cant get rid of holograms

[Guitarmageddon]

I used a fresh pad for each of the test combos I ran. So those results are produced on new pads both uber and LC pads. I am first wiping with a brand new micro and then doing a wipe with control cleaner, straight lines no circle wipes. What could this be? Is it just that I`m not giving enough time for initial compounding?

[Guitarmageddon]

I figure I`ll go through the full prep process as planned Saturday morning and see if I can make the hood work. If not....I`m lost here. Does autogeek take returns? Hah

If my paint was THAT soft that anything I do caused holograms, wouldn`t I see paint transfer ? I`m getting none

[Accumulator]

Guitarmageddon- I`m not on a good PC for watching videos at present, but IMO if those are holograms they`re really awful ones!

As I alluded to previously, holograms are just another type of marring/scratches, so you just have to polish them out like any other scratch. I`d quit thinking of them as "holograms" as I suspect that`s somehow influencing your work, but that`s just me.

I`d pick one small area for a test-spot and work that until it looks OK. See what it`s gonna take. I don`t know from Menzerna products (only used a variety of the 106) but if you`re working some area about...oh, I dunno...6" x 6" maybe (though *I* would work a smaller area if I were having issues), that oughta be managable, sooner or later it oughta be OK unless you`re somehow doing it awfully wrong. Maybe it`ll take *all day* to get that one area OK...let it.

[Joe Metlow]

OK so I got a quick vid. ````ty quality. The area outside my test spot is obviously nasty dirty, but you can see the difference. are the "holograms" i think im seeing actually just swirls Im not getting out? I feel like the effort and combonations I have put in must be ME causing the damage. But I reallllly dont think its my technique. Not sure. Thoughts? When some of you say "more agressive" should I be using the maximum pad, with my fg400, and speed of 6 with most pressure? Again, I have this weekend marked off for detailing and I have already bought the supplies I wanted to use so i really want to make due with what I have.

Im starting the camera on the right side of the hood/tape line. Then I move to the unpolished side. Not much of a difference....

This is really strange.

you do not need to cut more paint to get rid of the holograms, You just need to refine the finish.

what pad exactly are you using for the cutting step and what speed and pressure?

if your using fg400 and a heavy cutting pad. Use sf4000 a polishing pad and a very light light arm pressure (just the weight of the machine) try a polishing pad, then a finishing pad. i would say speed 2-3 on your Griots machine.

[Guitarmageddon]

This is really strange.

you do not need to cut more paint to get rid of the holograms, You just need to refine the finish.

what pad exactly are you using for the cutting step and what speed and pressure?

if your using fg400 and a heavy cutting pad. Use sf4000 a polishing pad and a very light light arm pressure (just the weight of the machine) try a polishing pad, then a finishing pad. i would say speed 2-3 on your Griots machine.

OK I appreciate the input. If you have some free time in the morning, I plan on updating my results as I go. So its not a matter of cutting down more, its finishing it off? I have medium cut polish and super finish, as well as a few finishing pads. When you would be finish polishing, the consensus is light pressure and slow arm movement? Higher speed?

I guess I was used to my couple cars before where doing one pass with FG400 and medium cut pads looked like show quality stuff compared to what Im getting now.

[Rsurfer]

I figure I`ll go through the full prep process as planned Saturday morning and see if I can make the hood work. If not....I`m lost here. Does autogeek take returns? Hah

If my paint was THAT soft that anything I do caused holograms, wouldn`t I see paint transfer ? I`m getting none

You are not getting paint transfer because you don`t have single stage paint, but rather bc/cc paint.

[Guitarmageddon]

You are not getting paint transfer because you don`t have single stage paint, but rather bc/cc paint.

Right....that was a dumb question i shouldve known that haha. Seems logical.

[rlmccarty2000]

I watched your video and those look like holograms to me. Not that it is importantant, but where did they come from? Ok, the more important thing is to get rid of them. Jetta paint is usually very hard so I would go with a microfiber pad and FG 400 and follow it up with 4000 on a medium pad. The 400 on the microfiber pad should remove the holograms (or any type of marring) and finishing up with the 4000 should remove the micromarring from the 400. I hope this works and helps.

