What did I do wrong here?

mikenap

mikenap

New member
This is my first try at machine polishing so I decided to do a test run on the hood of my clapped out civic. The whole car is pretty nasty, with tons of scratches and oxidized to hell and back.

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So my first try w/ a PC 7424XP, M105 and a CCS orange pad seemed to be going ok until I saw these tiny scratches show up. I'm pretty sure they weren't there before since I can't see anything like it on the non-polished side. I just moved to another panel and they are there again.

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Am I doing something wrong? I've never heard of M105 leaving scratches before. I'm not using any real pressure, doing a couple of passes but this is starting to really discourage me. Any advice guys?
 
I don't believe the pics are very clear, but I think these are more scratches than haze. Very thin, white and ruler-straight. You can sort of see it around the halogens in that pic. Sorry my camera sucks, but it's the only one I have.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
That middle pic looks a bit like crow's feet/laquer checking.
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Not familiar with that. Is that a defect that the oxidation would have been hiding?
 
Setec Astronomy said:
http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/109527-compounding-causing-crows-feet.html
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Awesome Setec, that's exactly it. Thanks. For the record, it's a 96 Civic and now that I clean off the un-polished panel, I can barely see those crows feet. They are there, just all the oxidation and grime is covering them up. The polish just makes them more obvious.



At least now I can relax that I wasn't making matters worse. And at the same time hang my head in shame that I ever let it get that bad.:bawling:
 
mikenap said:
I don't believe the pics are very clear, but I think these are more scratches than haze. Very thin, white and ruler-straight. You can sort of see it around the halogens in that pic..
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-AND-



D & D Auto Detail said:
105 is a compound, its going to leave compounding haze. You need to follow it up with a less aggressive polish/ pad.
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Yeah, M105 will sometimes leave light marring because it's simply quite abrasive and doesn't break down. Once the oils/etc. are gone there's nothing left to buffer the abrasives.



Spritzing some #34 on before buffing off the residue can help a little, but sometimes the solution is simply to use a somewhat aggressive next step to remove that not-so-micro marring. I've done well with M205/orange when the problem was more severe than normal.
 
mikenap said:
Awesome Setec, that's exactly it. Thanks. For the record, it's a 96 Civic and now that I clean off the un-polished panel, I can barely see those crows feet. They are there, just all the oxidation and grime is covering them up. The polish just makes them more obvious.



At least now I can relax that I wasn't making matters worse. And at the same time hang my head in shame that I ever let it get that bad.:bawling:
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Setec Astronomy said:
No shame, man...that's why people come here.
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Yup, what Setec said.



And Honda paint has had a history of failing, so don't beat yourself up about it.



I'd say you're getting darn good results, especially for your first time.
 
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