1st time polisher...not so good results!

[emaxxman]

Well, I took my first shot at polishing an 8 year old dark green Accord today. The car was never polished or waxed ever but washed carefully regulary. I have a fair number light swirls all over with ALOT of minor scratches on the hood and roof (would really like to know how the roof got them). The car is a daily driver on the interstate here in NJ - which means it takes a beating.

Steps were:

• Wash with foam gun, Megs Gold Class, rinse bucket, Megs chenille sponge
• Clay with Clay Magic clay and lube
• Wash again to remove all lube residue
• Polished car with DACP and orange pad (from autogeek.net)
• Washed car again to get rid of streaks from polish and polish dust :-(
• NXT wax with grey finishing pad from autogeek.net

I will say that the results are somewhat mixed and more disappointing than anything. I read Mike's guide to removing swirls with the PC and did follow them.

Clay yielded great results. The clay did a great job of pulling contaminants off the paint. I could easily feel the difference on the paint with my bare hands.

DACP - It was about 10-30 to 11 am by the time I started this...the paint was starting to get very warm but not scalding hot. The DACP seem to remove just enough of the surface blemishes to create an even appearance. However, it did dust up very fast and I had to apply more to the pad. I think this caused the polish to leave a heavy layer on the car.

I tried Megs QD with a mf towel to removed the DACP. It was taking forever for the QD to penetrate the DACP. I finally decided that the best thing to do was a thorough soak in Gold Class soap and rewash the car. This got rid of of 99% of polish and dust. I buffed the rest by hand.

At this point, I was starting to get worried...even though I only worked 1 sq ft at a time and applied even pressure, it only removed the lightest of swirls and none of the scratches. In fact, the scratches and paint chips were amplified by the dry polish in them.

I tried to buff them out by hand the best that I can. I gave up after about an hour.

I then applied liquid NXT with a grey finishing pad. This was the easiest part...the PC was on 3 and the NXT was very easy to spread around. I let it dry for about 10 minutes and did the swipe test. The NXT came off very easily and the shine is quite nice; good slickness too...the mf towels used to grab on to the rough paint surface before.

So, what did I do wrong?
What should I do differently...I know doing this in full sun affected the results but I don't have a choice...not trees or garage.
Should I have kept going with the DACP?

I have #80 speed glaze but didn't use it since the DACP didn't seem to do much.

[xfactor]

pc

the orange pad is a cut pad and should not be used with the pc.
I reccomend using Megs 8006 polishing pad with DACP followed with #80 with 8006 pad. You should see better results with this pad.

[emaxxman]

Can you clarify on your comment regarding the orange pad? What do you mean by a cut pad? More specifically, why is a cutting pad not the right choice?

The description for the pad says it's meant to be used with swirl removers.

[emaxxman]

One more thing...Mike P.'s guide states to

"Work the product until the diminishing abrasives have broken down, but you haven't gone completely to a dry buff."

How can you tell? I had an oily and hazy surface but also dust flying everywhere. Should I have kept working it till it was almost all dust?

[scarface_]

I'm heading out to a club, but i'll make this a lil quick.

7006 is a cutting pad, im thinking thats the same as the orange pad



That isn't meant for the PC, because its to rough and will "haze" the finish. The only way this is used for the PC is for the MF bonnet to be put over it.

You need to use the 8006 pad, with either 83 or 80.



Also, you aren't supposed to do this in the Sun, don't know if you did or not. Also, 83 drys up quicker then 80 does. I found out today after using 83 on my honda and it was hard to wipe off, i don't think i was breaking it down enough so i worked it in to a light haze on my moms car, then wiped it and it came off much easier. Hope this helps.

[emaxxman]

Well, I just finished watching the PC demo videos at this site...


www.NoCommercialLinksAllowed.kom

Please read the forum rules. I have a how-to DVD on the market also and I cannot post a link to it here either. - Mike




Yeah I was in full sun unfortunately. I guess I'll have to wait till later in the evening next to do this. I don't have any trees on my property so I don't have a shaded spot anywhere.

I'm also thinking that that need to work it longer. How do you know when the polish has broken down?

[imacarnut]

sometimes a few passes may be necessary....

[emaxxman]

Just wondering what is the best way to remove the dried, white, DACP that is stuck in the paint chips? There is also some splatter that is hardened on and is proving tough to remove without rubbing vigorously.

