Audi polishing tips

goleafsgo · 01-28-07, 04:10

I've been searching here for tips on polishing Audis with a PC and have came up with a few tips but I am looking for a few more. I'm going to be trying out some 4" pads most likely.

My Audi has been pretty frustrating so far with the paint. I've added some marring from washing I think. It is either from that or a snow brush from the pattern of the scratches. The weird thing is I haven't changed anything from how I washed my Ford Taurus and I never had any marring problems. I use sheepskin mitts and waffleweave towels to dry, yet I'm still getting marring on the Audi. I'm going to be ordering some new wash mitts and hopefully something that will make polishing much easier.

Any tips on a polish that will work the best with the PC? I have the full line of Optimum polishes which haven't worked all that well for me. I used Hyper Compound and a Propel cutting pad which worked OK but took forever.

Has anyone had any success with SSR 3 or SSR2.5?

Scottwax · 01-28-07, 05:24

Honestly, without at least a Cyclo or even better, a rotary, you are not going to remove defects easily. 4" pads will help if you prefer to stick with the PC. It is just going to take a while.

BigJimZ28 · 01-28-07, 05:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by goleafsgo

Has anyone had any success with SSR 3 or SSR2.5?

yes 2.5 is a good polish but you will not get much different results then the
Optimum stuff that you have

SSR 3 is like liquid sandpaper I would stay away from it if you can

SpoiledMan · 01-28-07, 05:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJimZ28

SSR 3 is like liquid sandpaper I would stay away from it if you can

I couldn't agree more!

MorBid · 01-28-07, 06:34

IMHO "some" marring during washing is inevitiable as long as your using a process that involves moving a object across the panels.

I've used every type of wash mitt there is and am now using a Sea Sponge, two buckets, and a foam gun yet when I'm done and look at my Black painted A4 under bright artifical light (Flourescent or Halogen) I can see some light marring.

This place is like Alaska (6 months of darkness) once the Winter sets in so I won't be seeing any Sun till late spring so I can't say if the marring could be seen under natural light.

The point I'm trying to make is I've come to beleive that it's futile to keep the paint on a DD in Car Show condition.

To show you how obsessed we are, my Audi Dealership won't wash my car cause they are afraid of getting it "dirty" when I vring it in for scheduled maintenance and that's even in the middle of winter.

Over at the Detailing Forum's on Audiworld they swear by PC's and I've seen some pretty good work.

I however agree with Scott and only use a Rotary on my Audi. The PC just wasn't fast enough for me.

MorBiD

Accumulator · 01-29-07, 12:18

goleafsgo- PC combos that've worked for me on hard Audi clear (all with 4" pads):

orange/HT-EC with a little OCP mixed in, followed by white/OCP

orange/1Z Ultra, then orange/3M PI-III RC 05933, followed by white/3M PI-III MG 05937

If you don't mind concealing some stuff while removing most of the flaws, using orange or yellow/1Z Ultra, then orange/1Z PP, then white/1Z PP, then topping with a heavy wax like Collinite oughta work well.

But doing an Audi with a PC takes forever. Just wait until you try to remove fingernail scratches from behind the door handles, something you have to do by hand. Clear your calendar *that* weekend.

I've had great success using a foamgun shooting through the bristles of a BHB for the first passes, it dislodges/flushes away the more abrasive [stuff]. Then I use the foamgun spraying between a wash mitt and the panel. Filling the mitt with wash solution and holding it so it barely touches the panel helps a lot too. Keeping a flow of shampoo/suds/foam between the wash media and the panels makes a huge difference.

sixty7mustang22 · 01-29-07, 01:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

But doing an Audi with a PC takes forever. Just wait until you try to remove fingernail scratches from behind the door handles, something you have to do by hand. Clear your calendar *that* weekend.

Poop. I forgot all about having to do those. And I was looking foreward to the challenge of my wife's Audi.

Accumulator · 01-29-07, 07:27

sixty7mustang22- Heh heh, guess it'll be more of a challenge than you were looking forward to

There are plastic, static-cling films you can put in there to protect those areas, might oughta look into them. We can't use them on ours because of all the paintwork (only recommended for factory paint

) but it might be a good idea for yours. We've learned to be very careful, but there's always the careless passenger to worry about.

The 1Z Ultra is my go-to product for the initial passes, about the strongest stuff you can use by hand.

goleafsgo · 01-29-07, 10:06

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm probably going to order some 4" pads and see what I can do. I'm going to have to take a look into a rotary I guess, but it'll be a while before I take a rotary to my Audi.

Dave KG · 01-30-07, 01:25

Some time ago, when I was using the PC only, I tackled a badly swirled Audi A4 by PC... The car was a carwash regular and had severe tramline swirls on it from the carwash brushes leaving a badly marred finish that was dull and lifeless... I tackled it by PC using Menzerna Power Gloss (no lighter abrasive was having an effect), and followed with Menzerna Intensive Polish to refine the finish and remove micromarring. This was all applied using a 4" cutting pad for the PG and a 4" light cutting pad for the IP. I used the slow-cutting method for the PG to get the best from the compound, working on section 1' square at a time and the whole car took me three full days to complete!!

Here's the car in question...

Power Gloss (x2 hits) followed by Intensive Polish on half of the bonnet:

CG E~Z Glaze followed by spit-shined P21S to finish on this car:

Can you deswirl an Audi using the PC? Yes, you can, but you will have to be very patient and be prepared to spend a lot of time on the car... Its a slow process by PC, but you can get there.

sixty7mustang22 · 01-30-07, 08:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

sixty7mustang22- Heh heh, guess it'll be more of a challenge than you were looking forward to

There are plastic, static-cling films you can put in there to protect those areas, might oughta look into them. We can't use them on ours because of all the paintwork (only recommended for factory paint

) but it might be a good idea for yours. We've learned to be very careful, but there's always the careless passenger to worry about.

The 1Z Ultra is my go-to product for the initial passes, about the strongest stuff you can use by hand.

lol, well, it will be a fun challenge none the less.

Hmm. Yeah, I might look into those if I can get the paint looking good under the handles.

I'm not sure how I am going to tackle mine yet. I have a few products that will work by hand.

Question though...would it be easier to sand the scratches/swirls smooth with maybe 2000 and then try a polish that out, or would it be better to just polish the scratches/swirls level.

Accumulator · 01-30-07, 09:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by sixty7mustang22

Question though...would it be easier to sand the scratches/swirls smooth with maybe 2000 and then try a polish that out, or would it be better to just polish the scratches/swirls level.

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.

goleafsgo- I don't blame you for wanting to do it by PC. But I *will* say I hadn't used a rotary in over 20 years, don't think I'd *ever* used one on b/c paint, but I got the new Makita right out of the box and used it on the S8 without any problems. Not saying that's a good idea, but anyhow..

Dave KG- I just *love* looking at that A4!