need advice ssr 2.5 might not be enough

[paintpro21]

hi, I`m pretty new to the forum. the other week i picked up an 88 bmw M3 as a track/weekend/project car. The paint needs a lot of attention, and I have new evo light weight fenders and bumpers so in a year or two the car will be repainted anyway, but for now as an experiment and also to make to look half decent, I want to fix the paint up.



I`m only messing around with the roof right now. I clayed it and then went over half of it with SSR2.5 and a sonus cutting pad with my PC. it took out what looked like oxidation and water marks and almost all the large swirls but there is still this blur to the paint that I can`t explain. Sadly of all the pics I took only two showed what was going on and even these aren`t great pics.



the first pic is I believe, after I clayed the car. The second pic is the far side of the car having a pass with the SSR 2.5 on it. The fluorescent light is on the polished side, but as you can see there is still a wierd blur to the paint. And its not the haze that is left over from using the 2.5, its more like the paint is still rough or something even though it feels super smooth.



http://photobucket.com/albums/b388/paintpro21/e30%20m3/?action=view&current=paintproblemroof1.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/b388/paintpro21/e30%20m3/?action=view&current=paintrootssr25halfdone.jpg

I`m not sure where to go from here. I could go up to SSR 3 or continue on with a polishing pad and other compounds.



any advice would be great.



(I have to link the pics like this because my photo album account passed its bandwidth and direct links are no longer allowed.)

[Setec Astronomy]

It really looks pretty good in the picture. I`m not sure which Sonus pad you are referring to when you say "cutting", and I don`t have enough experience with SSR2.5 to say for sure, but I would try a finer pad first, with the 2.5 or preferably something finer, to see if the shine comes up, before going more agressive.

[paintpro21]

It really looks pretty good in the picture. I`m not sure which Sonus pad you are referring to when you say "cutting", and I don`t have enough experience with SSR2.5 to say for sure, but I would try a finer pad first, with the 2.5 or preferably something finer, to see if the shine comes up, before going more agressive.



its an orange sonus pad.



I just did a part with SSR 3 and it looks better. looking at the light on the ssr 2.5 spot vs the 3 spot, i could not make out any detail in the bulb area of the light on the 2.5 side, but it was a lot clearer on the 3.0 side. it obviously has haze now, but it seems to be fixing it up a lot better.



the more i look at it the more it looks like the paint is just not a great paint job. not really orange peel but like if the paint spattered on the car at the factory or something, im not sure. then again the car is pretty damn old. im going to finish the roof on its own and see what kind of results I get before I move on to the rest of the car.



once I`m done with the SSR`s im not sure what to move onto next. I have meg`s #80 speed glaze, #9 swirl remover 2.0 (that i doubt ill need since im guessing ssr 2 or 1 can replace that) and then all i really have left is nxt tech wax.



what should I seal the car with? is nxt good enough? I don`t really want to have to buy much more

[White95Max]

After the SSRs, I`d do a quick one-over with #80 and then use the NXT, since you don`t want to buy more stuff. #80 should clear up any hazing left by 2.5, although 2.5 usually finishes pretty much haze free.

[paintpro21]

After the SSRs, I`d do a quick one-over with #80 and then use the NXT, since you don`t want to buy more stuff. #80 should clear up any hazing left by 2.5, although 2.5 usually finishes pretty much haze free.



I had to kick it up to SSR 3 since 2.5 wasn`t enough. I just did half of it with ssr 2 after the 3 and its clearing up pretty good but i still see very very small haze marks left. you think i should still do #80 after the ssr 2? I need #80 since it has a glaze in it right? not just for its slight polishing action

[White95Max]

If you use SSR2, you wouldn`t need to use #80. I just suggested that because #80 will clear up any haze left over, and add some oils to the paint as well, leaving a wet-looking finish.

A pure sealant would be best to top #80, so that none of the oils are cleaned off. NXT contains cleaners, so some of the oils will be removed when you apply NXT. But I don`t think it`s a big deal really.

[paintpro21]

hmmm i didn`t know nxt had cleaners. ok what would be a good pure sealent? and if i apply one then I do for sure want some kind of glaze in between right? i have meg`s machine glaze also. would I want to apply that and then buy a sealent? I have a bunch of regular mothers carnuba wax also if that would work, but if there is a polymer sealent id rather use that.

[White95Max]

A sealant`s durability is often negatively affected by the use of a glaze. So no, you don`t have to use a glaze.

Good sealants include:

Wolfgang sealant, FourStar Ultimate Paint Protection, Klasse Sealant Glaze (no it`s not a glaze), Menzerna Full Molecular Jacket (FMJ), and others.

[Setec Astronomy]

Sorry to butt in here, but a pure sealant may not lay on #80`s oils that well, IMO. I think that`s also a rationale for NXT having cleaners, so it will adhere, since all of Meg`s polishes and cleaners have their "trade secret" oils in them.

[White95Max]

Good point Setec.