What is the more likely conclusion...

[3Fitty]

Some might remember a few weeks back I did a single panel on my brother-in-law's black Audi A8. This car is covered in swirls and RIDS.

I worked the front quarter panel with M205, acheiving nothing, moved right to M105 because I was being impatient.

In any event, after 2 or 3 separate passes with M105, I thought I removed all the swirls, but not the RIDS. I cleaned the area with QD, followed by M07 and 2 coats of NXT 2.0.

In full sun, it looked swirl free, but still had the RIDS. A week later, I was at his house (my b-in-law) and I looked at the quarter panel again and it was covered in swirls. He admitted to me that he took the car through and autowash (not touchless). He may have taken it through twice, although he won't come clean.

So, my question is, which is the more likely conclusion...

1. Either I didn't really remove the swirls, just masked them with my process; or

2. He put new swirls in the paint with the drive through wash?

As much as I hate the automatic washes, I have a feeling it might be #1.

[MrCLRider]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

i'm looking forward to an answer on this too...

[Tuck91]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

I think you removed them and he put them back in,

I doubt something as powerful as M105 simply masked them.

[3Fitty]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

Should I have done an ISO wipedown?

[Jokeman]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

Have you been reading another forum and a post about 205 doing some filling?

[Ivan Rajic]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

It's both... go try M105 and M205 and do an IPA wipedown afterwards and you'll see it's not as good as it seems at first... I can only speak for M105 as I have yet to use M205 but I've heard it from reputable detailers... I believe it's due to the abrasives and it's hard to finish out perfect, especially with PC...

I'm waiting on my bottle of M205 to do some experimenting with, but M80 folloing M105 or M95 has been good to me... it fills but also finishes down LSP ready.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

Should I have done an ISO wipedown?

That and then inspecting in a couple of different kinds of light would have assured you or revealed to you what's really going on.

It's a bad idea to make blanket statements about the hardness or softness of the paint on any particular model of car because the car manufacture can change paint systems or other factors can make differences in polishability between cars of the same make.

That said, most of the new Audi's I've personally worked on have all had very hard paints, at least it would be fair to say they were not very polishable.

There were a couple of guys that brought their Audi Stationwagons to our Thursday Night Garage classes a couple of years ago, and the paint on both of these two stationwagons was as soft as butter.

(I recently found the thread with the pictures of these two blue Audi's but alas I've lost it again. Maybe a Super Searching Sleuth can find it?)

If you continue to work on this car be sure to use a Test Spot or two and some close inspection to dial-in your process first to make sure you're getting the results you want.

[3Fitty]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

Thanks for the tips guys.

My thinking was not that M205 or M105 filled, but rather when i put the entire process together, something I used *concealed* some of the swirls and I wasn't diligent enough.

It might be that I got everything and his washes did the trick. I'll know when I do the entire car and I will certainly do a test spot followed by a ISO wipedown.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

Well maybe it is a combination of both. If he always uses the same car wash the brushes would be hitting in the same place. Then the swirls are back. Then if you say that you think you removed them. Maybe you did not remove them completely. Then when he took it to the car wash there they were in all there glory.

About the only way to tell is redo the panel. Give it a iso wipe down. When you are satisfied that the swirls are gone, there's the answer.

[miahjohn]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

are you talking about swirls or buffer trails/swirls?

[3Fitty]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

Swirls.

[miahjohn]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

Swirls.

I'd blame it on the car wash!!

[3Fitty]

Re: What is the more likely conclusion...

I'd blame it on the car wash!!

Well, that makes ME feel a lot better!!! LOL

When I was working on it, it was the "best" work I've ever done, albeit only on a single panel and I was very happy with my work, but when I saw it a week later, I was very disappointed.

He's promised after I do a full correction, NO MORE drive through washes!!! I'll be more careful when I actually do the correction to do a proper wipedown after polishing to ensure I got all the swirls.

I've already decided (as per my post in another thread about this car) that I'm not going to try to get out all of the RIDS because I'm not sure I'm equipped to do it.