Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

[Gula]

Hey everyone, I'm new here and new to buffing in general. I'm not too worried to get my hands dirty and put in the extra work. It has been suggested to me to give it a good wash, clay bar it down, then dry her off and give it a good go with the UC either by hand or with a rotary. Thoughts? Check out the pics here:





The car is a 2007, this looks like just some paint fade/oxidation in the clearcoat. This is the worst affected area, the trim piece and those 2 doors. There are other spots around the car that just has some basic swirls that I'm not worried about, I know I can do that. There is no rust or anything crazy showing, I'm not entirely certain that its oxidation affecting these doors. Does this look like something UC can restore? And if so, how much time investment am I looking at? This is my daily driver, obviously not a showpiece, so my expectations are realistic and I'm just looking to bring it back up to a quality consistent with the rest of the car.

[The Guz]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Welcome to MOL.

My first question is, are you familiar at all with a rotary?

It does take a lot of work to do it by hand. You could do a test spot by hand on a small area to see if it can be removed by hand.

[Gula]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Familiar with a rotary: yes I know what one is, no I do not own one or havent used one, but I am interested in the process. Also worth noting, I do have a power drill with the BS attachment for a rotating polisher pad, but I think that will end up being more trouble than its worth.

[Lydia]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Just a quick thought here, but if you've never used a rotary and don't have one, I would recommend purchasing a dual action polisher instead. It's far more user-friendly and with microfiber pads and some of the SMAT compounds, you can get some serious correction power with a lot lower risk of causing damage.

[Gula]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Welcome to MOL.

... You could do a test spot by hand on a small area to see if it can be removed by hand.

Missed this part before, yeah I tried doing it by hand and went at it for about 45 min with seemingly no result. Might just be my method? Also, exhausting. I'm thinking a tool is in order...

[Blueline]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Do not, repeat, do not use a drill with one of those rubber flex pads that I think you are referring to. They can destroy paint. Try Ultimate Compound first by hand. Read the directions. You might be able to do a small car by hand, but it will be time consuming and painful. You could buy a DA System, less than $50.00 which attaches to a drill, and it is the proper system to use with a drill. I have one, and it does a great spot job with UC. I would never use it on my large car, but it just might be the thing for a smaller vehicle like yours. Alternatively you could buy a fairly expensive DA, (and all the pads along with it) dedicated for polishing cars, but once you have one, and your car is in good shape, and you keep it that way, you have an expensive tool sitting in the corner for eternity.

Don't forget to clay it first.

[Nick Winn]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

Are the doors single stage paint & the rest of the car clear coat? To determine, apply any product with cleaning ability to the paint, like a cleaner wax or Ultimate Compound. If red color comes off onto your applicator pad, they are single stage paint. If no color comes off, they are clear coat. This probably wont change out recommendation on products to use, but it is just good to know. Single Stage Paints actually tend to require more maintenance since they are so affected by the sun (oxidation.) Clear Coat paints don't really oxidize like single stage.

In regards to machines, like others have said, you can get results by hand, but a machine will maximize results & make it easier. Like others have also said, our DA Power System is a little workhorse. A true DA electric power tool like our MT300 Dual Action Polisher is also easy to learn.

[Gula]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Its clearcoat. I've done the test quite a bit, like I mentioned earlier was 45 min pretty intense by hand. Did this in a small area, no paint transfer at all. I want to think even that small application helped the affected area, but if it did it was minor if anything.

[drumdan]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

If you go with the rotary, maybe start with a polishing pad, and some M09 Swirl Remover, and keep the speed down.

I started on a rotary in the 90's, and that's what was recommended to me by the guys at the paint supply shop. Once I got more comfortable with it, I expanded my pad and polish selection, and started doing more trashed cars.
The Ultimate Compound cuts really hard, and can remove a lot of paint depending on how resilient it is. The reason I suggest the M09 is that it was designed for hand, d/a, and rotary use. It is an ultra fine cut, which can be made more aggressive by switching to a more aggressive pad.

These days, I'm all random orbital. I have a free Porter Cables, and some Rupes polishers

[The Guz]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Familiar with a rotary: yes I know what one is, no I do not own one or havent used one, but I am interested in the process.

This is why I asked the question. In the right hands a rotary is a good tool to use. In the wrong hands and it can be the wrong tool. Meaning burning through the paint. A dual action polisher is a tool that is easy to use and can product great results.

[Nick Winn]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Its clearcoat. I've done the test quite a bit, like I mentioned earlier was 45 min pretty intense by hand. Did this in a small area, no paint transfer at all. I want to think even that small application helped the affected area, but if it did it was minor if anything.

It is a little alarming that you worked on the door & saw little to no improvement removing the oxidation when applying Ultimate Compound by hand for 45 minutes. I.E. Something else may be going on with the paint. Did you just purchase the car?

Can you be a little more specific in how you applied the Ultimate Compound? What size of an area were you working in at a time? What were you using to apply & remove the product?

[mcleod52]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Do not, repeat, do not use a drill with one of those rubber flex pads that I think you are referring to. They can destroy paint. Try Ultimate Compound first by hand. Read the directions. You might be able to do a small car by hand, but it will be time consuming and painful. You could buy a DA System, less than $50.00 which attaches to a drill, and it is the proper system to use with a drill. I have one, and it does a great spot job with UC. I would never use it on my large car, but it just might be the thing for a smaller vehicle like yours. Alternatively you could buy a fairly expensive DA, (and all the pads along with it) dedicated for polishing cars, but once you have one, and your car is in good shape, and you keep it that way, you have an expensive tool sitting in the corner for eternity.

Don't forget to clay it first.

Don't forget DA's are great for applying wax and polish. Things you can two a couple times a year to a car. So not necessarily a tool sitting around. :-)

[Lydia]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Don't forget DA's are great for applying wax and polish. Things you can two a couple times a year to a car. So not necessarily a tool sitting around. :-)

Or you could start doing side work, or detail your family's cars. But I also see Blueline's point. Sounds like the OP was willing to buy a rotary to take to his paint so the DA shouldn't be too much to handle.

[davey g-force]

Re: Will this buff out with some Meguiar's UC or am I in over my head?

Don't use a rotary if you're not experienced with it! There's a good chance that will end in tears!