trouble seeing swirls during the day. But more easily at night

[mbaoo]

So I did my first round at trying out my new griots garage polisher. Im starting with 2 passes of swirl x and white LC pads.



The trouble I am having is I cannot see my swirls during the day (I guess thats a really good thing then) but I know they are there because under my security light at night I can see them at the right angle.



I tried my halogen light that looks similar to this. http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/b8/b87f7e9b-e6e2-4e68-817d-7a4f6651cecf_300.jpg But no dice.



I guess I will have to wait till night time to see if I made any progress.?

[Dubbin1]

SwirlX and a white pad really isn`t going to get you very far. What kind of car are you working on?

[mbaoo]

Its an 05 Nissan Altima 3.5SE.



This isnt my car. But its the color I am working with.

http://images.dealerrevs.com/pictures/1563701.jpg



I thought I was supposed to start with the least abrasive combo? I do have orange pads and UC as well.

[Toymachine2009]

You are supposed to start with the least abrasive but what I think he is saying that is TOO less abrasive because it may not even make a dent really in swirls/scratches.. Maybe try the swirl X with an Orange pad that way it had a little better cutting ability. But In the future I would suggest picking up different polishes.

[mbaoo]

Ahhh okay. But it actually did make a difference. Now that it is night time, under my garage security light I can tell where the swirls are reduced compared to the parts I didnt touch. So I think I will try using UC with an orange and then a pass with swirlx and a white and see what I can accomplish.



It still annoying that I have to wait till night to see what Ive done.

[Alexshimshimhae]

lol might just be a matter of a different lighting combo needed...what`s the lumens on your worklight anyways?

[mbaoo]

No idea. Its old. We have had it for years. No markings on it.

[TLMitchell]

The trouble I am having is I cannot see my swirls during the day (I guess thats a really good thing then) but I know they are there because under my security light at night I can see them at the right angle.



I guess I will have to wait till night time to see if I made any progress.?



I used to take my car to the mall at night under the mercury vapor lights to find out what a crappy job I was doing. Some brightly lit gas stations were also good places to find out I wasn`t doing as well as I thought. That`s what got me into the Forums and learning proper tools, technique and products.



Amongst all the variables one thing is for certain... you absolutely, positively have to have good light to work with as well as inspect your work. I work in a closed garage with the lights on when I polish and the overhead lights off and halogens on to inspect and refine. If you look at many before & after pictures with ambient lighting off and only halogens, Brinkmann or LEDs on that`s when you can really see what`s what.



The budget may be tight but without proper work lighting you can expect frustration and poor results. After I bought my first polisher I ran out and picked up a 1000w twin halogen tower at a local hardware store for around $45. They`re versatile working on the tower or pulling the lamps off and sitting `em on the floor for the low work. Craftsman has some for around 40 bucks that are frequently on sale for around $25. They`re a little less sturdy than some but they have more versatile light settings for using reduced wattages.



Cheapest I see right now are these from Ace Hardware:



Ace Trading-Cooper Lighting TQS1000N "Regent" Standard-Series Twin Halogen Standlight - 1000W (http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/productdetails.aspx?sku=3142981&source=GoogleBase)



Although that`s online you can frequently find them in stock in the stores. I ended up adding the Craftsman setup later... having two stands is helpful for low/high work, different angles as well as avoiding moving `em around all the time.



Without good light you`re kind of working in the blind relying on waiting til nighttime to check your results.



TL

[mbaoo]

May be worth while to buy one then. They seem pretty cheap. I was just at a thrift store earlier today and I actually saw something like that. Kind of like a tripod about 3-4 foot tall with two lights. Shoulda looked at the price.



So are those bright enough to be used during the day? Or do you use them at night while polishing? I cant put my car in the garage because its full of crap. The most I can do is halfway in with the garage door open. That way I atleast can work half the car in the shade. But that still let in ambient light.

[Accumulator]

mbaoo- Remember that inspection lighting is not just about brightness but rather is primarily a matter of *contrast*.



If you want to get the car OK in "dark environment, point-source illumination" conditions, I`d try to mimic those conditions and that`d mean clearing out the garage and working there where you can control the lighting.



Yeah, I know some people here do fine working outside in daylight, but that doesn`t work for me.



I can`t help but raise the question "do you really care all that much?". Yeah, I know...this is Autopia where every vehicle is supposed to be perfect, but really...*DO* you care? Does it really have to be OK in all sorts of lighting or are you satisfied with how it looks most of the time. Heh heh, do you, for example...care enough to clear out the stuff in the garage (whatever that takes) and set up a detailing shop in there (and then do whatever`s necessary to get those Autopian results, which will get a lot more involved than a few rounds of Swirl-X), or isn`t it that big a deal? And no, if it`s *not* that big a deal I`m absolutely *NOT* being critical :D

[mbaoo]

Haha. Yeah. I dont care enough to clean out the garage. Lots of big stuff in there.



My swirls are not that visible during the day like I said. Infact the only way you can see them is off a direct reflection from the sun and even then its hard to see them.



I guess it isnt to big of a deal then. I just want to directly see that my griots da wasnt a waste of money. I want to see the results of my work. Even if my panels look fine as they are outside.

[Accumulator]

mbaoo- And I bet that *you* are the only person who sees the marring anyhow. I know I`m like that...I get bent about stuff that nobody except my wife would ever notice, and then I have to stop and ask myself just how much I *really* care. (Gotta avoid that "Curse of Autopia" when possible lest my whole life be about such trivial stuff ;) )



That polisher won`t be a waste of money anyhow, consider how much easier/more pleasant it was to do the Swirl-X with it compared to doing that by hand!

[mbaoo]

Gotcha gotcha. :)



Yeah, Im trying my best to avoid the "curse of autopia". hahaha



Anyhow, I just finished doing my hood and two fenders. I did two passes of UC with orange and one pass of swirl x with a white.



My god it looks good! Like you said, Im sure no one else will notice a difference. But I definitely do. The sun was bright and straight above my car when I brought it out of the garage after polishing. I would say from what I could tell in the sun I got out 95% of the swirls. Or maybe even more. I didnt do an IPA wipedown though. So some may be hiding. The real test will be tonight under the light. But outside. I struggle to find a single one where I polished. I then washed the car and waxed the polished bits with liquid souveran and waxed the rest with nxt 1.0.

[Accumulator]

mbaoo- Glad that worked so well! The UC/orange made a big diff, huh? I`d try to consider *that* to be the "good enough!" point since it`s not too overdone; you oughta be able to get the rest of the car that way and then just work at keeping it nice.

[Dan]

Polarized sunglasses work really well for me during the day. I can see wayyy to many swirls with those.