Am i polishing correctly?

N

NorcalZ71

New member
so i finally gave my PC and 1Z line up a whirl today on my dads silver audi. QEW, clayed (which really smoothed things up), hit everything with UPP on an orange followed by MP on a white pad followed by glanz wax (way easy to use, beads very nice).



my process was to spritz the pad with distilled water, then applysome product in an "X" shape in the middle of the pad about 3" long each way. i then dabbed this around and area and smeared around. I then set the PC toabout 1.5 and spread the product. By the time i was done spreading, the polish seemed to have already hazed up quite a bit and seemed to be drying out. I think stepped up to 5 and went over the area a few times, maybe 30 secs-1 min. I got a nice slick finish, but it really seemed like the polish dried out too fast.



also, it seemed that MP made not noticeable difference from the straight UPP/orange cutting pad. I did 2 doors and a rear quarter with the MP and decided i could see no gained clarity from it, so went strait to glanz wax. is this just because of the hard audi paint?



if anyone has or could take a picture of how much product they use over what area for the 1Z line, that would be awesome. If anyone has a detailed write up on the 1Z's, that would be awesome too. I think im doing it right, but id just like to be sure to not waste my products.
 
I don't use 1Z, but it's possible that:



- not enough product for size of area worked

- too warm out or paint is too warm (evaporation)

- took too long in the "spreading" phase



That's all I can think of off the top of my head right now... I seem to take 3-5 mintues with each section I do (about 2x2' or slightly smaller) using Megs or 3M products, and it sounds like you are "done" in only a couple minutes or so?
 
A good QD seems to be more effective than water to spritz the pad.

I would also track down Dr Jones Menzerna tutorial thread, Im sure the 1z would behave in a similar fashion.
 
I use 1Z stuff quite a bit, and on Audis (have two, sometimes do a third).



Sounds like, as 4DSC said, you're either working on a panel that's too warm, or working too large an area. 1Z polishes should stay wet a long time.



I work small areas, starting the PC at about 4 and then turning it up to 6. When I use 1Z stuff, it stays wet for *minutes* no matter how fast I run the PC.



Maybe you need to use more product (I sure don't say *that* too often!). You shouldn't need to spritz the pad. That's not recommended with 1Z products and I've never had to do it. Water can do weird things to some products, and Mike at 1Z says (emphatically) not to do this with their polishes.



The UP/orange is aggressive enough that you'll almost certainly need to use an intermediate step before going to MP/polishing. My progression in cases like yours:



-UP/cutting until marring is replaced with the UP's micromarring

-PP/cutting until it looks much better

-PP/polishing until things look *very* good

-MP/polishing



In my experience, Audi clear is *almost* too hard to work by PC no matter what you use. In fact, depending on what you're trying to correct, it might really *be* beyond the PC's abilities. To make any real headway, plan on spending *a lot* of time on it, and I mean hours.
 
i just did a van with 1z... the polish should not dry- as mentioned above, until you have really worked it- sounds like the car might have been too warm.

also does not sound like you polished enough- i zig zag side to side then up and down over the area that i am doing for about 10 total passes. the product is well hazed at that point.

your beginning technique sounds about right- and as above, i also run somewhere around a 4 setting or so once i get the product distributed (so it wont sling).

btw, i didnt use any water on my pad (i used product only)- but that shouldnt cause your early drying...
 
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