How much does it take....

B

breakneckvtec

New member
when you do what I am about to do to get rid of my swirls, 3M machine polish - yellow pad followed with 3M SMR - white pad how much clear does it take off? I worry that its a signifigant amount, I dont want to harm the finish. Is it so small its not really something you need to worry about, meaning it would take tons of polishing/compounding for you to break through the clear? Also does my PC have enough "power" to remove swirls?



Off topic: How long should I expect to "work" the machine polish before its broken down enough to buff off? How bout the SMR, how long for that, from personal experience? Are there signs that will let me know when its been worked enough? Can I go over areas multiple times?
 
To answer your first question IMO:



1. I can't give you a straight answer on how much clear coat it removes... it all depends on you. Obviously if you work your PC in the same spot for an hour you will have reduced your clear coat much more than by doing it for 5 minutes.



2. It also involves how much pressure you apply.



3. To answer your off topic questions: You need to work the machine for as long as you need to to get out the swirlies. longer is never better, on the flip side don't be shy or timid about it. Very light swirls are easy and don't require much time or pressure.



4. Use Autopia's search engine it comes up with great results on techniques to use. Techniques are also very personal and almost everyone has thier own. All the good ones have one thing in common... patience.



5. Yes a PC can take out light swirls.





I know i didn't directly answer your questions but there is already so much info in allready posted questions.





Hope i helped a little though.
 
I don't think anyone here can give you a specific answer without seeing your paint. Some swirls are severe enough that they can require wetsanding followed by compounding, swirl removers, etc and others are so bad repainting is the only option. On the other hand, maybe one shot of SMR will remove them.



Point is though, without seeing your swirls in person, no one can give you an exact answer.
 
Can I have some general guidlines to determine what bad swirls are and what light swirls are. I know what mine look like but I have no clue on how to determine if they are bad or light. They appear light, except on on area of the hood they grab alot of light. I dont know what to look for.
 
Usually you can roughly tell how deep the worst swirls are relative to the lighter ones, they're usually brighter and look stronger. Also, how long each micro-scratch is, and how densely packed they are to each other can gauge condition. Probably the most important is how deep they are though, because that determines how aggressively you'll have to attack them. It's a judgement call really... I guess it just comes down to how noticable they are at different angles and lighting conditions.
 
breakneckvtec said:
Can I have some general guidlines to determine what bad swirls are and what light swirls are. I know what mine look like but I have no clue on how to determine if they are bad or light. They appear light, except on on area of the hood they grab alot of light. I dont know what to look for.
Click to expand...



Light swirls to some could be horrible swirls to others. it's all pretty relative to your swirl tolerance. the longer you stay here, the less you will have...
 
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