black car and a pc

racsos · 03-24-04, 01:36

I am gonna detail a black 2002 vette. The paint has decent amount of swirls and scratches. It has never been taken care of properly. This is my room mates car.

I am gonna try to remove all of the scratches and swirls with a pc. I am pretty new to the pc thing. I did my car with it but my car was well taken care of and is only a year old.

Now these are the products i currently have, 3m Smr , 3M perfect it ll fine cut rubbing compound. If u guys think there are other products which i can get locally which will do a better job please let me know.

Now the questions i have is this, With the pc i have read to work both of these products till they are dry so that i break down the abraisives? Is this correct? Also i heard that on black cars anything with fillers like the 3m Smr arent that great cause they do have fillers which will be stripped later and the swirls will re-appear? Am i fine or should i switch products? I have not used either one of these yet and just want easy to use products that give the best results on black.

Remember that i want products that i can purchase locally cuz i will be detailing this weekend.

Bill D · 03-24-04, 05:34

My take on it is, for products found locally, try to track down some DACP ( auto body paint supply store is your best bet, phone book can help locate one), try that with the yellow cutting pad follow with PI III MG with a white pad. In the past I havent had much luck with the PI II FC RC,I was disappointed with it.

Yep, break down the products as much you can especailly if you're going to use DACP, it has diminishing abrasives.I agree that smrs have fillers and they eventually will wear away and you may see swirls again.
Good luck with the detail

Accumulator · 03-24-04, 06:28

racsos- Yeah, I too find the PI-II RC to be less than perfect. If you don't want to try the DACP, the PI-III RC (pn 05933) works very well and breaks down pretty quickly. You're right about the limitations of the SMR. The PI-III MG ( pn 05937) that Bill D mentioned would be a lot better than the SMR, IMO, so yeah, get some of that for your final polishing.

racsos · 03-25-04, 10:26

cool thanks alot for ur help guys. I am gonna try and track down some dacp and the PI lll MG. I will post before and after pics when i am done with it.

mirrorfinishman · 03-25-04, 12:12

Quote:

Originally posted by racsos
I am gonna try to remove all of the scratches and swirls with a pc. I am pretty new to the pc thing.

Since you are pretty new at the pc thing, are you pretty sure you won't be removing too much of the clear coat in the process?

Remember, it is always better to go with the least aggressive products first, especially when you are dealing with a black Corvette.

breakneckvtec · 03-25-04, 12:33

The general concensus here is that it would take polishing everyday for months and months with DACP and a PC before you would breach the clear coat.

Try to pick a polish like menzerna, DACP, or the SSR polishes. They dont contain fillers and are generally liked by most members here. You wont be able to make it perfect, but you can get close. If there are swirls and scratches that are in the last 10-5% dont go after those as the loss in clearcoat isnt worth it. Go to your protectant from there to hide those last little bit of imperfections.

You have nothing to worry about bro, good luck and post pics of that vette when its done

Accumulator · 03-25-04, 01:56

Quote:

Originally posted by breakneckvtec
The general concensus here is that it would take polishing everyday for months and months with DACP and a PC before you would breach the clear coat.

Heh heh, I wouldn't go quite THAT far

A well-respected Autopian cut through the clear on a Benz at the last ST. Louis g-t-g with a PC using DACP/cutting pad.

But no, reasonable polishing with a PC won't hurt anything. The paint on my C5 was plenty tough and plenty thick. And Mike Phillips has done some pretty serious paint correction on C5s with DACP. Just switch from the DACP to the MG as soon as you can. You *CAN* polish with the PC and mild polishes without worries. Honestly, I expect the process will be a little MILDER than you'd expect/like it to be.

I'm sorta getting to like certain polishes that DO have fillers, like the 1Z stuff. Like breakneckvtec said, it's unwise to try to remove ALL of the marring in most cases, and if it looks good for a long time, that's all I care about. Well, most of the time

But stuff like the 3M SMR, that's different. Those fillers disappear in no time.

racsos · 03-25-04, 02:53

i have tried to get Dacp locally but with no luck. Since i am gonna have to order it online now I started to look at other polishes like the menzerna twins. I am about ready to order except i just want to make sure that these are as good if not better than dacp and sfp or dacp and mg. I am about to order right now so some one please let me know.

I have read great reviews on these two. or should a pc newbie stick to dacp.

Accumulator · 03-25-04, 03:45

SOME people have trouble with Menzerna, there must be SOME reason why the term "GLUE-zerna" got coined. Not to say that YOU will have trouble, but still....

IMHO, the *easiest* polishes to use are from 1Z. I've NEVER used any polish that was as user-friendly, not even MG. If you get the 1Z Paint and Metallic Polishes, and top them with something like UPP or a wax, you'll do fine without working too hard. They're MY choice, and not just for newbies.

racsos · 03-25-04, 03:53

ok i will give 1z a try. do these leave any fillers? just in case if i wanted to do a sealant after applying these??

andriver · 03-25-04, 03:59

Agree with Accumulator. 1Z is my favorite polish.

Accumulator · 03-26-04, 12:28

Quote:

Originally posted by racsos
ok i will give 1z a try. do these leave any fillers? just in case if i wanted to do a sealant after applying these??

Yeah, they leave [stuff] on the finish. Oils and even waxes. But don't let that deter you. I've put UPP over 1Z polishes and it worked fine. And the 1Z Glanz wax is VERY heavy on solvents, and it works fine over them too. It's not like the 1Z polishes automatically mean you're gonna have trouble with your LSP bonding. Check out the 1Z forum for more on this topic, there's a thread there about it.

If you want to use Klasse, the AIO should prep the surface for the SG, if you want to use Zaino, then better use an alcohol spritzer or something.