Finger polish on car body step. How?

[Tim DeBoer]

My daughters car is all done. Weight is in it, decorated, painted white with 3 coats of gloss on top of the paint job. How does one do the prepping of the car body where the wheel go. Should a sand the quarter size area with a 800 sand paper then brush on finger nail polish? Dont sand it? How many. Oats of finger nail polish. And everywhere in the quarter sized area? much detail is appreciated.

 

[Prozach2]

My daughters car is all done. Weight is in it, decorated, painted white with 3 coats of gloss on top of the paint job. How does one do the prepping of the car body where the wheel go. Should a sand the quarter size area with a 800 sand paper then brush on finger nail polish? Dont sand it? How many. Oats of finger nail polish. And everywhere in the quarter sized area? much detail is appreciated.

I don’t know the answer, but I’ve been curious about this too. In a couple of the DD4H videos, I’ve noticed that he’s used a marker and colored the side of his car. In the videos, he didn’t say that made the car faster than paint. He was just talking about how vinyl looks good and may be easier. Still, I figured that if I do it like he does it, I won’t do something wrong.

I’ve also seen some cars that look like they have carved small notches in the side of their car; I’m assuming that’s to prevent the outer rim of the wheel from touching the car. I hope to learn a little more about this and try it on my next build.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Tim & Prozach,

I don't know if you will get a ton of replies on this or not. Not because it is a big secret, rather there are a lot of variables that can be used.

CA glue, finger nail polish, rod builders epoxy and other stuff all will work. How many layers depends upon the material used. It also depends upon how heavy you apply it. It also depends if you are placing this directly on wood, over primer, or on top of paint or clear coat. Drying time is also affected by these variables. Room temperature and humidity also affect this.

I would suggest getting a 2x4 or a 1x and drilling a number of holes in it along one side. Then test several different variations of what you want to try. Test on both bare wood and paint. Once you have an option or two, then also test how you want to sand/polish the surface. It all takes time to figure out what works for you and your application techniques.

Whatever you settle on, make sure it is relatively hard and will polish up like glass. Personally, I have always wanted to try the rod builders epoxy because of how hard it gets. However, I have not been willing to wait that long for it to dry.

 

[Mojo Racing]

The cub scouts that I coach are all still using fingernail polish. Main reason is I don't want a cub scout to glue his finger to the car.

Get a fingernail polish (we used to use Sally Hansen Teflon Tuff but it is discontinued now) that is like a hardener. Do not use Gel Coats, these take forever to harden. Find one that says Max Strength or Diamond Tough, etc... Then put 6-8 coats on your car at the axle holes. I just have them paint about 1/2" because it is easier to do. Let each coat dry very well before applying the next.

After you get all of your coats on and it has dried overnight, you can use a tread conditioning tool (fingernail buffing bar) to smooth and polish the areas you just coated. When you have a nice and shiny polish, add a couple coats of your bore wax to it and buff off the haze when it dries...

It is easy, and you don't have to worry about any skin grafts.

 

[Prozach2]

Great info Mojo Racing and Thinkin'BoutRacin. We'll definitely give that a try on our next build.