder, plasma cutter and random forms of spray paint for home repairs.

Good morning folks. We enjoyed the extra time sleep in but the dogs hatted it. They were pretty well convinced they would starve to death in the extra hour.

Just finished watching the F1. No surprises.

Indeed no surprises there.

Yawn. Off to band practice.

the snow/water is beading up nicely on the 951.

rick, i hear ya about swirls. i figured two things about this job: the paint is white, thus less likely to show swirls, AND to do the job right, by hand, would have taken hours, possibly days, because the paint was so bad. i managed to get rid of the mtn bike tire tracks on the driver's door, and a lot of other blemishes, in a matter of about three hours (and that includes travel time to get the polisher).

also, it seems that not having the car clean enough adds to the swirls, along with having a polisher that just spins in circles. so, i washed the car twice (with this really nice 'mothers' brand carnauba wax soap and love the way it smells) and used a random orbit polisher. i didn't see any obvious swirls. however, the light quality on that white paint required a welding helmet to cut the glare.

joe, sorry to hear about your accident. not cool. i am glad you didn't hit your noggin, or worse. the 2nd day is always the worst, for soreness.

Thanks man, today isn't as bad as I was anticipating.

Got another stage down on the RC airboat....now the waiting game again. Got the engine mount on and everything aligned then sealed everything up a little more with epoxy resin...

I've waxed cars using a buffer since before I could drive. Back then there was only one car wax Simoniz by Johnsons wax. The environment, paints, and products have all changed a LOT since then.

Silver is easiest color to keep looking good with white coming in second. Red oxidizes the quickest, and dark colors like blue and black show swirls and imperfections the worst.

With my last two, and current car being a dark color I've discovered some things about swirl.

The dirt and scum you are cleaning off your car is dust, dirt, brake dust, tire rubber, and soot from automobile exhaust.

Never, ever, ever wash your car at a car wash, Never. Car washes must recycle their water. This leaves teeny tiny particles from all the scum people wash off their cars in the water leaving a film on your car. Even with soaps and cleaners that is very very very difficult to get off. It shows up as swirls and spiderwebbed scratch highlights after you wax the car.

Hand washing is better, BUT there are still a couple of problems. The tap water itself is hard, which means contaminants. Just wash your car and leave the water on the car. If it spots, those are the contaminants in the water that shows up as swirls and scratches. I have a water filter system on my house to reduce this as much as possible.

The other problem with hand washing is the soap used. Car wash soap is designed to leave wax on the car. If it is leaving wax on the car it is leaving most of the contaminants embedded in the wax. When you apply more wax it releases some of those embedded contaminants causing swirls and webbing scratches. That is why most waxes are cleaner waxes not just wax. Cleaner waxes help to try and trap some of those released contaminants, but it doesn't get them all.

What you have to do is minimize the damage from the contaminates as much as possible.

Washing the car...
Use filtered water when washing your car.
Us the soap made for the wax that was previously used. That soap should have both a mild wax cleaner and wax in it to help fill the minute scratches.
When washing use a boars hair brush instead of a rag or sheeps wool mitt. (those trap contaminates that will scratch).
Blow dry the car being sure to get the cracks that trap water and drip or run later.
Finish drying the car using a soft microfiber towel and quick detail cleaner to lessen the chance of any scratches from drying.

If you are plaining to wax the car replace the soap with Dawn. Dawn removes all wax from the paint.
Claybar the car using quick wax detail cleaner as the lubricant.
Re wash with dawn and blow dry the car.
Use a paint cleaner to get all the contaminate residue off the paint.
Re wash with Dawn to remove and stop the cleaner. If you don't do this the paint will oxidize faster because of the cleaner sealed under the polish or wax.
Apply your Polish and/or Wax.

Even after doing all this there well be some contaminates left that will eventually scratch and sometimes leave a fog on the paint. Every 5 years or so I have the paint professionally buffed out by a paint shop. You can't get the stuff they use over the counter, and I wouldn't want to try it myself as there is a fine line between cleaning, burning, and/or removing too much paint.

Tip on tires…
Use a good soap like simple green to clean the sidewalls using a brush. Then clean with WD-40. WD-40 is Kerosene and alcohol. The kerosene replaces the oils that dry out of the rubber and the alcohol helps to evaporate off the excess. Just spray it on a rag and wipe down the sidewalls. Let set a couple of hours, then go back and wipe down with a clean rag to remove any excess that might attract dirt.

thanks, richard! that is an awesome post!

Evening Y'all
Can you say madder than a wet hornet? I started to reassemble the bathroom and the first thing to go in s the cast iron radiator, The guy I hired to do the structural part for me got the pipe a half inch off coming through the floor, no biggie except THE FLOOR IS FINISHED!!!! Now I have to rip out some of my work and elongate the hole around the pipe so that it will actually be able to be hooked up. I left him a message on his phone and he has 25 mins left to return my call before he hears Peggy rolling down his driveway. Chit just got real.
I have not been this mad in a very long time. Someone give me a puppy to kick

That sure sucks, Rick.

New rule. Never go to band practice with a headache it will just get worse.

Dude is on his way over. I have known him for about ten years and he knows that I am pissed so he is just going to come over, fix HIS mistake and repair any of my work he has to cut out, and he asked me to not "help" him

Good for him.

Watching the news shows some 40 & 60 MPH winds in Seattle. It looks pretty bad up there.

ok, found a new way to kill mothes......
5mw green laser....keep peggin em til ya hit the eyes and they fall to the ground!

Thanks Joe, I have been finding reasons to NOT buy one. Ya ain't helpin' much

I hear cussing from under my house, this make me happy

Cussing over a project by someone else doing the repair that you don't have to do is always enjoyable, especially when it is already paid for.