[Guitarmageddon]

I watched your video and those look like holograms to me. Not that it is importantant, but where did they come from? Ok, the more important thing is to get rid of them. Jetta paint is usually very hard so I would go with a microfiber pad and FG 400 and follow it up with 4000 on a medium pad. The 400 on the microfiber pad should remove the holograms (or any type of marring) and finishing up with the 4000 should remove the micromarring from the 400. I hope this works and helps.

Thanks for the input. I will post some progress pics in the morning.

[Guitarmageddon]

So i took almost the whole day yesterday doing EVERY combo I could. Ended up doing half the car and getting it to look way under par. Going to post some pics when I can get a sunny day. This car totally beat me and about 8 different pads/5 different polishes. Never had this hard of a time on any car before , I don`t get it. It`s like 50 guys with rotaries had an orgy on it but it`s never even come close to one in its life.

[rlmccarty2000]

Sorry you are having such a tough time. I wish I was nearby to see this in person. It sounds like you have tried just about everything. What happened with the 400 and 4000 combo? The 400 should have left it almost LSP ready. I`m assuming your pads are clean? By now you are getting into a spot where you might be close to compromising your clearcoat. You might want to take it to a pro with a paint thickness gauge before compounding much further. If all else fails there is wet sanding as a very last resort, but I would take it to a pro before attempting this on a new car. Can you post a few more pictures of what it looks like now? Good luck.

[Guitarmageddon]

Sorry you are having such a tough time. I wish I was nearby to see this in person. It sounds like you have tried just about everything. What happened with the 400 and 4000 combo? The 400 should have left it almost LSP ready. I`m assuming your pads are clean? By now you are getting into a spot where you might be close to compromising your clearcoat. You might want to take it to a pro with a paint thickness gauge before compounding much further. If all else fails there is wet sanding as a very last resort, but I would take it to a pro before attempting this on a new car. Can you post a few more pictures of what it looks like now? Good luck.

Yessir will do. Here in VA we`ve got some crappy weather for the next few days so Wednesday i`ll put some pics up. So aside from wet sanding, I`m wondering if a sealant or wax will help me mask it somewhat? Something that I can machine apply? Anyone in northern VA with some experience want to take a look to sanity check me? If it`s my gear or technique believe me I`d love to correct that.

[The Guz]

Another option is to find another forum member to help you.

[Accumulator]

Guitarmageddon- Sorry, but not surprised, to hear it didn`t go better. Regulars here know that I`m pretty fanatical about preserving clearcoat thickness, but this is just so similar to what I`ve gone through (i.e., I had to *hammer* "light holograms" with M105 for the first step) that I still think I would`ve just used something more aggressive after the first few tries on the test-spot didn`t work.

I *am* assuming that you worked the test-spot with varying combos until it got OK. If it never did get OK then something`s wrong and you gotta reassess. On a hard clearcoat *that I had no reason to suspect is very thin* by the third combo I`d be using something

I sure wouldn`t wetsand it as the sanding scratches are gonna be *more severe* than the current problem. Don`t try to resolve marring by instilling *more and worse* marring Well...OK, maybe there`d be a net gain with 4K but unless you`re *VERY* experienced with wetsanding *that particular paint* I`d still rather just use something like M101 (NON-diminishing abrasive so you can stop at the exact point that the problem is resolved rather than working through the breakdown-cycle) on a MF Cutting Disk and then clear up the micromarring from that with a Finishing Polish (again, I`d use a NON-diminishing abrasive for the same reason) on a regular polishing pad.

Eh, I guess I keep returning to solutions that involve buying different products from what you currently have, but it doesn`t sound like you`re all that satisfied with how things are going.

Oh, and..heh heh, I`d try to purge your memory of those "one pass success stories" as this Jetta is a whole `nother ballgame.

[rlmccarty2000]

Poorboy`s Black Hole might be what you are looking for to fill/hide those swirls and give it a wet look. If no one suggests a Detailer here from N. Virginia try the forum on the sister site Autogeek as I believe they have a list of detailers by state.