Newbie questions?

**BLUGGA** · 11-09-2016, 02:24 AM

Hello all.
I have been doing some research on here and reading a ton of threads and have learned a lot. Thank you. In doing so I have come up with a few questions for my particular situation.
I have a 2007 Atomic Orange Metalic Corvette that I plan on bringing the pop back into. It`s always been garage kept and until I bought it in May it only had 7,500 miles on it.
I have read that different manufactures us different paints of varying hardness. I plan on using a med/fine polish and pad as is does have some light linear and swirl marks. Can I use a heavier compound on a couple places that are worse than the rest of the car without changing the pad? Then I plan on finishing with a finishing pad and Ultimate wax. Am I on the right page and how aggressive can I be on the tougher spots with the type of paint and color I`m dealing with? I`ll be using a DA random orbital buffer.
Thanks in advance for your help.

IMG_0638.JPG
This is how the car looked in May after I had a chance to do a light polish and wax

**tropicsteve** · 11-09-2016, 08:35 AM

usually best to do a test on the defect area first with the least aggressive polish. depending on what grade of pad you use, you may be able to do the entire vehicle with just a polish with a little extra work in the defect areas. you`ve got a nice ride, i wouldn`t risk using both products on the same pad. you should have an assortment of pads anyway, they`re well worth the investment. a pad cleaning brush is nice to have also, just don`t go too heavy when using it.

**Puckman** · 11-09-2016, 09:54 AM

Every corvette i have ever done needing correction started with a medium level cut test and almost every one resulted in getting more aggressive with the second test. Depending on the level and depth of defects i would first go with a MF cutting pad and a mid polish and see what you get.

**Accumulator** · 11-09-2016, 02:38 PM

BLUGGA- Welcome to Autopia!

Cool color, that looks great.

What kind of RO polisher do you have? There are *vast* differences in abilities between the various ones on the market these days.

Also, give some thought to how you`ll avoid instilling new marring once you get the current flaws polished out. It`s quite difficult to avoid marring autopaint...as evidenced by all the interest in correcting it.

**BLUGGA** · 11-09-2016, 11:19 PM

I got started today using a synthetic wool pad and 3D Ultra Compound. It looked like I got most of the light swirls and light linear scratches. Then I finished with a foam finishing pad with Meguirar`s Ultimate Polish. When the high shine came back so did all the fine scratches and now they really seem to pop. :-(
If I wanted to get more aggressive should I do an IPA wipe down and just go with a foam cutting pad and a heavier compound? I have some Griot`s Fast Correcting Cream.
I was fairly conservative with the first cutting as I`m new at this and did not want to do more harm than good. I`m using a Porter Cable RO DA. If you couldn`t tell I`m trying to save a buck and use some products I have on hand.

All advice tips or tricks are all welcome.

Thanks again,
Bill

**Accumulator** · 11-10-2016, 11:12 AM

BLUGGA- Heh heh, I`ll good-naturedly tease you about a Corvette owner overdoing the frugality

But I do understand and I do the same thing some times.

Anyhow...what marring-removal progress *have* you actually made? I read your post as saying you increased the shine but didn`t actually remove much (if any) of the marring, maybe just rounded it over a bit. That correct?

I don`t know from the paint on C6-up `vettes, but I expect it`s pretty hard. Most people *drastically* underestimate how hard it is to correct hard clear, so my wild guess is that the Griot`s Fast Correcting Cream, used with the right pad, is probably a good idea (note those disclaimers of "my guess" and "probably").

IF you`re using the older PC (pre-XP) then, uhm....good luck. I`ve had a pair of those since forever and the only way to get anything done with them is to drop down to a 4" pad.

If, OTOH, you have the XP, then the situation is a little better, but will still take plenty of time.

In either case, I`d lean towards a MicroFiber Cutting Pad instead of foam as MF (like wool) runs cooler, which might be a good idea since the fiberglass doesn`t respond to heat the same way that metal panels do.

Find a good area for a test-spot and work on correcting just that little bit. Don`t be surprised if it takes a *LONG* time with *MANY* passes.

I find IPA to be pretty mediocre (at best) with regard to removing Polishing Oils (especially Meguiar`s Trade Secret Oils), so you might want to get a proper/dedicated product for that so you can better gauge your progress.

I wouldn`t drop down from the Compound/Fast Correcting Cream to a milder Polish until things are basically fixed. Those compounds aren`t all *that* harsh AFAIK, so it`s not like they should leave the finish all scoured up; the polish should merely be icing on the cake. (Somebody more familiar with the 3D UC/GG FCC correct me if I`m wrong..)

**BudgetPlan1** · 11-10-2016, 11:56 AM

On our, albeit older Vette (2004) Megs D300 with their 5.5 microfiber cutting disc did well, finished with WG Finishing Glaze on white LC pad.

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**Ronkh** · 11-10-2016, 12:01 PM

IMHO

ultra compound & wool pad is pretty aggressive........ & will make you do a step down polish as well

**Accumulator** · 11-10-2016, 12:52 PM

Ronkh- Guys like you who know from recent `vettes have a lot more to offer here than Yours Truly.

**Ronkh** · 11-10-2016, 01:14 PM

<---- Hack

I dunno nuttin

Originally Posted by Accumulator

Ronkh- Guys like you who know from recent `vettes have a lot more to offer here than Yours Truly.

**Accumulator** · 11-10-2016, 01:32 PM

Heh heh heh...well, few people are less knowledgeable than I am when it comes to `vettes, only had two and hardly did any correction on `em.

**BudgetPlan1** · 11-10-2016, 02:40 PM

Originally Posted by Ronkh

IMHO

ultra compound & wool pad is pretty aggressive........ & will make you do a step down polish as well

Yeah...I tried a purple foamed wool pad with M101 on the trunk of a car I didn`t care about.

Fortunately I didn`t care about that car.

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**BLUGGA** · 11-11-2016, 12:14 AM

Due to time constraints I had to get finished up today. I was not able to redo any panels. I guess I will do some more research and get some good pads and products that work well with each other and try cutting it again in the spring. I think it came out pretty good though.
Thanks for all of your help and tips.

Bill