Help in the middle of a detail

J

jw

New member
I'm in the middle of detailing a black 07 Mercedes GL450 with a ceramic clear coat. Nothing I use with the rotary is touching the scratches or heavy swirls. You can't feel these with your fingernail so I would think you could get them out. I've tried SIP on a orange then yellow pad, and I've tried M105 on a orange and yellow pad. All these combos make the paint shine but upon closer inspection there are a lot of swirls and scratches left. I've had my makita up to 1800 rpm and still nothing. Please help, Am I screwed?
 
Foam is not really a great product for doing heavy correction. I have all but thrown out my yellow ccs pads. Lake Country PFW is the preferred pad for doing correction.
 
Sounds strange to me if even 105 with a cutting foam isn't taking your marks out. That combo can easiy remove 3000 grit sand scratches. How long are you working Menzerna?
 
pampos said:
is there a possibility for the scratches to be under the CC or just to deep to be removed easily???
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Sounds like that's what it could be... when I had the hood of my car repainted, they left sanding marks under the clearcoat in a small section :bawling: Took a while to determine that's what it was, despite all the correction attempts.
 
Try a wool pad with either 3M Extra Cut, System One Polish, or M105. Above all, work sloooowly until the product clears. Use a fair amount of pressure as the Makita is pretty light in weight and your products are just riding the surface doing nothing but polishing.



If you induce wool swirls, they will polish out with a foam pad.



Toto
 
I do have a PFW that I tried last night with SIP and 105. It seemed to help but still lift some scratches. When you say to work the polish longer, are you saying to turn down the rpms so it doen't flash as fast or what? 105 flashes extremely quickly(usually 1 pass) and SIP takes a couple of passes to flash. I'll try applying a little more pressure also.



Thanks
 
Accumulator said:
Yep, switch to wool. If you don't have any on hand, find a local autobody/paint supply place; they'll have 'em.
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Remember, usually the wool pads available OTC are not very high quality, lots of synthetic. They will get real hot real fast and cut like nothing you've ever seen.



Powergloss and one of those OTC (practically plastic fiber) pads are a lethal combination...
 
Presta Ultra Cutting Creme and a wool pad ought to do it. This stuff puts M105 to shame - it's known as "rocks in a bottle".



You'll probably need M105/orange to clean up the mess it leaves, though.
 
jw said:
I do have a PFW that I tried last night with SIP and 105. It seemed to help but still lift some scratches. When you say to work the polish longer, are you saying to turn down the rpms so it doen't flash as fast or what? 105 flashes extremely quickly(usually 1 pass) and SIP takes a couple of passes to flash. I'll try applying a little more pressure also.



Thanks
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jw: I don't know what PFW is (I assume it's foam wool). Working the compound/polish longer is definitely working in the low rpm range (1,000-1,200 rpm). You are right about 105 flashing to dry quick. I've reduced that by adding some Meguiar's #83 to the same pad and that will give you a long working time. I work the product until there is no haze or residue. This also allows me to check to see if the correction is working or see if I need to step up to something stronger (pad or product).



Pressure on the machine is kind of black magic. I use some (but not nearly as much as the dealer who has 25+ years of compounding BMW's...he can be downright scary on a hood...but has the knowledge and experience that I don't). Without some magic pressure gauge, I keep the rotary at 1,000 rpm and put enough pressure to hear the motor pitch change...boy that's some measurement LOL.



Toto
 
Did a similar car last week, similar issue too. Ended up going with 105 mixed with optimum polish (like 8:1 105:OP) on PFW, got up to ~1800 rpm then dialed it back slowly like Toto mentioned. Yes, I did use light pressure. Good luck.
 
I can't bring myself to westand a $70k car. The purple foam wool pad with SIP ended up doing a fairly good job. Not perfect but a big improvement. The 106ff really made it pop.
 
jw- Glad it turned out OK. Lesson for next time, huh? Glad you were able to use the PFW.



TotolandMach- Yeah, the "PFW"= Purple Foamed Wool from LC. Oh, and that's nice of you to praise the guy who uses pressure with the rotary the way you did...it's not like *you* don't have a bit of experience under *your* belt as well ;)



charlesaferg said:
Remember, usually the wool pads available OTC are not very high quality, lots of synthetic....
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Ah, guess it depends on the shops in your area as mine have Presta and Meg's.. so I didn't even think of the cheapie pads possibility. Yeah, I wouldn't want to try a no-name synthetic-blend pad on sombody else's Benz!
 
Accumulator said:
Ah, guess it depends on the shops in your area as mine have Presta and Meg's.. so I didn't even think of the cheapie pads possibility. Yeah, I wouldn't want to try a no-name synthetic-blend pad on sombody else's Benz!
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Yep.

Besides, I like my foamed wool better anyways.

I guess if you're in a pinch you might need some. I've had to do that with megs foam before.
 
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