Need some beginner advice - product choice and polish/compound required?

[Zelfiris]

EDIT: Issue resolved a few months ago thanks to everyone`s advice! Thank you!



Hi everyone,



I`m a long time visitor to autopia, eshine, autogeek and read a number of guides for the last few months to get myself started.

My question is, do I need to compound in addition to polish?



My car`s clearcoat is similar to this member`s clearcoat (http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-det...condition.html). My car has been through two winters, about 1.5 years old, never clayed and was sitting the lot from June 2009 until I picked it up in Sept 2010.



Below is my experience with polishing



A member of my car forum (genesis coupe) demonstrated how to polish my trunk 2 months ago and I was very happy with the results. I had the chance to polish the trunk (2.5 hours to do) and what I used was:



Ricardo`s Blue Clay bar

Griot`s Random Orbital with orange pad

Meg`s Ultimate Compound



Under halogen light, Ricardo`s blue clay bar left a lot of marring which I was very surprised to see. After several passes with the ultimate compound I was very pleased with the results and god it was time consuming but fun to see I was able to do it myself.



Now today in my arsenal, I have:

Griot`s Random Orbital

Orange pad

White pad

Optimum Hyper Compound Spray

Meg. #205 Polish

Ricardo`s Yellow Claybar



Should I use Optimum Hyper Compound Spray before Meg. #205 Polish for my car`s condition?



I guess the main reason I`m asking is I have not decided on a cost effective halogen light to purchase so I can inspect the paint myself. And the other concern is with claying. Although most people say if it was never clayed it will need to at least once. This was true with the trunk when I used Ricardo`s blue clay on the trunk but when I tried the yellow claybar on the front bumper, my clay was completely clean.. very puzzling for me lol



Anyways I apologize for the long post, any hints will help



Thanks,



Kouyo

[wascallyrabbit]

1.wash

2. clay (use what you have)

3. polish/compound with the optimum and orange pad

4. polish with 205 and white pad

5. protect with your favorite wax/sealant

[Zelfiris]

1.wash

2. clay (use what you have)

3. polish/compound with the optimum and orange pad

4. polish with 205 and white pad

5. protect with your favorite wax/sealant

Thanks for the reply wascallyrabbit,



For swirl marks of this degree, do you think its really necessary to use compound or best to skip to polish?

[cptzippy]

Is Hyundai paint soft like Honda and Toyota? The general rule is to try the lest aggressive approach and move up.

[wascallyrabbit]

Thanks for the reply wascallyrabbit,



For swirl marks of this degree, do you think its really necessary to use compound or best to skip to polish?

like cptqippy says least aggressive first then move on to more aggressive. do a test spot with the white and 205 to see if that works first. you could also try the white with optimum.

[imported_MCA]

like cptqippy says least aggressive first then move on to more aggressive. do a test spot with the white and 205 to see if that works first. you could also try the white with optimum.

I am not familiar with Hyundai paint so as others said, do a test spot with white/205. If the results are inadequate, move up the aggressive meter and do a spot with orange/optimum. Another thing to consider: a common oversight is the number of pads needed to do the job, especially one that requires cutting or compounding. I *know* some people can do a whole car with one orange pad but I highly recommend you have at least 2 orange pads if you will be going the cutting/compounding route. Be sure to also clean them often with a soft/medium-bristled brush

[Accumulator]

Kouyo- SInce the Ultimate Compound worked so well before, don`t be surprised if the M205 isn`t quite aggressive enough for timely correction, and watch out that its oils don`t fool you into thinking it`s done more than it really has. That UC is almost certainly more aggressive than the Optimum Hyper Coumpound too, but the OHC is gonna be a lot more user-friendly.



And with all these (non-diminishing abrasive) compounds/polishes, take MCA`s advice seriously and be sure to keep the pads clean. I`m *always* cleaning the pads, not like I usually wait until I`ve finished a whole panel.

[GeeReg]

watch out that its oils don`t fool you into thinking it`s done more than it really has.

I didn`t realize how dramatic this was until recently. I`ve been using the consumer version of 205 (Ultimate Polish - which has more oils I believe) and was thinking, "Wow this looks great. Let me wipe it down with IPA before I seal it." and back come the faint scratches and hologramming. For a long time I thought it was my wiping technique when trying to remove the polish, but now I realize this is what it is. I still love the product, you just need to be careful as Accumulator said.

[Zelfiris]

Thanks for all the tips everyone!



I will give it my first try when I find a nice warm day and once I find a good halogen light to purchase.



I`m afraid to wetsand and have not considered it, does anyone have positive experience using it regularly and when to know to use it?

[imported_RZJZA80]

wetsanding should be an absolute last resort IMO. On a daily, I don`t see the need for it, don`t worry about getting it perfect unless it`s a show car. Get it the best you can for your own eyes, and that will tell you what needs to be done.

[Accumulator]

I`m afraid to wetsand and have not considered it, does anyone have positive experience using it regularly and when to know to use it?

Just skip the wetsanding. It`s pretty much one of those things where "if you have to ask, you shouldn`t be trying it". Nothing I see in your pix looks even *remotely* that bad anyhow.



Just don`t be surprised if you do have to use the compound for the initial work, it can be funny how "regular polishes" don`t always do much for "regular swirls".

[Zelfiris]

Hi everyone, been a while since I last visited.



I have tried to sample a spot with my hood with a purchase of halogen light.



I used the compound with orange pad and M205 with white pad. It was warm weather in the evening when I did it. Under the halogen light it look like I removed a lot of swirls, but next morning under the sun light I saw all the swirl marks again. Maybe its actually scratches but still lost what I did wrong.



My steps:

1. Washed hood with Meg`s gold wash.

2. Clayed hood with yellow ricardo bar with diluted QD from ONR

3. Washed again and dried

4. Prep`ed orange pad by soaking the pad then remove excess water with polisher on low speed

5. shaked up compound bottle for good minute then applied to orange pad

6. spread compound over 2x2 section at low speed, then applied 6 passes really slowly 3 up/down and 3 left/rights

7. spritz orange pad with ONR QD one time before 2nd section

8. 3rd section I added more compound to the pad, another spritz for the 4th section. I divided the hood into 6 sections

9. washed and dried hood to remove compound

10. performed similar method with white pad and M205

11. paint looked amazing at night under halogen light



At some point I think I should have used ISP.. it took basically 3.5 to 4 hours to do the Hood for me



Maybe the products don`t work well together.. or the fact I did it outdoor (no garage) but in the evening so no direct sun light. I did noticed a lot of dusting with hyper compound spray though it should not be dusting.



Any ideas? lol

[Zelfiris]

now that I think about it, maybe I should have followed with a wash using Dawn after the first wash with Meg`s gold class. I think Meg`s gold class has wax (grease) in it and prevent the compound from cutting as well as it should be

[Thomas Dekany]

Morning - first, there is no wax in Gold Class. Even it there was, any polish would remove that. You may need a more aggressive polish and or pad.

now that I think about it, maybe I should have followed with a wash using Dawn after the first wash with Meg`s gold class. I think Meg`s gold class has wax (grease) in it and prevent the compound from cutting as well as it should be

[Dan]

Thanks for the reply wascallyrabbit,



For swirl marks of this degree, do you think its really necessary to use compound or best to skip to polish?

With the picture that out of focus, and still being able to see the swirls, I`d say there are pretty deep. 1x1` area and test with 105.