regraining/burnishig tool that won't cost a fortune but still do a good job fast?

[kgp4death]

It seems like these regrainig tools cost a whole lot for just a rotating drum, and doing to by hand will juust take too much time, what have you done or seen done that will speed up the process of regraining/burnishing. i mean just a belt sander with high grit would do it no like 320 grit? or drill with flapper wheel or drum sander drill attachment, i can think of many ways to do it but what works what doesn't? I know it is a hard task but wat can be done for a cheap lazy person like me.....lol? also seems like people laqour stainless after it is regrained anyone do that?

[88KPH]

I haven't done it, but I wouldn't recommend any of those methods you mentioned.
What I do have is an original Delorean care kit.
It came with 3 course brillo pads. These were used to hand blend in any minor scratches.
I would think very carefully before using a mechanical device.

[DMCMW Dave]

No. A belt sander would cause a lot of damage. We use a form of drum sander as a FILE but not for finishing.

If you want to go really cheap (and have lots of time), use 80 grip sandpaper and a blending pad by hand. Unfortunately "Cheap" and "Lazy" don't necessarily go together.

Where have you heard "people laqour stainless "? I've only seen one car clear-coated. Didn't look right.

[DMCVegas]

The whole purpose of the flap wheel is the place all of the stress onto the flaps themselves instead of these stainless steel body panels.

Take a look at this picture:

http://www.pferdusa.com/info/press/graphics_150/angle_flap.jpg

No, it's not the same tool as used on the DeLorean, but it does demonstrate perfectly what I'm talking about. As you can see on the bottom where the flaps are making contact with the metal being sanded, you will see the flaps being bent. The more pressure that you place on the wheel, the more the flaps will bend. Because when you press against something, something absolutely has to give.

Now with a belt sander, it's a solid surface with no sacrificial give. Instead when the pressure is applied, it will be the stainless panels that bend. Now take a look at this:

http://static.wixstatic.com/media/3d11d1_bee7606f5ee94b859370678f34e35fe4.jpg_srz_47 3_336_85_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_jpg_srz

That is the damage done by pressing too hard on a hood. You wind up with the whole "X" pattern because the stainless has bent down around the support underneath. We have T304 stainless which is softer than regular carbon steel, and naturally tends to bend a bit easier.
(Note: This can be greatly avoided by not only not pressing against the panels as hard, but also by using a Blending Pad Handle to evenly distribute the pressure to thus lessen it)

So by using a belt sander, you really risk much more deformation of the panels. And that's not even covering the fact that with a flap wheel you're just tanking tiny bits of stainless off, and with a belt sander you're just grinding it all off and slowly cutting a hole in the panels.

[cpistocco]

There is always a red scotch pad and ajax......Follow the grain! :) "lazy" "cheap" and "Delorean" don't mix !! :)

[David T]

There is always a red scotch pad and ajax......Follow the grain! :) "lazy" "cheap" and "Delorean" don't mix !! :)

Eastwood sells an expanding wheel you can attach Scotch-Brite bands to and it has a flexible shaft. I have a used one if you are interested.

[Michael]

I have done my entire car by hand, and it looks great. The thing is if you have experience with a flapper then sure, it's great and produces that factory stripe look(whch I really don't like unless it's a concours car). However, practicing on your own car could be a costly learning curve. I prefer the slow and safe approach. Go to Lowes and get yourself about a dozen of these:

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=335892-98-10111NA-PT&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3561780&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

Also buy the handle that comes with it which will make the job much easier and if you want to dabble in different finishes, then you can go over it with finer pads. I personally like the finish the rough pads produce followed by Rocket Luster stainless polish but that's a lot of typing to explain the process.

I have went over every inch of my car several times. The thing is if you go over it by hand, then you can control how the grain is supposed to change (or not change) as you hit curves such as the wheel arch flares and A and C pillars. The grain direction is constant, no matter where it's at on the car, but when you view it from different angles, it's easy to get confused. Even the top of the front fenders are not supposed to be followed, you follow your starting reference points. Please excuse the crudeness, I did it on my phone and didn't have time to build it to scale.


38002



On the hood and roof it's dead center. On the sides, a good reference point is the belt rub strip. The hardest part to get right are the wheel arches, that's where hand graing works best for me since it allows me to curve the grain around the edge (thus keeping it straight).

I like to dry grain without lubricant, which is quicker but the pads don't last as long. The way I see it, pads are cheap and the less time you stay on one area, the less chance you get frustrated and start applying excess pressure. I think a flapper wheel is a good tool to use as long as you know how to use it.

[kgp4death]

Eastwood sells an expanding wheel you can attach Scotch-Brite bands to and it has a flexible shaft. I have a used one if you are interested.

I am ot super cheap or super lazy but doing it with the red scocth brits will take forever......lol, and 700 bucks for somethig that rotates at 1000 rpm seems a little pricey, I mean got a ton of things that rotate was just expolerig what can be doe with what i got......seems like you were talking about this..... http://www.eastwood.com/expander-wheel.html if anyone can give me the low down on this it seems like it might be a good option to bigger flat areas, and the contours will probably have to be done by hand.


