Looking for some tips and tricks for cars that have extra soft clearcoat

[Devious27t]

i have a nogaro blue S4 and the blue pearl clearcoat is notorious for being ultra soft, to the point where you can scratch it with your fingertip if there is any dust on the car. its quite frustrating. I have been detailing here and there for some years now and never have issues with other cars. But with this one i cant seem to get it the way that i want it. i just detailed it and started after the wash (two bucket) i clayed it with the megs fine grade (blue) claybar and the professional detailer (50/50 mix) removing the excess with a megs gold colored MFT. after that i used a P21S paint cleanser with a megs 6" yellow polishing pad on a 7336SP. after the cleaner i hit it with #83 to get some of the random scratches in the clear also with a 6" yellow polishing pad and my DA. now normally i dont get any issues with the #83, but in this case, the whole car has a great deal of micro marring on it. I put wax on it for the time being until i can figure out what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a dewalt DW849 that i am pretty handy with but i really dont think that this is a case where i should use it.

Here are some pics of my progress so far. if any of you local pros wanna take a look at the car in person i can do that *hint hint*

Before my first pass, after clay and cleanser:




After my 1st pass with #83:




I was thinking of hitting it with a swirl remover 2.0 with a yellow polishing pad and then maybe hitting it with speed glaze and a brown ultra soft pad after that. thanks in advance.

[the other pc]

Hey Devious27t,

to MOL!

Since you’re in OC why not sign up for a Saturday class or bring her on in for a Wednesday Night - Open Garage?


PC.


Very cool ride by the way.

[gbackus]

The micromaring is not from the paint being soft, but rather Audi paint is EXTREMELY hard. I find that you will almost without fail always get that hazy look on audi paint unless the deep stuff is polished out by rotary first.

What I think is happening, is that the paint is so hard, that you are rounding off the marring. So you get all the really noticable stuff out, but the paint is so hard that a DA won't take out the bottom pit of the marring.

I've polished out about 12 audi's so far, and all of them(even the one's with minor marring) required a rotary polishing to avoid that hazed look. Just so you know, I have also polished a B5 Nogaro Blue S4, as well as two B6's, and my experiences were the same.

[Devious27t]

Originally posted by gbackus
The micromaring is not from the paint being soft, but rather Audi paint is EXTREMELY hard. I find that you will almost without fail always get that hazy look on audi paint unless the deep stuff is polished out by rotary first.

What I think is happening, is that the paint is so hard, that you are rounding off the marring. So you get all the really noticable stuff out, but the paint is so hard that a DA won't take out the bottom pit of the marring.

I've polished out about 12 audi's so far, and all of them(even the one's with minor marring) required a rotary polishing to avoid that hazed look. Just so you know, I have also polished a B5 Nogaro Blue S4, as well as two B6's, and my experiences were the same.

i am having a hard time understanding how the car could scratch at the touch of my finger with only garage dust on the car if the clear coat is extremely hard. I will agree with you that most audi paint is very hard as my previous car was also an audi and a silver one at that. the paint on that car was VERY hard and very easy to maintain as a result. I am not saying you are incorrect but rather i am trying to understand how you could think that about this particular paint. i am love the color but am quite frustrated at my inability to make this car look perfect. I have very little experience/knowledge with determing paint hardness/softness and really want to learn because i think it will help me in my ability to maintain it flawlessly. please do elaborate for me. [UP]

[Devious27t]

Originally posted by the other pc
Hey Devious27t,

to MOL!

Since you’re in OC why not sign up for a Saturday class or bring her on in for a Wednesday Night - Open Garage?


PC.


Very cool ride by the way.

wow i didnt know that they had wednesday night ones! i work saturdays so i cant make those. signing up for wednesday night now!

[gbackus]

Originally posted by Devious27t
i am having a hard time understanding how the car could scratch at the touch of my finger with only garage dust on the car if the clear coat is extremely hard. I will agree with you that most audi paint is very hard as my previous car was also an audi and a silver one at that. the paint on that car was VERY hard and very easy to maintain as a result. I am not saying you are incorrect but rather i am trying to understand how you could think that about this particular paint. i am love the color but am quite frustrated at my inability to make this car look perfect. I have very little experience/knowledge with determing paint hardness/softness and really want to learn because i think it will help me in my ability to maintain it flawlessly. please do elaborate for me. [UP]

There is a difference between soft paint, and paint that is scratch sensitive . Take GM cars for instance. I can mar the hell out of corvettes when I wash them if I am not careful, but they are a BEAR to buff out. Another example is some Fords, from a particularly plant(I can't remember which one), the paint they use is very hard to polish the marring out of, but they scratch and mar easily.

