Is the Sonus SFX-1 doing its job correctly? Pics posted

ev01ut10ndt

New member
Hi everyone,



I'm tackling my mom's 2002 CR-V before polishing my Infiniti this week. It has never been waxed before. Its a garaged car, so its not that bad.



So far, I washed with Gold class, and used pinnacle clay to remove 4 years of grime. The paint before felt like sandpaper after I compared it to the newly clayed areas. MAN, it was like a day & night difference!



Then I used the Sonus sponge and polished till my arm fell off with the SFX-1. (spent $100+ on chemicals/accessories, so no $$ for a PC). The paint practically was as smooth as a piano's laquer finish...to me it is so far. Anyways, my main concern is that there are still a crap-load of swirls and scratches on the hoods and doors that didn't budge. Its a heck of a lot better than before, but the swirls are still there. Here are some pics of the hood and front fender: (sorry, its kinda blurry, so i sharpened it a little on all the pics)



http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/ev01ut10ndt/P1010048.jpg

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/ev01ut10ndt/P1010037.jpg

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/ev01ut10ndt/P1010039-1.jpg



An overall pic of the car (the shine was accentuated by my camera)

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/ev01ut10ndt/P1010040-1.jpg



So is that all I could really do by hand with the SFX-1? Or are there more aggresive chemicals like SSR2.5 or the 3M ones?



Oh yea, when I'm polishing, there's dust coming out of the sponge. Is it something to worry about? Would it marr the paint? Heres a pic of it on the grill of the car:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/ev01ut10ndt/P1010052.jpg

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/ev01ut10ndt/P1010054.jpg



I plan to go with the SFX-3 next, then do the AIO and a couple of coats of SG. Would these last steps increase the shine/gloss?



Whoa...sorry bout the many pictures and noob-ish long post. I appreciate the help you guys have provided...the forum really taught me a lot about car care. I'm spreading the "joy" to all my friends who are "lucky" enough to know me.



Only YOU can prevent paint swirls. (ahem...smokey the bear?, :sosad )
 
I haven't used the Sonus products, but I've read somewhere here that they should really be used with a polisher to get full benefits (even though the directions say that it can be applied by hand.)



Another thing is that since SFX-1 is the most aggressive (for Sonus) polish, it's recommended to follow up with the SFX-2 to clean up any marring that it might have caused.



Experts, please help the OP out.
 
actually, if done by hand as in my case, the sfx-1 is fairly mild. It made the car shiner and glossy (as opposed to removing the swirls/minor scratches like I'd expected). The sfx-3 simply made the paint as smooth as possible. Then the aio and 1 coat of sg made the paint the best it has ever been. Thanks for the suggestion...ill try the ssr 2.5 next time i order online again.
 
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