Would a bug and tar solvent do it safely?

Also, can you guys clarify why a polishing pad is better than a cutting pad? I thought the cutting pad woud remove the swirls faster.

[Mike Phillips]

Historically, people learn from people on other forums to use cutting pads with the PC and then come to this forum to learn how to remove the scouring.

It's possible to use a cutting pad with a dual action polisher and get good results but --> The Majority of People <-- run into problems and then cannot recover, that is to say they can't make the paint look good.

So as a policy on this forum we don't show people how to make mistakes, so we don't recommend using cutting pads with PCs, but when people run into trouble following bad advice we try to help them.

How's that?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by emaxxman
Just wondering what is the best way to remove the dried, white, DACP that is stuck in the paint chips? There is also some splatter that is hardened on and is proving tough to remove without rubbing vigorously.

Our 80's series of compounds and polishes is water-based, you can wash the dried splatter off by saturating it with water and soap and washing it off.

Also, can you guys clarify why a polishing pad is better than a cutting pad? I thought the cutting pad would remove the swirls faster.

Keep in mind the goal here, and that is to create beauty. Polishing paint is an art form, not merely a mechanical process. Speed doesn't' always mean good results when working on a thin, delicate layer of paint.

[emaxxman]

Hey Mike,

That's fair enough. I wasn't questioning the soundness of the advice. I was just trying to understand the "why".

So what would you recommend to remove to the dried DACP? I have a new bottle of Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner. Would that do it?

Should I use a polishing pad to apply and work in the DC Paint Cleaner?

Thanks!

[emaxxman]

Nevermind...

And thanks again.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: 1st time polisher...not so good results!

Originally posted by emaxxman

So, what did I do wrong?

Some paint problems require the use of a rotary buffer to fix them correctly. I've found that because people are scared of using a rotary buffer and rightly so, it's a monster to handle to buff out entire cars using na multiple step process, that they try to push the envelope as to what the PC can do.

Thus my reply in this thread in the Hot Topics forum.

PC + #83 not "Cutting" it! - The Limits of the Dual Action Polisher

One other thing to remember is that technique is everything when working on paint, good technique can be taught but it takes time and practice to perfect.

For example, I've seen people with the same products and tools not get the results they were looking for and a person that has the skill, knowledge and experience can use the same products and tools and get the job done.

Just the other week ago we had a class for a 350 Z club and the car we worked on was owned by someone who had all the right products and has even been to a class at one time or another, (Maybe a Wednesday night class which is not a full educational class), and yet when we used the same products and tools we removed the defects and produced a show car shine.




My350ZClub at Meguiar's


Great class today with a lot of questions about a diverse group of topics, thank you to everyone that attended and maybe we can have another class down the road for everyone that missed out on this opportunity...

Here's a few pictures from the class before I hit the highway... the sun never peeked it's head out after the demonstrations so we were unable to capture the before and after but it was pretty dramatic...

[emaxxman]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips

Keep in mind the goal here, and that is to create beauty. Polishing paint is an art form, not merely a mechanical process. Speed doesn't' always mean good results when working on a thin, delicate layer of paint.

I have to admit that I was pretty frustrated and discouraged on Saturday. I'm sure part of it was due to the heat. But now I realize that if you don't make mistakes sometimes, you'll never learn.

Your statement above definitely puts the process into perspective. Even with the marginal results that I got, my car is looking better than it has in years. The clay and polish created a surface that is slicker than I ever remember it being.

I am definitely ready to give it another shot...now how do I create shade to work in?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by emaxxman
Hey Mike,


So what would you recommend to remove to the dried DACP? I have a new bottle of Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner. Would that do it?

Our 80's series of compounds and polishes is water-based, you can wash the dried splatter off by saturating it with water and soap and washing it off.

The paint cleaner by hand should also loosen it so you can remove it, sadly sometimes, depending upon the rock chip, you'll need to poke at with something like a toothpick or a toothbrush. This isn't the best technique but sometimes it's all you can do.

Should I use a polishing pad to apply and work in the DC Paint Cleaner?

Thanks!

If' you mean to remove the dried DACP, then no, the best way to apply the DCPC to remove dried product would be by hand. The task you're trying to do is not easy no matter how you do it or what you use. There's a thread on this forum somewhere about using a pressure washer to blast dried product out of rock chips.