Questions On Use Of SSR's

[HondaMan]

JSUP and I worked on his Corvette the other day; we should have pics here in a few days. In the meantime, I had a bunch of questions that came up as we were doing the car. If you guys can respond, it should help us both immensely when we SSR again in the future:

(1) We used SSR 2.5 and seemed to get good results -- do most of you find that SSR 2.5 is the 'default' grade for SSRing all but nearly brand-new cars? Anyone finding that SSR 2 or even SSR 1 is enough abrasive to get out spiderwebs and light scratches, buff marks, etc? Does anybody use SSR 3 ?

(2) We used the Green Buffing SONUS (SSR 2.5) pad and the Blue Edge (SSR 2) pad. I was concerned because once before I accidentally used a cutting pad. As a general rule, use buffing/polishing pads, right? The pads one-step below in toughness what you would apply sealants to the car with, right?

(3) We used the PC 7424 at 5500 RPM. Rather than use a MORE abrasive pad at a slower speed, I went by my recollections from DC.com and used the pads in (2) above at the near-max speed that Poorboy and others said would break down and work the compounds. Is 5500 RPM with the pads I used the right combo ? Would you use a faster/slower speed depending on the car's color, or the SSR being used ?

(4) We saw the SSR 2.5 break down into powder but didn't really see the SSR 1 flake that much when we used it right after. Does that seem right ?

(5) We made an "X" with the SSR compound on the pad and used it to do about 1/2 the hood or a similar panel, working the compound (SSR 2.5) until it powdered up (4-6 minutes about). Is this about right? Is it better to use a bit too much or a bit too less compound ? Can you hurt the car if you didn't spread the compound around evenly and one section has little compound and mostly pad hitting it ?

(6) The SSR 1 seemed to finish in less time than the SSR 2.5 so we did it for 2-4 minutes at a section. Does this seem right ?

(7) We went SSR 2.5 / SSR 1. How do you know that you shouldn't go SSR 2.5 / SSR 2 / SSR 1 -- is that overkill? Or even SSR 2.5 / SSR 2 / SSR 1/ Poorboys PP ?? Right after we SSR 1'd the car, we went to Klasse AIO.

(8) How long does it take you guys to SSR a car, including all the steps you use in (7) above? It took us about 3 hours last night, though we were working very slow and methodically. Is that too long to do 2 steps (SSR 2.5 and SSR 2) ??

Thanks for the feedback, we did a pretty good job, got rid of lots of spiderwebs, but it took us a long time to do the job and I think we could have gotten out more of the stray scratches if we had more experience and/or were less afraid (maybe we should have used more compound, worked it longer, or upped the speed to 6000 -- I dunno). Since we were both new at this, and it was a Corvette, we wanted to play it safe.

 

[mgm2003]

On a brand new car, you shouldn't need anything stronger than SSR1. It's always best to try a spot with the least aggressive SSR using a dry polishing pad, and bumping up to the next most aggressive SSR if you don't see results after a few passes.

All SSR's seem to work best with a dry polishing pad -speed setting 5.5 if using a PC. More aggressive pads, don't necessarily yield better results.
Bumping the speed down to 4-4.5 during your final pass will help it finish cleaner.

SSR2.5 can dust for a few reasons:

-You are using too much product.
-Working the product too long.
-You need to spur your pad because it's loaded up.

Many of your questions have a theme around 'how long does it take'. It's really not a matter of setting a timer to 'n' minutes or 'n' passes. You have to work in the product until it breaks down. You also have to consider the tool you're using, experience, paint condition, etc... -several factors play into how long it takes. Do a search on BlkYukon -he has shared a few excellent examples.

 

[jsup]

On a brand new car, you shouldn't need anything stronger than SSR1. It's always best to try a spot with the least aggressive SSR using a dry polishing pad, and bumping up to the next most aggressive SSR if you don't see results after a few passes.

All SSR's seem to work best with a dry polishing pad -speed setting 5.5 if using a PC. More aggressive pads, don't necessarily yield better results.
Bumping the speed down to 4-4.5 during your final pass will help it finish cleaner.

SSR2.5 can dust for a few reasons:

-You are using too much product.
-Working the product too long.
-You need to spur your pad because it's loaded up.

Many of your questions have a theme around 'how long does it take'. It's really not a matter of setting a timer to 'n' minutes or 'n' passes. You have to work in the product until it breaks down. You also have to consider the tool you're using, experience, paint condition, etc... -several factors play into how long it takes. Do a search on BlkYukon -he has shared a few excellent examples.

The car is not brand new. It is 16 years old, going on 17. it's a 1990.

HOWEVER, the paint IS like brand new. that's what he meant. I am trying to take it from a grade "A" to a grade "A+". Since it's already clean, I am very consious of screwing it up and making it worse.

I still have some minor surface scratches that ou can see if you twist your head just the right way.

I have a rotary polishier, the Mikita that I am using 3M pads and 3M polish. The 3M Finishing Glaze. The PC is a bit less aggressive.

Can I PC out light scratches, or should I go directly to the Mikita.

Are the black 3M pads too aggressive (they are the lightest 3M makes) and how about the finishing glaze? Has anyone used that?

Thanks all.