38075

[DMCVegas]

I am ot super cheap or super lazy but doing it with the red scocth brits will take forever......lol, and 700 bucks for somethig that rotates at 1000 rpm seems a little pricey, I mean got a ton of things that rotate was just expolerig what can be doe with what i got......seems like you were talking about this..... http://www.eastwood.com/expander-wheel.html if anyone can give me the low down on this it seems like it might be a good option to bigger flat areas, and the contours will probably have to be done by hand.


38075

Yeah, about that. Again, the flap wheel is designed to gently grain the surface and it itself deforms under the slightest of pressure. The problem with that Expander Wheel is that it's meant for small, rigid surfaces. I know that they use those things on stainless steel sinks and whatnot, but again, those are small areas with lots of creases and beads so that they don't bend easily. Sand paper and horse hair are very flexable and will bend if you just blow on them. I've no idea how rigid that wheel is. But keep in mind that it's demoed on small, rigid objects and not larger flexible ones. Trust me when I tell you that 304 stainless is soft! Just as you can see the "X" pattern on the hood from just hand rubbing alone, 2 years of daily driving and improper door closing resulted in my bending of the door skin around the window frame.

That is VERY important on the A & C Pillars like Michael pointed out because you can keep the flap wheel perfectly vertical while letting the flaps bow out and bend back to keep the grain absolutely straight and parallel to the ground. More importantly, again, those are small areas of maybe a foot in length when you're dealing with what the Expander Wheel is designed for.. We're talking about an entire car here where you've got to line up 14' of stainless grain. I mean, I cannot stress to you enough that this isn't about speed. It's about precision. That is why the pneumatic tool is so expensive, and why hand rubbing takes so long. It's like comparing an electric buffer to a damn angle grinder. They may *look* the same in how they function, but they just aren't the same in what they do. Try and buff with an angle grinder, you're gonna damage the paint.

$1,000 seems pretty expensive for that tool, I know. But a new hood after it gets creased up is $1,345...

https://media0.giphy.com/media/k9XrZaAJuQyMU/200_s.gif

Most important of all: Regraining is NOT something you continuously do. Unless you have some deep, DEEP scratches, you stripped paint off, or you're prepping to win a concourse competition, you don't need to do this. Invest an afternoon in going front to back with some scotch brite pads with the handle, and you're good to go for the next few YEARS. I can tell you that with a daily driver, other than touch-ups on scratches from keys, jeans, car washes, and some human skin fried to my door, your car's finish doesn't need constant regraining. Hell, it doesn't even need constant attention. Just hand wash like normal and you're good to go.

I'm not saying any of this to put you down, or anything like that. I'm just trying to let you know that it's ok not to stress about this. Because what makes stainless steel stainless is that it has a thin molecular layer of oxidation on the surface that stops corrosion. When you regain it, it looks pristine. But soon after it'll dull a bit because of that function. Just wash it, touch it up when needed, and don't worry about it.

[David T]

A power tool speeds things up. If you don't know what you are doing it can ruin things in a hurry! I suggest BEFORE you use a power tool you learn how to do it by hand. Yes, it will take longer BUT you will learn how to do it better. Do a panel a night. Takes a week.

[kgp4death]

Go to Lowes and get yourself about a dozen of these:

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=335892-98-10111NA-PT&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3561780&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

Also buy the handle that comes with it which will make the job much easier and if you want to dabble in different finishes, then you can go over it with finer pads. I personally like the finish the rough pads produce followed by Rocket Luster stainless polish but that's a lot of typing to explain the process.

I have went over every inch of my car several times. The thing is if you go over it by hand, then you can control how the grain is supposed to change (or not change) as you hit curves such as the wheel arch flares and A and C pillars. The grain direction is constant, no matter where it's at on the car, but when you view it from different angles, it's easy to get confused. Even the top of the front fenders are not supposed to be followed, you follow your starting reference points. Please excuse the crudeness, I did it on my phone and didn't have time to build it to scale.


38002



On the hood and roof it's dead center. On the sides, a good reference point is the belt rub strip. The hardest part to get right are the wheel arches, that's where hand graing works best for me since it allows me to curve the grain around the edge (thus keeping it straight).

I like to dry grain without lubricant, which is quicker but the pads don't last as long. The way I see it, pads are cheap and the less time you stay on one area, the less chance you get frustrated and start applying excess pressure. I think a flapper wheel is a good tool to use as long as you know how to use it.

This I what I went with done by hand but the rougher grit speed things up and also bought the stainless steel cleaner magic from Lowes becuase wanted to get this going. The rougher grit made the week job into a day job. I did finish up with a red scoth brite but starting with the black steipping pad made it so so much easier. Also you are right that dry is way easier too.....I did leave the wrong grit lines on front fenders becuase it was already wrong and didn't mind it, but it was good to know it was wrong and decide not to change it. Thanks everything you said was right on and made job easy, but could not find handle at Lowes so just cut a piece of wood as block on flater areas. Thanks just wanted to share my conclusions after I did the work.