PC made more swirls?

[clor0x]

Hey guys, I've done 2 cars with my PC but this one was the first black car I did. It is a 1998 BMW 528i. I used 3M Finesse IT II machine polish on an orange cutting pad after claying it, and realized I may have used too aggressive a combo for this color, as I can see a lot of swirls. It was recommended to me to use Menzerna FPII on a white polishing pad to clean this up. This combo has eliminated most of the hazing, but I still see swirls/light scratches in the clearcoat under a bright halogen lamp, and I haven't even pulled the car out of the garage yet so I can imagine under the sun it's going to look like swirl city. Is there something I'm doing wrong or is this normal on black? I see so many pictures of black under a halogen after polishing and the surface looks flawless...not so much here.



My process with the FinesseItII was to spread it on the paint at speed 3 and work it in at speed 5.5-6. With the FPII, I spread it around the paint at 2 and worked it in at 4.5. I have been recommended to try working the FPII in at speed 3 and keeping it there.



Any advice is appreciated, thanks!



Vincent

 

[2StepsAhead]

A few questions for you, did you clay the car? Sometimes leaving that little bit of fallout can result in swirling the paint up, also are you using enough product? Sometimes you can get buffer trail marks. Did you check out the swirls before? When I was doing my friend's Syclone I could only cut so deep before I just wasn't making anymore impact, the swirls and scratches looked lighter then they had before because I couldn't get them 100% out.

 

[clor0x]

I did clay the car, but it was repainted in December 2005 and was a weekend car so I quickly found it did not really need it.

 

[White lexus 23]

I have made the same mistake on my black car too the first time i used my porter cable. if the cars paint is in fairly good shape you probblay wont need such a abrasive pad. now to take care of the swrils try this use a polishing pad wolfgang white polishing pads worked the best for me. and megs finishing pads. now this is going to take some time so dont get frustrated. first use megs swril remover 9 2.0 and a megs finishing pad. go very slow. and use at about speed 2. then hit it up with a wolfgang polishing pad with Zaino 5 car polish. also going slow dont go over speed 3 on the pc. or instead of the zaino 5, you could also use Z-PC Fusion Dual Action Paint Cleaner Swirl Remover with the same white pad. lastly use a good choice of wax. that should clean it up completely if you need you might need to do the step of zaino 5 and a polishing pad twice before waxing. zaino 2 looks exelent on black. hope this helps.

 

[clor0x]

Well I have Menzerna FPII to work with...I assume this is similar to the finishing polishes you mentioned?

I have made the same mistake on my black car too the first time i used my porter cable. if the cars paint is in fairly good shape you probblay wont need such a abrasive pad. now to take care of the swrils try this use a polishing pad wolfgang white polishing pads worked the best for me. and megs finishing pads. now this is going to take some time so dont get frustrated. first use megs swril remover 9 2.0 and a megs finishing pad. go very slow. and use at about speed 2. then hit it up with a wolfgang polishing pad with Zaino 5 car polish. also going slow dont go over speed 3 on the pc. or instead of the zaino 5, you could also use Z-PC Fusion Dual Action Paint Cleaner Swirl Remover with the same white pad. lastly use a good choice of wax. that should clean it up completely if you need you might need to do the step of zaino 5 and a polishing pad twice before waxing. zaino 2 looks exelent on black. hope this helps.

 

[Accumulator]

I did clay the car, but it was repainted in December 2005 ...

Welcome to Autopia!



Repaints are always a wild-card...some are softer/harder than the factory paint so you don't know what to expect.



I'm using *much* more aggressive products/procedures on my '97 BMW without any problems but your paint migh be different.



Try to figure out if the "swirls"/etc. are from your use of the FI-II or if they're problems that the FI-II hasn't completely removed.



I'd expect the FPII to remove the light micromarring that FI-II leaves behind, but *maybe* your paint is especially soft :nixweiss If that's the case then you need to either get some additional polish that's in-between the FI-II and the FPII, or just use the FPII many times. Also consider doing your final FI-II passes with a milder pad than the orange one.



If the marring is stuff that the FI-II just didn't get out, then you need to use the FI-II a few more times. The idea is to get all the bad marring replaced by micromarring from the FI-II and then remove that with the FPII.



FWIW I'd be using speed 6 with both products.



Be sure you work the FI-II long enough..it won't break down completely until it's *almost* dry...but there's a fine line between that point and *over* working it...you don't want to "work it dry".

