Foxbody with HEAVY oxidation on respray single stage paint. Help.... going slow.

[kkarasch]

Seems like this job is taking forever. I'm using an orange LC pad with UC (speed 5). getting the oxidation off in about 3 steps but then having tough time really making it shine. Used swirl X after on the orange pad (speed 4), and with a white pad. Then was finishing with a M66 on a white. Havent worked with many single stage paints. This was the very best i could get it and can't seem to get the same results on the rest of the hood. My pads need to be cleaned? Any techniques for the singe stage i'm not aware of?

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[Murr1525]

How red are your pads getting? How many pads do you have?

[kkarasch]

I have 3 orange and 3 white. But they need to be cleaned. The white do not seem to be getting terribly red.

[Murr1525]

Yeah, as the pads build up paint and product in them, you will lose cutting/cleaning ability.

For heavy cleaning, a pad per panel may be needed, esp the orange ones (they can be cleaned of course). The wax could be the same pad for the whole car, but the cleaning steps would want fresh pads.

Single stage paints do like oil rich products, but losing cleaning ability sounds more like a pad issue, assuming your technique stays the same.

Also, it does sound like a lot of steps, but depends what you need. One pass of SwirlX should do it, or even just #66 maybe. But hard to predict that just typing...

[Mark Kleis]

If you're cutting heavy oxidation you may want to step up to a heavier compound for some extra bite. What are you using for your initial cut?

[kkarasch]

I'm using Ultimate compound. Sounds like i may be clogging my pads quickly. It looks almost like i'm smearing the oxidation sometimes as i was doing the hood.

[CHzo6]

Yes indeed. Another thing I like to do is go over single stage paint with a polish with lots of oils before I start to compound, this way you feed the paint some oils and keep it from absorbing a lot of the Ultimate compound, or whatever you use. "Old school" polishes such as Dual Action cleaner polish or speed glaze have always given me great success on single stage. Always clean your pads often with SS paint and compounding.

[CHzo6]

Take a read through this article by the Jedi Master...

http://www.autotraderclassics.com/ca...sationId=21363

[kkarasch]

Well I finally used my pad cleaning system and this is what i was able to do with the sides. This is one step of UC with a freshly cleaned orange pad. I used minimal product and it seemed to provide better results when I almost let it get to the point of drying. The sides definitely came out better than the hood and trunk. Its been neglected for at least 6 years that i know of. I had to go over those about 3 times to get any shine. Wood wool have been a good choice for those areas? Ive never used any yet.
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[Murr1525]

Wool wont really go well with a DA. Maybe a stronger cutting pad, but then you may leave minor swirls behind that would need follow up steps to remove.

The vertical surface may be less damaged as well of course.

Is this your car? you may find that your next time detailing it ends up improving things further, esp when you can just focus on mild cleaning/polishing/waxing.