cannot remove swirl marks!!!

Fobia · 03-25-07, 05:29

I've tried 3m perfect it 1500 compound.. with a foam compounding pad and hooked wool pad!! via rotary 1500rpm.!!!

its on a black jetta!

there ice scraper marks uck its making me mad!!!.

will update pics soon.

HenrikP · 03-25-07, 05:41

I think we need to see some pictures to define your problem first. Are the "swirls" from the brush or the actual scraper?

Accumulator · 03-25-07, 05:51

Fobia- As I learned the hard way on my M3, sometimes you oughta wetsand. My painter told me to do that but *NO* I had to stick with the rotary...should've listened to him.

Noting that some stuff is just too deep to be safely removed, maybe you oughta hit it with some Meguiar's Unigrit, say the 3000. Just enough to take the sheen off the paint, don't get carried away

Then see what it looks like after a pass with the rotary.

Fobia · 03-25-07, 09:57

check it out... i hate 3m. and im kinda a noob with a rotary!.. but this car was just horrible.. i was leaving trails everywhere!!!!! tips well appreciated.

i moved the pad slowy at 1500 rpms on 3m foam compounding pad with 1500 grit compound this is what i got!!!
no swirl correction... possibly making the paint worse.. because of the trails. good thing it was 't a costumer and just a friend.. but i let the pad glide across buffed till it was clear. and used slow passes.

hood

porta · 03-26-07, 02:08

Buffer swirls from hell

Try another compound and pad combo.

SVR · 03-26-07, 05:14

It is best to move away from 3M. I bet that prima swirl, menzerna IP and FP (106 or RD) would take care of them and give you a great finish

Try a light cut pad first. Move up to medium cut if needed.
If using medium cut pad, return to light cut and follow with polishing and soft polish and finishing pad.

WCD · 03-26-07, 06:00

If you were using a cutting product then you will put swirls into the paint, but it should also help with scratches. A polish should fix the swirls. I never go above 1400 rpms and prefer 1200 with a lambswool pad on clears. I did a test a few weeks ago with foam vs. the lambswool. After only 3 passes the temp on the paint was 115 with lambswool and 146 with foam. Heat might be aiding to your frustration. That said, do you know how much clear you are working with? The car we did had been detailed and buffed so many times that the clear was thin. We could not remove some of the fine scratches. Remove more than .3 of the clear and there is going to be trouble. ETG's (paint thickness gauges) aren't cheap, but a great tool to have.

Rob Regan

Fobia · 03-26-07, 10:25

yeah im stumped.

i went back with a micro glaze and a more of a finishing pad at 900 rpms.. but the glaze seeemed to still be leaving trails.!!
more opinions welcome

audicoupej · 03-26-07, 11:05

I use HT EC and OP 50/50 with a yellow @1500-1900 to cut most VW/Audi clear then finish out with OP with a white LC pad @1100-1400.

Accumulator · 03-26-07, 11:50

Fobia- That pad/product combo sure isn't working for you! Rather than try to "master" it on somebody's car (as opposed to a scrap panel) I'd try something else.

I'd also try working smaller areas so you can see what's happening before you have a large "uh-oh" to correct.

I'm no rotary-Meister by any means, but the results you're getting are a lot scarier than what I get with 3M PI-III ECRC 05936 and that's a mighty aggressive product. Dunno just what's going wrong (too fast, too slow

) but something's not right.

Going from the 1500-grade compound to a finishing glaze seems like too big a jump anyhow. I'd get some milder compound and a medium polish and try to get things good enough to finish out with the PC.

Changeling · 03-26-07, 12:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by WCD

If you were using a cutting product then you will put swirls into the paint, but it should also help with scratches. A polish should fix the swirls. I never go above 1400 rpms and prefer 1200 with a lambswool pad on clears. I did a test a few weeks ago with foam vs. the lambswool. After only 3 passes the temp on the paint was 115 with lambswool and 146 with foam. Heat might be aiding to your frustration. That said, do you know how much clear you are working with? The car we did had been detailed and buffed so many times that the clear was thin. We could not remove some of the fine scratches. Remove more than .3 of the clear and there is going to be trouble. ETG's (paint thickness gauges) aren't cheap, but a great tool to have.

Rob Regan

Hi WCD, I hope all is well.
What foam pad were you using in the test?
Changeling

SVR · 03-27-07, 04:06

Today's products don't leave swirls in the paint. It must be your technique.
Ive never put swirling into a cars paint with any level of correction by machine.
Not even with powergloss.

Maybe 20 years ago or more it would as that stuff was nasty crap but today it's not a problem
The only thing you could do is hologramming