Audi polishing tips

[sixty7mustang22]

Originally Posted by Accumulator

I dunno. That's what my painter says I oughta do, but I'm just not that comfortable wetsanding, in part due to my limited experience. I'd use Meguiar's Unigrit paper and probably 3000. 3K scratches can be removed via PC without all *that* much trouble and I've done OK with 2500 ones too.

But all-in-all, I'd probably do it with 1Z stuff, top with Collinite, and not worry if some of the marring is hidden rather than truly removed. This is your wife's daily driver, right? I have different standards for my wife's Audi than I do for my own And BTW she's fine with that.

I am very comfortable wetsanding, I just didn't know which would be harder to remove in this area. Sandpaper marring or the scratches themselves.

I have effectively removed 2000 scratches with a PC with no problem. But, we are talking about hand removal here. So, I am really not sure what I will do. I might just try removing 2000 grit by hand on an area I need to wetsand and rotary anyway and see how it comes out. If it works OK, I will let you know for future reference.

Yeah, in this area, I am not all that much worried about hiding rather than removing, but I would like to try and remove. I have a can of Collinite on the way. That clear protective thing should help hide also. Yeah, it is her DD...but, I have the same standards with it as I have with all cars. I try to achieve perfection. I can't help myself.lol

[GDA4]

When I had my Audi, I had good luck with Menzerna polishes and a PC. I had a 99.5 Brilliant Black A4. If I had bad swirls, I used menzerna Intensive Polish with a Griot's orange pad. Then I would follow it up with Menzerna Final Polish and a white pad. Usually I would be good to go with a coat of One Grand Blitz, but most of the time I would give it a coat of 3M Imperial machine Glaze with a black pad before the Blitz.
This combination was a knock out.

[Accumulator]

Originally Posted by GDA4

When I had my Audi, I had good luck with Menzerna polishes and a PC. I had a 99.5 Brilliant Black A4. If I had bad swirls, I used menzerna Intensive Polish with a Griot's orange pad..

That's an interesting combo, I always found the Griot's orange pad mighty gentle.

sixty7mustang22- I just remembered this: when a painter at Stoddard Imports and I were trying to improve one of my touchups (without much success, but anyhow..) he hit it with a Meg's Unigrit block, which was, IIRC, 2000 grit. He then took most of the scratches out by hand with 3M PI-III RC 05933. Later, back at my shop, I further improved things with more 05933 and then a milder product, but he had removed the worst of the sanding scratches by hand. The scratches were a lot easier on the touchup paint of course, but they weren't that tough on the factory paint either. I *think* you'll be OK but it'd sure be a lot of work.

[themightytimmah]

Last Audi I worked on took 4 steps with a rotary and 8 hours to polish out right - I wouldn't want to know how long a PC would have taken. Consider going the hiding route - 1Z or 3M polishes, followed by a good glaze (CG's EZ Creme is a winner) and a carnuba (the heavier the better, I like CG 50/50).

On the other hand, if your marring is light, you might be able to get away with a PC. I had *this* to deal with:


PG/Wool, PG/Orange, OP/Orange, PO85RD/White turned it into this:

[sixty7mustang22]

Originally Posted by Accumulator

sixty7mustang22- I just remembered this: when a painter at Stoddard Imports and I were trying to improve one of my touchups (without much success, but anyhow..) he hit it with a Meg's Unigrit block, which was, IIRC, 2000 grit. He then took most of the scratches out by hand with 3M PI-III RC 05933. Later, back at my shop, I further improved things with more 05933 and then a milder product, but he had removed the worst of the sanding scratches by hand. The scratches were a lot easier on the touchup paint of course, but they weren't that tough on the factory paint either. I *think* you'll be OK but it'd sure be a lot of work.

Cool. Either way, it is going to take some elbow grease. Thanks for all the help.

[Accumulator]

Originally Posted by themightytimmah

Last Audi I worked on took 4 steps with a rotary and 8 hours to polish out right...

Looking at the "befores", I'm impressed that it didn't take more steps than that! Nice job. I'm gonna *have* to try some wool pads one of these days...