Polishing woes

[Vapour Trails]

I recently bought a PC 7242 & lake country orange, white and blue pads for my 2006 Mustang GT with Vista Blue (deep dark blue) paint.

Although my car is fairly new, it had bad swirls in my opinion which were readily visible in direct sunlight. I hated it. It also had some fine scratches in random spots. I’m not sure how it swirled so quickly and badly as I hand wash using proper techniques, but I digress.

Thecarter13 told me to use M105 and follow that with M205. He said that Ford paint was hard and aggressive applications were necessary to remove swirls.

Last night I washed the car with dish detergent and used the clay bar. I used my orange pad with M105 and followed that with my white pad and M205. In the fading light of day, it looked good. I moved the car into the garage and examined it with a bright halogen light. It appeared like the swirls where gone and I was pretty happy.

This morning I took the car out to go to work. In the bright morning sun what was revealed was disappointing. There are still swirls visible, but now I also have holograms or buffer swirl. After reading some material this morning, it appears I may have induced these holograms by failing to work the polish, especially the M105, adequately into the paint, not allowing it to properly break down. I tired to stop at the point where the polish was just on the verge of drying, just barely moist.

Somewhat paradoxically, I have read the holograms make be the result of working the polish too long, at this point I am not sure.

My question is, where do I go from here? I have not carried out a final wax yet. Should I go back and reapply M205 with a white pad, working the polish fully? I really want a spectacular finish and what I have now might be worse then when I started.

Thanks

 

[thecarter13]

Do you have pictures?

Secondly how did you work the 105 and 205, how much pressure did you apply, how many passes did you make, what speeds did you run?

Did you do any isopropyl alcohol wipe downs after each pass?

While I have stated numerous times that Ford Paint specifically on our mustangs tends to be hard, there happens to be a few exceptions to that which i believe are extremely rare. I can't say that for sure and really want to know what kind of technique or methods you used while polishing.

Hope we can figure this out

 

[Vapour Trails]

Do you have pictures?

Secondly how did you work the 105 and 205, how much pressure did you apply, how many passes did you make, what speeds did you run?

Did you do any isopropyl alcohol wipe downs after each pass?

While I have stated numerous times that Ford Paint specifically on our mustangs tends to be hard, there happens to be a few exceptions to that which i believe are extremely rare. I can't say that for sure and really want to know what kind of technique or methods you used while polishing.

Hope we can figure this out

For both the 105 & 205 I spread the compound around briefly at a speed of 3, then went up to 5. I used moderate pressure, decreasing as it dried out. I slightly wet each pad before I started.

I did not use alcohol between passes. I should also mention that most of my car was repainted last summer. I don't know if that means the paint would be the same hardness as the original.

I'll work on getting some pictures.

 

[Kaldar142]

Good luck on this man... reminds me of the time i tried to detail my subaru and ended up looking worse than i started... LOL

 

[thecarter13]

For both the 105 & 205 I spread the compound around briefly at a speed of 3, then went up to 5. I used moderate pressure, decreasing as it dried out. I slightly wet each pad before I started.

I did not use alcohol between passes. I should also mention that most of my car was repainted last summer. I don't know if that means the paint would be the same hardness as the original.

I'll work on getting some pictures.

Well seeing as its been repainted more than likely the clear applied is much softer than before. Most body shops and what not will stay away from the hard like factory stuff so that could explain the holograms and what not.

I would say give 205 a try on the white pad see what you get if not step up to a orange with 205 and check again. If that still isn't achieving results try 105 with the white. what other products do you have?

Btw your technique is correct and judging by it I would say the 105 might have been a step to aggressive hence the holograms. How many passes did you end up going over it? It could have possible still been over worked. Im trying to search a few detailing forums for videos on da polishing with 105.

the joys of detailing, btw try a few test spots, this really helps narrow down right product and pad combo.

Hopefully this is helping, I apologize if you get pointed into the wrong direction, but im hoping we can get this figured out and get your stang looking beautiful again.

Lastly I hope to have a good writeup showing a full detail on my car, Ill be doing a full 3 step polish illustrating different techniques and showing how to really jewel her up.

Good luck on this man... reminds me of the time i tried to detail my subaru and ended up looking worse than i started... LOL

Detailing is one of those thing that just comes with time and unless you have no one around to really point you in the proper direction it can be very hard to learn, its also time consuming and laborious and kinda pushes people away because of that. I remember when I first started doing this I went through maybe 25 to 30 hoods and panels just learning to read the machine and finding out my technique.

 

[grampa_stang]

Go to autogeek.net. They have videos: click here There's 3 videos. I bought the intermediate swirl remover kit. Another thing I noticed, the faint swirl marks disappear when you wax.... I also noticed, some swirls will come back after several washes (even though I NEVER wash or dry in a circular motion). So, maybe the kits are only hiding the swirl marks. It's really hard to tell if you've truely removed the swirls when there's a ton of product on the car.

Still, I use it and it looks better after I'm finished.

 

[thecarter13]

Go to autogeek.net. They have videos: click here There's 3 videos. I bought the intermediate swirl remover kit. Another thing I noticed, the faint swirl marks disappear when you wax.... I also noticed, some swirls will come back after several washes (even though I NEVER wash or dry in a circular motion). So, maybe the kits are only hiding the swirl marks. It's really hard to tell if you've truely removed the swirls when there's a ton of product on the car.

Still, I use it and it looks better after I'm finished.

Yea, very true, what is actually happening is not removal of swirls rather a very light removal with filling going on. Your not actually removing the swirls just masking them. Its ok to do and what not especially when a car has dangerously low levels of clear. But this is where alcohol wipe downs come into play, they are able to remove any lasting product and show the true correction done. XMT stuff is really bull hunkey in my opinion but the menzerna on the other hand is top notch. Pricey but they make some of the best polishes around and they are designed specifically for the harder paints. I think they offer some other kits in there too but I haven't checked in with Auto Geek recently so......

My 3 step or 4 step looks like this

1. 105 & Wool Pad (7.5"), 105 & LC Orange Flat (4"), 105 & LC PFW (4")
2. Menzerna Super Intensive & LC White Krompressor (7.5") and LC White Flat (4")
3. 3m Ultrafina & LC White Krompressor (7.5") and LC White Flat (4")

Sometimes I throw a 205 step in there with white pads but thats only If im really up for a 2 day detail. I also use various pads for different areas and what not. I also use Optimum Hyper followed by Optimum Polish II and Ultrafina to do my hood since it is a much softer clear. This is also all done with a rotary not a pc or g110, I dont think my wrist can take much more of the shaking, ha.

Most of the time however great correction can be achieved using a simple two step such as 105 & 205 or 105 & SIP. 105 and 205 have really become a go to combo for many detailers for the simple fact that they are aggresive, finish well, and are easy to manage. Granted 105 is considered one of the roughest compounds out there the diminishing abbrasives are what really make it shine. I have seen people do a 2 step with just 105 and come out with really stellar results. 105 with Orange or Wool to a 105 with white on slow speeds.

 

[LuckyH]

If this is your first time doing it, it's going to take a little time to get a "feel" on what your doing. I would work on a single section of the car at this point (something flat-trunk, hood, or roof) Put tape down and do half of that panel. See how that compares to what you did previously and go from there. It's hard to tell a difference unless you see it side by side. This will make any improvements apparent and you can adjust your method accordinly. Also stated above, you need to do the 50/50 wipedown to see whats going on between steps.