beaten again...chrysler sebring convertible (white)

I

imported_paradigm

New member
grrrr...ANOTHER terribly marred exterior that my PC could barely even touch. the best i can call this attempt was a "great wash and shine" job...but there was maybe 20% defect removal. i tried everything i could, but nothing would touch the massive amounts of scratches in this thing. no good pics of it either, since it was crappy outside again and no good lighting for pics. :(



i tried DACP, OHC, ...even SSR-3. tried 5.5" and 6.5" pads (orange and yellow LC) with different backplates...speed 6...move slowly...different pressure...and NOTHING! well, the areas that were ok looked great...but the scratches just laughed at me. the SSR-3 hazed the finish terribly...so i went back to OHC.



the only thing i didn't try were the 4" propel pads, but so much of the car is scratched that there was no way i would do it all with a 4" pad! :(



this is probably a perfect example of when a rotary would be able to step in and dominate. it almost makes me want to get one and use this car as practice. hehehe
 
I can relate!



I just spent the better part of the day working on my wife's car. She marred the heck out of it using it lake a table in the garage when she cuts up boxes for recycle. The hood, trunk lid and roof are all badely swirled or marred or scratched. I started conservative with a Wolfgang polishing pad and OP, then stepped up to OC, then switched to the orange pad w/OP, then OC, then the yellow pad w OP, then OC - High speed, with pressure - I was able to remove minor swirls, but I needed just a tad more cutting power. I've got some OHC coming, but like you, I'm thinking this paint needs a rotary.



I don't know if I'm ready just yet to invest in a rotary and pads and such - as much as I'd like to.

I guess I'll try again when the OHC arrives before I give up and take it somehwhere !
 
White paint is much harder than any other color, because of the mineral giving it its white color, talc I believe. On the white cars I work on, even for just a one step, I will use a rotary, LC cutting pad, and OP and it cuts the swirls, and doesn't even leave any holograms. If I were two stepping, I would be using a wool pad (which would leave little hologramming, then finish up with the lc cutting pad and op. That being said, I don't think a PC is for white colored cars.



Shaun
 
It's funny that you posted this thread. I just spent last night & this morning polishing my '00 Grand Am GT that is white. I used an orange LC pad with PB SSR 2.5 and I feel like it didn't even do anything. I even did multiple passes. One thing is for sure, I'll never own a white car again. Not only is it hard to correct, it's hard to tell where you have applied product.
 
I did a white Chrysler 300 C swirl city,it took a half hour or more trying different pads/products. I used a Makitta 9227 with a wool pad and PG at times using IP,although the paint finished up LSP ready i hit with VMG. For some reason :nixweiss it was a long process with this car by the time i was done i was sore for 2 days..
 
Shaun Carollo said:
White paint is much harder than any other color, because of the mineral giving it its white color, talc I believe.



Shaun
Click to expand...



This only applies if you're dealing with SS paint. If it's cleared then it doesn't matter what color it is as it's the clear you're polishing.
 
I have a cc'd white car, and its paint is definitely the hardest I've seen. It's dsm (mitsubishi) paint, but I've worked on other dsm paints that aren't this hard. I can use OHC on a yellow cutting pad (with a PC) and have almost no hazing, and it takes several passes to start to see anything.
 
Grrrrr.... I didn't need to see this. I just spent all day polishing my white '01 Mustang GT convertible & I've got the same problem.



Now, don't blame my washing practices... the finish was this way when I bought it- just haven't had a chance to get around to polishing it til now.



The claying went relatively smoothly, but things slowed down considerably once I started polishing. The swirls came out without too much trouble. Started with Speed Glaze (#80) which wasn't getting me anywhere, so switched to #83 (DACP). After 3-4 applications I've STILL got marring in the finish. So much for a quick weekend job. Have contemplated trying a cutting pad on the PC... yea, I know- it's not recommended but rotarys make me nervous with my limited experience.



May see what I can find available OTC tomorrow that's the next step up in the agressiveness scale.



