07 Black Tahoe Swirl Fest

outrag1 · 08-22-07, 07:27

Hi Guys,

It's been a while since I've done a major detail and at this point I am stumped trying to buff out my new Tahoe. I've had it for about 7 weeks and I was waiting to have some time to really buff out the whole thing and end with a good LSP when I'm done. Per usual, it's already marked up from the couple washings and dealer prep.

Today I intended to test out small areas to try and find the right combo of machine, product and pad prior to doing the whole truck, which I'm hoping to do over the next couple days.

I have a pretty good arsenal of stuff such as:
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*Makita Rotary - LC Foam Yellow, Orange, White, Black Pads...also have a couple older wool pads

*Cyclo - Yellow, Orange, Green, White Cyclo Foam Pads...also have wool bonets for the cyclo

* PC - all the different meguiars 6" foam pads

* Hi Temp - Extreme, Heavy, Medium, Lite cut products
* Optimum - OHC, OC, OP
* Pinnacle - XMT #3, #2, #1, finishing glaze, Sover Wax
* 3M - Fine Cut, Finesse it II, SMR 3000
* Clearkote - RMG, VM
* Plenty of diff waxes and sealants...
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I apologize for not having pics to go with this yet, but I hit a point of frustration today after a few hours of testing and had to stop. Close up, the truck looked bad after washing and drying with quick detail. There is a lot of spotting so the truck needs to be polished out.

I used mostly the Cyclo today in small sections on the hood with varying pads and products, and it always seemed to instill fine/tight buffer swirls after I was done. The section looked clean and felt great but holding a light to it really showed these smaller swirls.

I know black is tough to get right...but after looking at some of the pics on this board, I think I could do much better. I used OP with all the diff cyclo pads and went very slow with pressure and still cannot get rid of these buffer induced swirls...

Any thoughts or recommendations on where I could start from scratch?

Thanks

stiffdogg06 · 08-22-07, 07:34

I would try a HTEC and OP ratio mix

And then top it with Sov!

EDIT: What machine do you want to do this detail with?

outrag1 · 08-22-07, 07:54

I originally thought I could do the whole thing with the cyclo, however I also have a rotary and a PC. This is my first time using the cyclo on black so I don't know if I'm expecting too much.

My original intent was to never have to use the PC again. I'd use the rotary for tough stuff and the cyclo for most everything else.

Maybe I need to wetsand and bring it back with the rotary to get it the way I want.

I may not be cutting deep enough to get rid of the scratches that are there, but my main problem right now is trying to get rid of the tightly wound cyclo induced swirl marks...and I'm not have immediate luck doing it..

Thanks

themightytimmah · 08-22-07, 07:55

I would bet that your OP problems are related to using too much product... every time I use more than a tiny amount, it refuses to finish down properly. I would go back to HTMC/orange/pc than 50:50 vanilla moose/rmg on a white pad via pc. It's easier to put your weight on the PC than the cyclo - and if you're getting headaches with a Cyclo, a rotary will likely make it worse.

outrag1 · 08-24-07, 05:14

I took your advice and pulled my PC out of the closet and used the yellow meguiars 8006 pad I had with some HTMC and then OP and it made a big difference (going slow with pressure on the PC). I also watched the volume of product I was using and that helped as well.

My frustration I guess is with the Cyclo...I cannot get any correction with the green pads no matter what product I use...it's not finishing up like the PC did. The orange pads on the cyclo with OP or HT products correct, but leave tightly wound swirls afterwards that I can only get out using the PC.

I don't know if I need a new pad system for the Cyclo or if this machine is not really meant for swirl correction. The pads that came with this are cyclo yellow, green, white and LC green....

themightytimmah · 08-24-07, 08:37

See if you can get LC white's for it... I used to love 4" LC white pads on my Cyclo. Then I switched to the edge system.... slickest setup ive ever seen but I don't like the quality of their foam.