Work flow question with #80

[sneatz]

My plan was to use these steps on my 89 E30 Bmw White car, which was heavily oxidized and had some light swirl marks.

Wash car,
DC Paint cleaner
Clay
#80 cleaner polish
#7 pure polish
#26 wax

When I got to the step of #80, I had the hardest time removing the speed glaze after application. I was using a cotton round applicator, and a Micro-Fiber towel to remove. I switched to a thick Terry cloth, without much more luck. Directions stated to work into finish until almost dry, but I also read everything besides the wax can be removed while wet. So I tried again with a tad more product and quickly removing it before much use. Still I was leaving behind a residue.

My question : is there something wrong with my initial attack plan? I ended up using the DC paint cleaner to remove #80, followed by the Cleaner Wax sample in the clay bar kit. This seemed to work great, except I feel I wasn’t getting/using #80 correctly.

Note: I am working by hand, and was in a 10” test section after claying the hood. I have some 83 and 84 but wanted to work light first.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

-Akoni

[akimel]

Re: Work flow question with #80

Hi, Akoni. The experts will be weighing in shortly, but I thought I'd ask a question or two to push the conversation along:

First, do I understand you correctly that you applied #80 by hand?

Second, did you remove the product immediately after application or did you allow it to sit a while?

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Work flow question with #80

Especially if you are working by hand I think you are working it a little too long.

Try a shorter work time. Also, make sure you keep turning your towel as you remove the product to keep fresh portions of the towel available. That can really help.

As a final suggestion, if none of that helps then try using either Quik Detailer or Last Touch to remove the product. I use Last Touch diluted 50/50 with water when removing compounds or polishes on a regular basis.

[yalerd]

Re: Work flow question with #80

You could be working too long the product.
Try working it less until you have a clear residue (similar to Vaseline more or less)

Also if you are a terry cloth towel, try using a small portion of the towel to work the product, maybe if could be that the towel is absorbing too much product and you are not having time to work it

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Work flow question with #80

my 89 E30 Bmw White car, which was heavily oxidized

Heavy oxidation means it's a single stage which is probably correct because even while manufactures were switching over to basecoat/clearcoat paints starting in the 1980's single stage paints were continued to be used for white applications.

Can you verify it's a single stage paint? Are you seeing white pigment coming off as you work the M80?

I was using a cotton round applicator,

These actually work great for removing oxidation, can be found at any auto parts store and are inexpensive enough to simply dispose as you use them up.

Directions stated to work into finish until almost dry, but I also read everything besides the wax can be removed while wet. So I tried again with a tad more product and quickly removing it before much use. Still I was leaving behind a residue.

This is correct, that is what the label states, just don't work until dry, you should always have a wet film remaining on the surface.

If this is a heavily oxidized single stage paint then the paint itself is very dry and will tend to absorb the M80 and as you chew off the dead paint you'll end up with a cakey mess. A second application over the same section should work better because most of the dead paint should have been removed from the first application thus less dead paint to adulterate the process.

Cold temperatures and very warm temperatures can make this process more difficult. Anytime you run into a problem with a product one thing you can try is shrinking the size of your work area down which it sounds like that's what you're already doing.

Try re-applying M80 the same way over the same previously worked section and let us know if it worked better. If it did then the problem isn't so much a problem as it is the nature of cleaning or removing dead paint. Often times on extremely oxidized paints you want to apply a cleaner twice because the first application does most of it's work chewing off the dead paint while the second application focuses on smoothing over the paint and thus creating gloss and clarity.

My question : is there something wrong with my initial attack plan?

Read the above and try working M80 twice to one section and see if the second application is working better.

Also, shake M80 up very well before using and when working on dead paint you do want to use the product wet or heavy, heavier than normal because the paint will be dry and tend to absorb the product.

I ended up using the DC paint cleaner to remove #80, followed by the Cleaner Wax sample in the clay bar kit. This seemed to work great, except I feel I wasn’t getting/using #80 correctly.

Great recovery.

Note: I am working by hand, and was in a 10” test section after claying the hood. I have some 83 and 84 but wanted to work light first.

"Use the least aggressive product to get the job done"

M80 tends to work better for what you're trying to do on a heavily oxidized paint by hand because of it's rich oil content.

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