PC 7424 - What Did I Do Wrong??

chewbakarox · 09-09-05, 07:19

I just used the PC 7424 for the first time on my fiance's black Toyota Solara. She had some average spider-webs and light oxidation that I wanted to get rid of. First I used an orange cutting pad with DACP #83 (2 passes) then followed with a white polishing pad with #80 speed glaze (1 pass). I was pleased with the results - until I saw the car in direct sunlight. There was micromarring EVERYWHERE - didn't look like it was from a contaminant on the pad, because it was very consistent and tightly wound (almost looks like the grooves on a vinyl record).

I would expect this to happen if I had used ONLY the DACP, but I thought the #80 was supposed to be light enough to remove any marring and bring out a high gloss? Do you guys recommend another pass or two with the #80, or stepping down to a different polish?

I want to get this worked out so I don't have the same problem on my silver Subaru WRX.

Thanks in advance for my n00b questions!

White95Max · 09-09-05, 07:23

You probably wouldn't have the same problem on your silver WRX because you wouldn't be able to see the micromarring

I think you may have not taken enough time to break down one or both of the polishes.

What speed were you working the products at? How fast were you moving across the surface?

BigLeegr · 09-09-05, 07:30

Just another thought, does it look like it could be from the towel? Did you remove the product in the same "direction" as the marring?

chewbakarox · 09-09-05, 07:31

Thanks for the quick response! Glad to hear that silver isn't as "sensitive" as black.

In any case, I used both the #83 and 80 at a speed of about 4. I'm no pro, so I don't really know how to characterize how fast I moved across the surface, but I'd say I moved at a "medium" pace. I tried to follow the tutorial on Autopia as much as possible.

You bring up a good point - one thing I noticed was that I was not getting ANY caking of product on my pad. I was using a liberal amount of polish (per the Autopia tutorial), and the pad would remain very wet all the time. As you stated, perhaps I was not working the polish in and breaking it down enough. My fear was that I would work it in for too long and somehow "burn" or damage the clearcoat.

Maybe I should try again with the white polishing pad and #80, but this time really working the product in and breaking it down?

Thanks again.

chewbakarox · 09-09-05, 07:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigLeegr

Just another thought, does it look like it could be from the towel? Did you remove the product in the same "direction" as the marring?

BigLeegr - I am doubting that it's from a towel. The marks are so tight/consistent that it makes me think it has to be from the PC. Thanks!

Accumulator · 09-09-05, 08:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by White95Max

You probably wouldn't have the same problem on your silver WRX because you wouldn't be able to see the micromarring..

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewbakarox

Glad to hear that silver isn't as "sensitive" as black....

Heh heh, now don't get me started about micromarring on silver...you can see it when the light is right

But the good news is that I always found Subie silver to be pretty easy to work. Get the Solara right and the same technique will go great on the WRX.

Quote:

Maybe I should try again with the white polishing pad and #80, but this time really working the product in and breaking it down?

Yeah, see it that'll do it, if not you'll have to redo the #83, fully breaking it down this time (my guess is that you didn't break the #83 down fully, not uncommon). You could also try using the #80 with the orange pad for one pass if the #80/white doesn't cut it.

Always work the #80 until it changes color- don't stop until it loses the "green/brown" color and looks clear. If you see green/brown on your buff-off towel you didn't work it long enough.

chewbakarox · 09-09-05, 10:04

thanks to all for the great tips.

one other question for all the guru's out there - the orange cutting pad that i bought (from the autopia store, i'm not sure what brand it is) is slightly concave (i.e. the middle is sort of sunken in and not level with the outer edges of the pad, vert slightly bowl shaped). is this how the pad is supposed to be? seems kind of odd, since it doesn't seem like 100% of the pad is making even contact with the car's surface. the white polishing pad that i bought, however, is flat and even.

could this have anything to do with my problem?

Accumulator · 09-09-05, 03:12

chewbakarox- The concave pads are supposed to be that way. Though I've yet to try them myself, as I understand it the pressure you apply with the PC should be enough to force the entire pad into contact with the panel being worked. Many people like those pads very much and I doubt that the concave nature of the pad really contributed much to the problem, but it could be a minor factor. I'm more and more certain that you just didn't break down the products enough, especially the #83, and not having the pad fully in contact could contribute to not breaking down the product.

emobob · 09-12-05, 10:45

83 can leave the surface a mess if you don't break it down all the way. It also seems to load the pad fast. I find that I have to clean out the pad or move to a new one at least once during a full pass. I also find 83 to be hard to whipe off sometimes. I have decided to leave 83 behind me.

I found 80 to be lower in cut then they say. I was using it with an orange pad and it seemed thin, like RMG. I didn't get any breaking down sensation from it. If you left bad hazing or marks from the DACP, I really don't think the #80 would be able to remove them, especially with a white pad.

Either way, I used those two + NXT on a severly swirled black wrx and it came out pretty good. DACP isn't strong enough to completely remove heavy swirls in a subaru, but in the end it looked 90% better.

chewbakarox · 09-12-05, 11:40

accumulator/emobob - thanks for the great advice.

to be certain: how do i know if i've completely broken down the #83? should i work it in until the surface is almost dry? as i stated above, the pad never "caked up" on me - it was always too wet to develop any dust/flakes/crud (for lack of a better term). i'm just nervous about overdoing it and damaging my clearcoat....

thanks in advance, once again.

JBM · 09-12-05, 01:42

I have almost used up my fisrt bottle of #83.

I still dont get it right every time, but when i do, it is a very easy product to remove, and should make a squeeky noise when it is wiped off.

What i have found is that once the pad is primed, it takes a very small amount to do a 2x2 area.

Speed 5 works better than 6.

Ease up on the pressure after a few passes, and stop buffing shortly after you see dust. Some say before you see dust, but on light colored cars, i use the dust as an indicator to stop.

rfinkle2 · 09-13-05, 04:46

i WAS having the same problem with my brand new black Ford F-150. I found that if you move slow, and I cannot stress SLOW enough on each stroke, you get little to no micromarring on the finish. I haven't tried #83, only because the truck is brand new, but have used # 80 , and now menzerna FPII, and both work well if you move slow.

Maybe a good way to tell you how slow I moved was to describe what the polish looked like while I was using it. When you are looking at what the polish is doing @ the trailing edge of the pad, I noticed that the pc was making about .25 of a centimeter trails in the wet polish.

It is hard for me to describe, but i hope that this helps. I was so happy when i finally figured out that I was simply going too fast w/ the polish and armspeed, and that I could polish w/out leaving micr-marring.

Hope this was a help.