Audi A6 Hard Clear!?

R

randomman84

New member
Ok guys, its been awhile, since i posted here. I have been so busy with my schooling that i haven't had any time to do much detailing. Anyway, I was working on my fathers 05 A6 yesterday and the paint was in horrendous shape. I would have taken pictures but i didnt have my camera around. First it had paint overspray ALL over the car. It took heavy duty clay to even make it budge. Needless to say the clay made things 100x worse. As all of you know, Audi's have very strong clear so i was having some real trouble with the swirls. I only have a pc and some optimum compound and optimum polish. I used a yellow excel pad and the compound 2x, then a green excel pad and the polish 2x but i am still not able to get some of the swirls out. Any ideas on what to use next? I am going to buy some new pads and polish seeing as how my yellow pad somehow got torn and i almost scratched the paint with the backing plate... What can i use on this incredibly hard paint? Thanks guys!
 
randomman84- Correcting Audi clear with a PC is hard work and takes a long, long time. The only way I've ever been successful has been to use 4" pads. I'm not familiar with the OC, but I *have* corrected scratches (not just regular "swirls") on Audis without using the rotaries, so it *can* be done. Just don't be surprised if it takes a lot of passes (and I don't mean just six or eight). Not much point in switching to the milder product until you've corrected the marring (replaced it with the compound's micromarring).



FWIW, I didn't like the final finish I got with the OP all that well, it looked better to me after I did some final burnishing-type polishing with a finishing polish (in this case the older version of 1Z Pro MP).
 
randomman84 said:
Any ideas on what to use next? I am going to buy some new pads and polish seeing as how my yellow pad somehow got torn and i almost scratched the paint with the backing plate... What can i use on this incredibly hard paint? Thanks guys!
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A rotary. Seriously.



/thread
 
yeah, i'm starting to think that's my only option... Ok so that being the case, instead of staring a new thread,

What are your best opinions on polishes and pads for the rotary and what one? Ill do some research tonight but a couple of opinions from the top of the top, aka you guys, would steer me in the right direction.
 
I have a Makita and Edge pads. You're local, maybe we can get together and you can try my setup out. I dont think it's the ONLY setup out there, but the E2K is really nice to have. Pad changes are a breeze, and you can just flip the pad over when one side gets too dirty.
 
I feel your pain. I have a 2004 VW and trying to get scratches out, even with a Cyclo or Flex, is a major PITA! I started out using the PC, but soon came to the realization that it just wasn't going to happen. VW/audi paint is good at teaching patience! :)
 
randomman84- You'll be glad you met up with Way2SSlow. After a bit of coaching from Way2SSlow you'll probably be ready to get your own rotary, you'll see that it's nothing to be leery of.



Remember to tape off any clear anodized aluminum trim, that stuff won't stand much polishing ;)
 
thanks accumulator ill make sure to do that. Although the trim pieces are pretty much gone to s... anyway. Anyway to clean those up? I used some metal polish, no luck, plastic polish, no luck, aluminum mag polish, no luck...
 
Accumulator said:
randomman84- You'll be glad you met up with Way2SSlow. After a bit of coaching from Way2SSlow you'll probably be ready to get your own rotary, you'll see that it's nothing to be leery of.
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Yeah, that guy really knows his stuff. Not only that, he's pretty darn good looking too! :D



Atleast he isnt one of those BHB and foam gun crazies out there. :D :D Well, I do have a foam gun though. Some day I'll road trip to Ohio so I can learn how to REALLY wash a car. :D





RM...your PM box is full.
 
randomman84 said:
.. the trim pieces are pretty much gone to s... anyway. Anyway to clean those up? I used some metal polish, no luck, plastic polish, no luck, aluminum mag polish, no luck...
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Don't feel bad...the ones on my wife's (properly detailed since new) A8 have started to go too, and the replacement pieces I had fitted (at considerable expense) went bad almost right away!



I just live with the cloudiness...you can do the metal polish but it'll kill what little anodizing remains and then you have to repolish (and wax/seal) even more often. I'd just use something mildly abrasive that cleans primarily through chemical means (e.g., Klasse AIO) and then wax/seal it and try not to notice how ugly it is compared to a new car ;)



Way2SSlow- Hoo hoo, BHB and foamgun crazies.. just get me going! Yeah, you could bring the Impala so I could relive my days of abusing 9C1s. Heh heh, I haven't reverse-180ed a b-body in a while...I'll blow out your axel seals for ya :D
 
randomman84 said:
hey i fixed that u can retry that pm. i wanna try that foam gun! O wait, damn atlanta drought....
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I've got one, but haven't used it in quite some time.





Accumulator,



You could probably take care of my 4l60e again for me too. :D I only the pala spin like that when it's wet out and I havent driven it in the rain for quite a while. For some reason, it feels like I am beating on the car less when you dont hear the tires screaming for mercy. :D
 
randomman84 said:
are you saying that you reverse 180 in other cars, not b-body? ;)
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Yeah, Crown Vics have pretty much replaced the B-bodies at the places where I usually do that stuff. It's not like I'm treating our Audis that way (not that I couldn't should the need arise ;) ) and I'm currently between cars when it comes to the kind of vehicles I do thrash like that.



Way2SSlow said:
You could probably take care of my 4l60e again for me too. I only the pala spin like that when it's wet out and I havent driven it in the rain for quite a while. For some reason, it feels like I am beating on the car less when you dont hear the tires screaming for mercy.
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Yeah, the 4L60es never seemed to last all that long in my hands; for that matter I sure have killed a lot of various automatics over the years :o



And heh heh, well, you *are* beating the car less when you play like that in the wet! More fun on dry pavement though, at least when it's somebody else's car ;)
 
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