 

[clor0x]

Thanks for the info... I just noticed a lot of hologramming on the hood under direct sunlight while looking at an angle. Why isn't Menzerna FPII on a white polishing pad removing this?

Welcome to Autopia!



Repaints are always a wild-card...some are softer/harder than the factory paint so you don't know what to expect.



I'm using *much* more aggressive products/procedures on my '97 BMW without any problems but your paint migh be different.



Try to figure out if the "swirls"/etc. are from your use of the FI-II or if they're problems that the FI-II hasn't completely removed.



I'd expect the FPII to remove the light micromarring that FI-II leaves behind, but *maybe* your paint is especially soft :nixweiss If that's the case then you need to either get some additional polish that's in-between the FI-II and the FPII, or just use the FPII many times. Also consider doing your final FI-II passes with a milder pad than the orange one.



If the marring is stuff that the FI-II just didn't get out, then you need to use the FI-II a few more times. The idea is to get all the bad marring replaced by micromarring from the FI-II and then remove that with the FPII.



FWIW I'd be using speed 6 with both products.



Be sure you work the FI-II long enough..it won't break down completely until it's *almost* dry...but there's a fine line between that point and *over* working it...you don't want to "work it dry".

 

[Todd@RUPES]

You should always start the the LEAST aggressive method and work your way up unless you have worked on that particular car before. The five minutes it takes to work a section with more aggressive products would have saved all the headache.



Never guess how aggressive you need, because you cannot tell by looking a paint. You can only tell by working on it.

 

[clor0x]

I know this now and will use this in info in the future. The problem I am having is there is some micro marring and hazing on the hood that I cleared up well with the PC on 6 with FPII. I finish a section and it looks clear after removing the polish. Next to it, you can clearly see the marring in a section I haven't completed yet (it looks clear compared to a section that looks like it has a white film). It just seems like I can't get the whole hood evenly clear -- I finish the whole hood and it looks like the hazing came back in a bunch of places!

 

[fjames]

I went through this today on the hood of my black Honda (notoriously soft paint, as are re-paints.) Using SSR2.5->SSR1, orange and white LC pads respectively, I just couldn't get it all out. Solution was to go to PB Pro Polish, a chemical cleaner I think - no abrasives - on a finishing pad and it took it right out.



The rest of the car was no problem removing the orange/SSR2.5 marring, but the hood just wouldn't do it.

 

[clor0x]

Funny that you say this, because I threw Klasse AIO on my white pad and it took it all out as well! I didn't think the Klasse had any cutting property to it (perhaps it has fillers?) Very interesting!

I went through this today on the hood of my black Honda (notoriously soft paint, as are re-paints.) Using SSR2.5->SSR1, orange and white LC pads respectively, I just couldn't get it all out. Solution was to go to PB Pro Polish, a chemical cleaner I think - no abrasives - on a finishing pad and it took it right out.



The rest of the car was no problem removing the orange/SSR2.5 marring, but the hood just wouldn't do it.

 

[Accumulator]

.. I threw Klasse AIO on my white pad and it took it all out as well! ..

Perhaps it was just polish residue :nixweiss



It sounds like you're getting things squared away now, is it working out OK?

 

[Shades]

I am SO glad you guys brought this up!!! Yesterday I was so aggravated after I did a midnight blue Z71. I did intensive via orange LC pad (not necessary) and followed it up with FPII via White LC pad. I took my time and worked it and worked it etc and it was so hologrammed it was not even funny!! Weird thing was when I wiped it the hologramming would move. Obviously there was polish residue and it looked tacky as hell. I was so distraught after returning the truck. I mean, I have done 10+ cars and this has NEVER happened to me!! I have a bottle of Klasse AIO that sits on my shelf cuz I couldn't ever figure out what to use it on. I think I figured it out! Thanks for the info guys!! BTW, why is there still residue when I work the fpII in and wipe it off real good??

 

[Accumulator]

..BTW, why is there still residue when I work the fpII in and wipe it off real good??

I'd guess it's from the polishing oils in the FPII. Can't say for sure as I've only used FP (the previous version), which didn't have as high an oil content.

 

[clor0x]

Not sure what it was, as I was cleaning the area with MF towel after polishing. The Klasse AIO did the trick though.

Perhaps it was just polish residue :nixweiss



It sounds like you're getting things squared away now, is it working out OK?