Hard Audi Paint? How to attack?

[NorcalZ71]

ok so im finally using my new toys today (PC, yellow orange white grey pads, 1Z line up) and the very first job ever is on my dads audi. its bright silver, and an audi, so the paint is dang hard. I blasted it with UPP and an orange cutting/polishing pad on about 5 on the PC, but i can still see minor scratches in there. this car has virtually no swirling, just little bitty scratches. should i step up to a yellow cutting pad? or will a few more passes with UPP do the trick?





Ive only done the trunk lid, and its silver so even when you do a ton of work you dont see a massive change like on black, but man is that thing slick with just UPP followed by MP:xyxthumbs

[Bill D]

Hmm..I have an Audi too, yeah I would go with the UPP with the yellow pad, then switch to PP and a ( can do roange first too then) white pad, see how that works out, you could even go down to MP with a white pad, sometimes I even follow that with Menzerna FP

[Accumulator]

NorCalZ71- I`ve done quite a few silver Audis over the years, and I have two at present. Plus, I sometimes do a silver A6 for a non-Autopian friend (though I`ve sorta decided that life`s too short :D ).



Some marring in Audi clear is just too much to get out with a PC. So you`ll have to have realistic expectations. Still, I took out some pretty awful scratches that my late father put in the aforementioned A6 back when it was his. Heh heh, it took a *long* time, and when I was done, *I* could still see them, even if nobody "normal" could. It`s easy to spend an entire weekend doing an Audi by PC.



My approach is just a little different from Bill D.`s:



UP/cutting, PP/cutting, PP/polishing, MP/polishing.



BTW, on silver Audis, I did not see any improvement from following MP with Menzerna FP.



Generally speaking, you don`t have to worry about being too aggressive with Audis. Let alone when using the PC. Keep at it with the UP/cutting until the marring is almost completely gone. The PP is just (well, primarily) to remove the UP`s marring and the MP is just icing on the cake.

[NorcalZ71]

thats what i figured, damn cement for paint. i wish it was black too....then i could really see a huge improvement. oh well, i think what i have is beyond reach with the PC. theres a couple deep scratches that need touch up and then just real minor swirl looking things that i have to strain to see under a good light.



on a side note, how do you guys like to apply the MP? it seems i need to use more product than UPP/PP? how good of a shiny, reflective, clear surface have you been able to get from silver? it still appears that the reflection is a bit fuzzy.

thanks

[Bill D]

My Audi is black and yes, I see the necessity to do at least three polishing steps to get results that somewhat satisify me. If I don;t need the UPP, my first step is PP then MP then Menzerna FP . I always apply MP with a white pad.



Accumulator---I just learned first hand yesterday what you mean about silver. I have a silver fender I`m using for practice wih my rotary and I`ve quickly grown to hate it :mad: I can`t see what progress (?) I`ve made on this color! He he. ;)

[NorcalZ71]

Originally posted by Bill D

My Audi is black and yes, I see the necessity to do at least three polishing steps to get results that somewhat satisify me. If I don;t need the UPP, my first step is PP then MP then Menzerna FP . I always apply MP with a white pad.



Accumulator---I just learned first hand yesterday what you mean about silver. I have a silver fender I`m using for practice wih my rotary and I`ve quickly grown to hate it :mad: I can`t see what progress (?) I`ve made on this color! He he. ;)



werd dood, silver sucks. i want my dad to trade this in for a black S4, i can spend all day washing it and from 10 feet away you couldnt tell the difference from the same car that you washed for a 1/2 hour.

[Bill D]

He he but black drives you out of your mind in a different way: EVERY defect is visible in some type of lighting or another and to minimize marring you have to be absolutely fanatical about taking care of it every day. When it looks good though, it is VERY worth the effort :D

[NorcalZ71]

i agree, but the end result is just killer. my dark metallic blue truck is the closest thing ive got, but at the moment you cannot even tell its supposed to be metallic. once i get this PC thing totally down (are there any videos out there? or online even?) then its on to my truck and GF`s black tahoe

[Bill D]

There`s a Megs video on using the rotary somewhere on Autopia, not the same exactly as using a PC though

[a.k.a. Patrick]

Wow, hard paint eh ? This Audi was nothing short of a wet dream to do ! One of the easiest Blacks I have ever done !