I don't want to do a half-a$$ed job & slap a few coats of sealant on it, then have to live with the results for the next 6-12 months.



oy vey...
 
There would be no difference in the CC on a white car than a black car. The article talks about how hard SS white paint is.
 
right...i was just saying it seems like a coincidence that white cars seem to have very hard clears too (if they are not SS)



is there any online resource that lists the different makes/models of cars and their type of paint? SS vs. Clearcoated?
 
OK, I'm with you now. Online source? Not that I know of. Personal experience seems to be the only way in some cases.
 
Shaun Carollo said:
White paint is much harder than any other color, because of the mineral giving it its white color, talc I believe...
Click to expand...



Right about the white paint, but IIRC it's not talc, it's, uhm....thinking....I think it's something more along the lines of titanium. I want to say "titanium dioxide" but I don't think that's right either :confused:



paradigm said:
..anyone ever do a "normal" or "easy" white car?!?
Click to expand...



Sure, I've done them and as best I can recall I've never had an unusually hard b/c white car, certainly nothing like my ss white cars, which really *were* something else. E.g., my '96 Subie Outback was b/c white and it wasn't any harder than my uncle's maroon one.



There can be some incredibly wide-ranging variances in how hard clear is...just look at people with VWs ("mine's hard", "mine's soft") and Audi A4/S4s (Mike Phillips did an S4 that was so soft he could only use #66 on it, Bill D.s' A4 is hard as a rock). I really don't see how the basecoat under the clear could influence how hard the clear is :nixweiss



You folks trying to do serious correction oughta try 4" pads and Hi-Temp EC mixed with 1Z Ultra/Extra. Won't turn the PC into a rotary but it'll make it a lot more aggressive than what you're using now.
 
I thought you could only use EC with a rotary or cyclo...hmm. I did a silver 530i today that laughed at OHC, mabey I should pick up some EC.
 
i would have tried my 4" pads (just got the 3.5" BP and 4" propel pads!) but the car was so bad that it would have had to be done entirely w/ the 4" pads if that was effective...and i wasn't going to do that. i should have just tried to see if it would handle it though...next time i visit my friend i'll give the 4" pads a shot.
 
paradigm- Sometimes doing a whole vehicle with the 4" pads goes a lot faster than you'd think, if only because you don't have to work the paint as long. Does seem like a daunting prospect though, huh?



Bigpoppa3346 said:
I thought you could only use EC with a rotary or cyclo...hmm. I did a silver 530i today that laughed at OHC, mabey I should pick up some EC.
Click to expand...



Yeah, I was pretty leery about trying that, but it seemed to work OK with 4" orange pads, at least when mixed with the 1Z Ultra, which *greatly* increases the working time, which probably helps with the proper breakdown of the EC's abrasives. I dunno if I'd try it on *every* job without more experimenting, but it worked fine on the '00 Chevy Blazer I was doing, both the factory paint and some repainted areas. I did have to follow up with a milder product, but I expected that anyhow.



No way I'd try it with larger pads on the PC though, only with 4".
 
just to add to the thread i've done a whilte 03 cobra and a block 03 cobra, (not one being an 04 and the other an 03) and the white's clear was alot harder to work on then the blacks.
 
Put white aside for a second.





A lot of this could be more than skin deep. I did a 85 635CSI BMW the other day with some of the worst defects I've seen. Hi-Temp Extreme Cut on the rotary and cutting pad @ 1500-2100 would barely make a dent...Even at 3 passes. These swirls/scratches were in there for good, how, Idk? Neglect over 20 years?





I ended up hitting it with 106/RMG and a polishing pad @ 6 on the PC, then a thick coat of Natty's Blue. The owner and his brother were absolutely stunned.
 
I still think white cars (whether cc or ss) are harder to buff then other colors. This could be because its harder to see holograms/swirls in a white car, or because it actually is harder to heat up the paint. I remember reading an article about it a couple years ago and yes accumulator you are right about the mineral in it. I don't want this to turn into another corvette buffing argument, these are just my observations.



Shaun
 
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