I'm lost...need help

Stuff · 06-01-06, 04:18

That after a couple of hours. Yes there are a lot of stone chips.

Here is what I did. I washed the whole car. Then "spot washed" just the hood with dawn to get off old wax. Clayed the hood. Then I started to get those swirls out. Started with SFX-2. Got some of the smaller light stuff out. Then went the SFX-1 and the orange pad. Helped more but big stuff still left. Then went SFX-2, SFX-3 Klasse AIO then one coat of Klasse SG which is curing right now will put more on in the morning.

This was all just an experiment. I do not have the time to do the whole car but had all this stuff sitting around wanting to use it. This is my first time so that why Im thinking it did not work out as I had wanted. Here are a few things Im lost on.

1. When I did SFX-1 it helped some with the bigger marks. Can I go over it again? Just dont want to take off too much clear coat.

2. Do I need to step up to a more abracive mix of stuff more than SFX-1?

3. My techneque might be wrong. I watched several videos and tried to mimic their movments. I started by putting one line around the pad. Then with the PC off spread it around a 2ish x2ish area. Then turn on to 2 and move around spread it out for 20secs or so. Then turn it up to 4.5 and go at it for a min. or so. Kind of hard to tell how long I was going time wise. I went In a nice pattern the same way you would cut the grass. Should I buff longer? Can you go too long? To take off the polish I would use a Sonus Der Wunder Buffing Towel. I found it was a bit hard to take it off. Maybe this means I used too much polish or did not work long enough.

4. All of my stuff is brand new. I did not wash any of it before doing this today. Would that have hurt by putting swirl marks back in that I had just taken out? I just washed all my MF stuff and it is drying right now.

I spent all this money and I was just hoping for a little better result. But maybe Im being to critical. I have a black car with 100k miles on it.
Thanks for any help guys.

Five Star · 06-01-06, 05:21

I dont know the Sonus line, maybe someone here can give you the correct combinations.

you have some heavy work cut out for you. your working by pc, use a cutting pad and the heaviest cut. give the pad a little spray with a little qd and put an X on the pad, after the initial priming of the pad you should only need 1 or 2 small dabs on the pad for each following panel. you will get the feel for it eventually. too much product will oversaturate the pad which reduces the cutting ability.

Run your pc at 6

only do a small test section until you get it down, you wont be happy if you work on a whole car with bad results.

with most defects 80% removed, step down to a finer pad and polish

Work the polish till it looks clear but isnt dry on the surface.

like I said its all a learning curve, Don't get frustrated its Black paint.. All detailers favorite color

.

Just work on 1 small section from heavy cut to light cut.. even try out the Wax if you wish till you get it right.

Stuff · 06-01-06, 05:57

Thanks a lot that helps. Looks like I just need to go practice, practice and practice and not be afraid to go at it a little harder. I think I was useing to much also.

Just thought of this. I have never seen this covered anywhere. When you have a body hump or line and not a flat area what do you do? Is it ok to go over that area with even thought the whole pad will not be incontact with the paint? (can post pic).

Thanks a lot guys. Any more opinions would be appreciated.

Twister · 06-01-06, 06:37

It takes time to get the process down. I've used my PC maybe 5 times now but this past time it looked great. After I finished I stood back and said wow and even my father said it came out amazing (his car is next) I learned that I was just not working in the product in long enough to get the swirls out. At times I also felt like wasn't using enough product but I've learned how much I need to really prime the pad and to work each panel on my car. It's just a learning curve but each time you use your PC you will get better results

As for as going over the body lines I always just go ver them but try not to get the edge of the pad to rub the same area too much. There is a small spot on my hood that I haven't figured out how to get yet since it's between two areas and it's kind of small to get into with the pad. So far that area I've just done by hand. It's not as good as with the PC but it's better than nothing

Stuff · 06-02-06, 07:15

All done now. It looks just ok. Kind of hard to tell how it looks in the garage light and it is raining like mad out side. I want to see the differance between the hood which I have done and the rest of the car. Should be interesting.

Dam small scraches. I went to do a QD on the hood once it was all done just to get any left over wax/SG on there. I noticed if you push just a little too hard with the MF towel it makes very fine scraches back in the paint. Its a never ending battle. When are they just going to make a forcefield for the paint.

Accumulator · 06-02-06, 08:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuff

Dam small scraches. I went to do a QD on the hood once it was all done just to get any left over wax/SG on there. I noticed if you push just a little too hard with the MF towel it makes very fine scraches back in the paint..

Sounds like you need some softer MFs. There are MFs that're soft enough that they won't (in and of themselves) mar paint. That'd make it a lot easier to keep from reintroducing marring.

And yeah, it's generally OK to have only part of the pad in contact with the paint. As you're learning as you try to remove the marring, the PC is very mild, so there isn't *that* much risk from using "weird" techniques (not like with a rotary, that's for sure).

Stuff · 06-02-06, 09:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

Sounds like you need some softer MFs. There are MFs that're soft enough that they won't (in and of themselves) mar paint. That'd make it a lot easier to keep from reintroducing marring.

And yeah, it's generally OK to have only part of the pad in contact with the paint. As you're learning as you try to remove the marring, the PC is very mild, so there isn't *that* much risk from using "weird" techniques (not like with a rotary, that's for sure).

Thanks. I was useing one of those tyropical breeze towles. Perhaps I will retire those to crap dutty and get a Concours Buffing Towel. They are a bit expensive but look really nice.

Well with my knowledge learned from this little experiment Im going to do it all over again in 2 weeks. I will post pics up and see if I get any better. I think most of my problems come from lack of experiance and will get better with time.

Accumulator · 06-02-06, 03:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuff

Thanks. I was useing one of those tyropical breeze towles. Perhaps I will retire those to crap dutty and get a Concours Buffing Towel. They are a bit expensive but look really nice.. I think most of my problems come from lack of experiance and will get better with time.

Yeah, the CBTs are *very* nice. There are less expensive MFs that're OK too.

And yeah, experience makes a big difference.

hughjay · 06-03-06, 10:36

press harder and use a more agressive combo cuz that is a **** load of scratches

Stuff · 06-04-06, 08:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by hughjay

press harder and use a more agressive combo cuz that is a **** load of scratches

Hum really that bad. I just dont want to take off to much clear coat. Should I be paranod about that? What is more "hardcore" than SFX-3 that I might want to try?