Exterior Stainless Steel Panel Refinishing + DIY Metal Ceramic Coating

[CyberChew]

Just wanted to share I used the Tesla "exterior stainless steel panel refinishing" document. Using the 3 sanding disc 07-R 613, 614, 615

Reason: I picked up my truck back in December on a heavy raining day + my own excitement i took the car as is. But after winter was over I noticed heavy water staining + random swirls like it was vandalized before.. I picked up the truck with like 20km on it. Bar keepers friend worked on some parts but not all.

If I were to pick up the car today I would have asked for another truck!

I decided to refinish the whole car as once you sand one panel it will be "brighter" and I used this opportunity to apply metal ceramic coating to protect it.

Bonus its much easier to clean finger prints now!

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[Dangerous]

I did the exact same thing months ago and my CT still looks great and is super hydrophobic! Very happy with results!

 

[CyberChew]

I did the exact same thing months ago and my CT still looks great and is super hydrophobic! Very happy with results!

Glad to hear!! out of curiosity did you also have a smaller orbitor? I wasn't able to get into some of the tight spots.. but I just coated over it after lol

 

[Dangerous]

I bought 2 from Amazon. I think the smallest was 3 inches but it worked great. Your CT looks great! Mine was filthy after a 500 mi trip but it rained and now it looks good again. The 8 yr ceramic is a really good product. I tried ProtectaClear and did it carefully after watching hours of youtube and it turned out to be a horrible mess. It took a gallon of xylene and many hours of scrubbing to get it all off before I did the ceramic

 

[CyberChew]

After a few days of curing

 

[BeachDweller]

Damn! That looks good!

 

[Gundo]

This is the absolute beauty of this truck and it's surface - hit it with the orbital and it looks like new. Amazing work.

We did 10k miles of winter driving this past 6 months which left lots of little bit and bobs all over - especially frunk. So I just did my frunk and tailgate using my Griot's random orbital and the #3 buffing compound and it looks quite similar. They've got a new Ceramic Metal Polish I'm trying next.

 

[CyberChew]

This is the absolute beauty of this truck and it's surface - hit it with the orbital and it looks like new. Amazing work.

We did 10k miles of winter driving this past 6 months which left lots of little bit and bobs all over - especially frunk. So I just did my frunk and tailgate using my Griot's random orbital and the #3 buffing compound and it looks quite similar. They've got a new Ceramic Metal Polish I'm trying next.

please share the results in the future! it felt weird sanding with no compound..

 

[jamescstein]

Using the 3 sanding disc 07-R 613, 614, 615

Where did you get the discs? Everywhere I've found them have a min of 20 per, $200+ for each type.

 

[CyberChew]

Where did you get the discs? Everywhere I've found them have a min of 20 per, $200+ for each type.

Hey
I ordered off the Canadian Grainger Site and they allow each
https://www.grainger.ca/en/product/SANDING-DISC-ALUMINUM-OXIDE-GREY/p/WLT07R613

 

[jamescstein]

Ah well Grainger here only sells them in 20 packs.

 

[netcatz99]

Another alternative is the 3m 7447 very fine and 7448 ultra fine scotch brite hookit discs. Amazon sells them in bulk, but there are online sites that will sell individual. I used the 5” discs with a cordless DEWALT random orbital sander.

Also, made some custom 1.5” sanding discs (7447 and 7448) for the stainless steel areas near the windows via flex cordless pxe80 polisher. 3m doesn’t make them in this size so I bought rectangle pads and cut them to size and applied adhesive velcro.

 

[CyberChew]

Another alternative is the 3m 7447 very fine and 7448 ultra fine scotch brite hookit discs. Amazon sells them in bulk, but there are online sites that will sell individual. I used the 5” discs with a cordless DEWALT random orbital sander.

Also, made some custom 1.5” sanding discs (7447 and 7448) for the stainless steel areas near the windows via flex cordless pxe80 polisher. 3m doesn’t make them in this size so I bought rectangle pads and cut them to size and applied adhesive velcro.

Good idea! I never thought about cutting out smaller ones.. I basically had to abandon the tight spots

 

[netcatz99]

1.5” sanding pads with the flex cordless polisher. Easily removed light scuffs and superficial scratches in tight areas.

 

[cyberpilled]

1.5” sanding pads with the flex cordless polisher. Easily removed light scuffs and superficial scratches in tight areas.

I am currently trying to fix my narrow section of the door panels like this, I followed your instructions with the custom pads. I can’t seem to get some of the shine off one of the doors. Do you use a random orbital for this or a straight rotary?

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