If you take the saturday class, Mike almost always talks about this hard vs. soft paint issue, and the paint is, you can have hard paint that is scratch sensitive.

Most clearcoast tend to be pretty hard, but there are some exceptions(many Hondas for instance have EXTREMELY soft paint, but that is easy buff out). However, even the hard ones are easily scratched.

I can only share with you my particular experiences, and my experience with all Audis, even the NBP(which also happens to be my favorite color as well, almost trading my mustang in for an S4 in NBP before it got totaled), is that the paint is very hard.

[Mark2]

I agree with Devious27t. My previous car was the exact same model as you had also silver metallic. It was very easy to keep looking good. I polished it once during the four years I had it. I really had to look carefully to find any marring on it.

[Devious27t]

Originally posted by gbackus
There is a difference between soft paint, and paint that is scratch sensitive . Take GM cars for instance. I can mar the hell out of corvettes when I wash them if I am not careful, but they are a BEAR to buff out. Another example is some Fords, from a particularly plant(I can't remember which one), the paint they use is very hard to polish the marring out of, but they scratch and mar easily.

If you take the saturday class, Mike almost always talks about this hard vs. soft paint issue, and the paint is, you can have hard paint that is scratch sensitive.

Most clearcoast tend to be pretty hard, but there are some exceptions(many Hondas for instance have EXTREMELY soft paint, but that is easy buff out). However, even the hard ones are easily scratched.

I can only share with you my particular experiences, and my experience with all Audis, even the NBP(which also happens to be my favorite color as well, almost trading my mustang in for an S4 in NBP before it got totaled), is that the paint is very hard.

actually that makes alot of sense, because this paint is a pain to get little minor scratches out of (scratches that are visible but cant be caught with a finger nail)... so i guess i can see that it could be a hard paint that mars/scratches easily. so now the question is what to do with a paint like this? is it imperative to hit it with a rotary or can i take a little more time with the DA?

[gbackus]

Originally posted by Devious27t
actually that makes alot of sense, because this paint is a pain to get little minor scratches out of (scratches that are visible but cant be caught with a finger nail)... so i guess i can see that it could be a hard paint that mars/scratches easily. so now the question is what to do with a paint like this? is it imperative to hit it with a rotary or can i take a little more time with the DA?

Normally I would go straight to #83 or equivalent with a cutting or polishing pad. But since you have already done some polishing with the DA, I would try the rotary with #82 or #80 with a finishing pad, if that doesn't work, than move up to a polishing pad, and then finish with the DA.

[Devious27t]

Originally posted by gbackus
Normally I would go straight to #83 or equivalent with a cutting or polishing pad. But since you have already done some polishing with the DA, I would try the rotary with #82 or #80 with a finishing pad, if that doesn't work, than move up to a polishing pad, and then finish with the DA.

for future reference what are some good tips to keep the finish from getting flawed in terms of maintenance. i used a 1400psi pressure washer to wash the car along with auto glow soap, a megs mitt that i store in a bag when i am not using. i use the megs WW drying towel and a great deal of compressed air. i keep my MFTs in baggies when i am not using them, and that is all the time when i am not using them, i dont even set them down on anything. i scrub the faces of my pads with a brush after using them so that i dont get wax buildup on them.

[gbackus]

In my experience, it's IMPOSSIBLE to keep a DD, outside 24/7 car flawless. If it's a weekend car or something used infrequently, it looks like you're doing everything right, but you will still need to periodically polish out minor marring. You just want to keep this to a minimum and it looks like you're already doing everything right.

You just have to reach a point(a reasonable one taking into consideration the car's use) that you are happy living with, and maintain your vehicle to that standard.

[RamAirV1]

Re: Looking for some tips and tricks for cars that have extra soft clearcoat

for future reference what are some good tips to keep the finish from getting flawed in terms of maintenance. i used a 1400psi pressure washer to wash the car along with auto glow soap, a megs mitt that i store in a bag when i am not using. i use the megs WW drying towel and a great deal of compressed air. i keep my MFTs in baggies when i am not using them, and that is all the time when i am not using them, i dont even set them down on anything. i scrub the faces of my pads with a brush after using them so that i dont get wax buildup on them.

Use a flow of water instead of a strong spray when rinsing. This will cause most of the water to roll off the paint instead of standing in thousands of beads. The less wiping, the less chance of instilling swirls.

When you are drying horizontal surfaces, blot instead of wiping! This will go a long way toward minimizing swirls.

RamAirV1