Frustrated!!! Help Please!!!

[jknowles4]

Sorry this might be a little long.



Ok,

For Christmas I got a lot of detailing supplies: PC, Sonus pad kit,

ssr2.5, ssr1.0, pro polish, ex, and nattys. Just got the polish etc. last night so today was the big day. At about 10:00 am I get started. I have a black ford lightning with a very nasty case of swirls, scratches, etc. So I thought I would start off with ssr 2.5 with the sonus orange pad. Well after going over 1/2 of the truck at 5 with the pc I see very little progress. Still a lot of swirling left under halogen lights. I think well maybe ssr 1 will take off the rest of the swirls. Finish the rest of the truck with 2.5 and start 1.0. I spent around 8 hrs using two polishes and I see very little results. My questions are what is going wrong, and how do you guys detail a car in 4-6 hrs. Also, I washed and clayed the car before I started polishing. If you could, tell me where to start over. I just want these swirls gone and it isn`t happening. Thanks for all your advice. And happy New year.

[NavindraLR]

i dont think that the ssr1 will get rid of all the swirling left which the ssr2.5 did not get out. i think theres something wrong with the way you are polishing initially, b/c usually the 2.5 knocks out all the swirls, with little, if any micro marring. first off, make sure you properly prime the sonus orange cutting pad, with a spray of distilled water, detail spray, or a couple blobs of the polish.. whatever floats your boat. 2nd, apply the polish to either the paint, or the pad. i find it easier with a pc to apply the polish to the pad, the smear it around on the paint, the turn on the machine. i start at 2-4, just to work it in a little, and to minimize splatter. after that i turn off the machine, raise it to 5-5.5, and work it in well. i got left to right on the panel, slowly, then up and down. always overpassing motions as well. dont worry about burning the paint.. you can work it as fast, and as long as you want. when you can see the gloss shining through, then you have worked it enough. hopefully the swirls will be gone, and you can move on to the ssr1



if that is what you are doing already, and still not getting good results, then maybe the finish was not properly prepped for polishing. make sure all the dirt/grime are off of the truck, and there isnt any crap on the pads which you are using. you should clay the car before you polish as well.



any other questions?

[TN9thSi]

It sounds like you didn`t work the 2.5 long enough. Try working it until it nearly disappears and begins to dust slightly. Maybe even crank up the PC to 6 just to see if that makes any difference.

[jknowles4]

NvindraLR,

Thanks for the quick response. I did all of the things you mentioned. I prepped the pad, applied polish to the pad and smeared it to reduce splatter and then started. I made sure the product came to a dust before I stopped and then wiped it off. I went left to right, up and down on each panel and still had swirling. Like I had said I washed and clayed the truck before I started. I don`t know what the deal is, I guess I will try again tomorrow and see what happens. Thanks again!!!

[NavindraLR]

woops.. i didnt read that part about washing/claying... would you be able to post some pics? maybe you need some ssr 3.0??



maybe you could copy and paste this on detailcity.com, since steve from poorboys frequents that board. he`ll have some good advice ;)

[jaybs02]

It seems that you are doing things correctly.

Sometimes it takes more than 1 pass to get rid of the swirls with a PC.

Don`t go too quickly over the panel, give the product time to work.



Just don`t let it discourage you, I`m sure that you will get the truck looking the way you want.



Happy New Year

"J"

[jknowles4]

How fast do you guys move the pc across the surface? I was barely moving it sometimes and then a little faster other times. I ask this because it took me 8 hrs. today to get as far as I got and it looks like I need to start over tomorrow. I hear about people doing a full detail in around 4-6 hrs. and just wondered how fast they went.

[NavindraLR]

i take as much time as needed. i dont think there is a set time for anyone.. it always depends

[cwcad]

hello, you never mentioned how much pressure you are applying to the paint thru the pc. i have a black truck with a lot of orange peel but by putting a moderate pressure on the paint surface thru the pc i have gotten good results in taking out self induced swirls from using a qd so often. i have used mostly menzerna product

[JeffM]

Sounds strange to me. Perhaps they labeled the bottle of 2.5 wrong. Even with scratchX by hand i get some visible results. You should have seen some decent improvement.



Are you sure you used a cutting pad?

[jknowles4]

Well I went back out today to give it another go and I still didn`t have much luck.

Went back over with 2.5 and then 1 and there are still scratches swirls etc. in the paint. I tried using a little pressure, lot of pressure, went very slow, went faster. I feel like I tried everything I could think of and still didn`t get the finish that I wanted. Am I asking for too much? The truck looks ok, but under halogen lighting it still looks bad. What would you guys suggest for a more aggressive polish? I got the 2.5 because of all the good things I had heard but it just isn`t cutting it on my paint. When you guys get done polishing on a black car is there still noticeable swirls? If anyone has close up pics under halogen lighting of a freshly polished auto could you please post. Thanks again for all your help!!!

[NavindraLR]

did you follow my advice about posting on detailcity.com, under the poorboys forum? regardless, it sounds like you`re doing everything right, so maybe the polish isnt cutting it (no pun intended). maybe you could try poorboys 3.0. personally, i would move up to menzerna IP, but it has somewhat of a learning curve, and works better with a rotary.

[imported_perry]

When I was first learning the PC back in August, I started off by taping off a section of my hood and only working on that section. The allowed to work on just that one section and see what was working for me. Different speeds on the PC, moving it at different rates across the paint, different pads, etc.



With a hood as big as you`ve got to work with, you could probably do 2 or 3 areas and compare areas side by side.

[6']['9]

if your using a pc and ssr`s the 2.5 will break down fairly quickly. What i noticed when using the 2.5 on a black car it dusted really quick then when wiping off the excess dust i scratched the rest of the car, then i had to go over it w/ the ssr1. Ford paint is kinda a ***** to be honest w/ you. I would suggest using more product and work the pad/product in all directions i.e \ / >< and so forth. youll get progress but it wont be as fast as if you were using menzerna or some kind of 3m compound. I dont really use the pc for swirl removal cause i have a dewalt. But when i did use the pc i got the best results w/ an edge green pad and IP or a cma orange pad and IP. good luck

[jknowles4]

Thanks for the help everyone. I finished up the truck today (one coat ex last night, and a coat of nattys today). It looks pretty good. My wife says it is the shiniest she has ever seen it and also says it should be for the time I spent on it. Next time I will try some menzerna products and see what happens. Have a great day!!!