I disappointed myself today.......A story of ungratification.....

A

a.k.a. Patrick

New member
Some of you had replied to a thread i started about a friend, who's daughter decided to wash dads Camry....with a Scotchbrite pad. (Heavy Duty nonetheless)....

I went over last wknd to preinspect it, took out some DACP, 3M SMR, followed with VM all by hand, then a quick Carnauba to hold him over....He and his wife were simply stunned at what proper products can do, they actually wanted "what I have" to maintain it.....

Well today was do or die day, i think i died...I really set myself up for a complete paint repair with the DACP and PC. I spoke to Anthony Orasco, he gave me some tips, which im always grateful for...

So I went ahead and clayed all horizontal surfaces, and hit it with DACP, front to back at about 4.0, then side to side about 4.5, then front to back again at about 5.5, then side to side at 6.0. I let the product work itself, practically until it disappeared. I hit all horizontal surfaces in this fashion....Then onto 3M SMR, side to side, front to back at various workable speeds, again until product nearly disappeared. After hitting it with 3M, I thought it looked pretty good, and then I looked again at various angles. It appeared all my efforts were for none. It looked nearly as horrible as when I first started. So I thought, “what do I have that may be just a tad more aggressive.â€� (Now that I think about it, this is where I should have whipped out the SSR3, but it never occurred to me at the moment.) I have one more product which I thought would do the trick, 3M Finesse it Fine cut compound. So I loaded up the pad, a yellow megs, and hit it again in the same DACP fashion. Nothing……..Do I give up ? I was soooo disappointed at that moment. I took out the VM, put a nice coat on, then hit it with some Platinum protection with a finishing pad, waited an hr, watched some Nascar racing, saw the #20 car nearly take out Gordon and Wallace within 5 laps of each other. (Why does Home Depot support this clown, anyway….)Wiped off the Plat which I love the crap out of, even in light of the new Wolfgang products which I was set to use…..My buddy came out and looked, I think I could tell he was a little disappointed too, I think…..Then he went on to say, that while I had all “the fancy polishers and products, to go ahead and do the entire outside….So, I took out the Meg’s ColorX, which I love, used a ylw Megs pad, and got familiar with all the side panels and bumpers….All went well….Im just so disappointed with all the horizontals and scratches !!! Anyway, heres some before and afters, the after shot is before the final wipedown, but you can see all of the smaller swirls and scratches were removed……
 

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Heres the after, sorry i couldnt put them together, im an idiot !! This was before my final wipedown.....
 

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OK, first, how the heck did you expect to get those things out? That paint was destroyed, I don't think you would be able to get those out with even the best products you could ever find.
 
Don't get down on you're self. The PC can only do SO much. It reaches a point where it either comes rotary or repaint.



Ever since getting my rotary and reading/practicing how to use it, I only use my PC now for final polishing or on a new/almost new car. Anything else I seem to reach for my rotary.



I doubt a PC can fully remove those marks unless you had a lot of patience and stronger pads.



A PC makes good paint great, but don't fully set out and expect miracle with it. It does have its limits. It does have a fast learning curve though.



With a rotary the chance for error is so much higher.
 
Jason is right, a rotary is much more powerful, and really gets out what the pc cant. But your pix show that the paint is crap to begin with. It looks like it has pebble chips everywhere.



You are a detailer not a miracle worker. :)
 
It looks like it has pebble chips everywhere.
Click to expand...
It does from that pic huh....Its actrually just some dust from the vaious products i had been using, and from that freeeeking Megs ylw pad, which was new yesterday ! Its shot ! I need a new pad supplier.......
 
I've noticed that DACP works much better on deep scratches with the red cutting pad than with the yellow polishing pad. However, even then all I can do with the PC is reduce their appearance a lot. But they aren't totally removed. A Scotch-Brite pad would put some serious scratches in paint (my sister did that once to remove bug guts). I really don't think a PC can tackle that kind of damage.
 
By the photo, that's a job for Mr Paint Gun.



But, I'd beat on it hard with the PC, DACP, and a wool pad first, then DACP with a cutting pad, then DACP with a finishing pad, Menzerna IP, and Menzerna FP.



Tom
 
I wouldnt get down, as others said that paint was from hell, and you really did a good job with what you had to work with. If a rotary was at your disposal I am sure you would have gotten it better. When I saw the first pic my initial thought was repaint. When I saw the second, I thought its got hope. You went as far as your products would allow. Be proud...



Yeah, the #20 car has some nerve, that guy supposedly threw the bird at another driver during a caution lap. Home depot needs to drop them...
 
You might consider wetsanding, and then reworking again with Compound Power cleaner, and then DACP? Those scratches look plenty deep, and it's not like you're going to hurt it any more than it already is.
 
Oh, I see. Well, in that case, you're better off leaving it alone. At least that guy will know to keep his kids away from the car with scouring pads now. :(
 
Why are you disappointed?



Even if it is not new car quality, It looks much better than it did.



Sometimes the effort is more important than the results.!!
 
A rotary *might* get most of those scratches out, but even they have their limits....like needing some paint to work with. Based on what you used, I think you got the best results possible. Maybe Power Compound or Diamond Cut would have helped, but those two are really rotary only products.
 
ok I don't want to sound nuts here but my car had some serious dealer installed scratches, all the way down to the base coat. I took some clear and filled them in with a brush, wetsanded, compounded, polished and I can't tell where the scratches were. I just wonder if something like this could be done on a larger scale on your project car, like spraying on some clear, wetsanding, etc, I know you don't want to get into wetsanding, I am just curious what others may think about this.
 
spraying just clear is a very complicated thing. The surface needs to be prepped specifically to accept it, in addition to being extremely clean.
 
THis post reminds me of when I went to my parent's only to see my mother's 10 month old wine red altima looking like it was parked in a sandstorm. Seems that old pops decided he was going to use rubbing compound (the clay colored one in the plastic tub) to rub down the car instead of wax



Needless to say I read him the riot act, told him to take it to a detailer to remove his swirl/scratch marks (and swirl marks are putting it lightly, looked lilke 5 cats went at it on that car). Then I told him he's only allowed to use car wash, a wash mit and towels to dry the car. What the hell I like having an extra car to practice on.





:scared
 
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