The scratches wont go away!

[sobhark]

Hello

I started working on my mom's Blue Lexus GS330
It's pretty old, about 10 years and it's sure has CC paint finish.

At first, I started up using UC with Polishing Pad on G220...
Result : All super fine scratches are removed, paint become clearer.

But still... scratches all over.
Next, M105 and Polishing pad.
Result : Not much improvement... roughly at 70% of perfection

Then I decided to go hard!
M105 + Cutting Pad
Result : After 2-3 applications (multiply that by 4 to get the number of passes)
The result become much much much better! 90% of perfection!
But yet still some trace of scratches.

I just wonder using the most aggressive compound on most aggressive pad which even not recommended on DA polishers cant only do this?
T_____T
I believe I didn't do anything wrong.
I spend 20+ hrs on reading through this forum on using the DA properly.
Low speed arm movement, SMAT, apply pressure but letting the pad to rotate.......etc.

Any suggestion??

Thanks!

[guy]

Re: The scratches wont go away!

Sounds like hard cc to me. I am working on similar paint right now but haven't used a cutting pad, yet. I have had success with lots of pressure and long dwell times, not moving at all for a few seconds. It still takes hours to do one panel ( i.e, door, fender, ect.) but it is coming out great. Someday I might try a rotary but I would rather work safe but slow with a DA for now.

[Garage Troll]

Re: The scratches wont go away!

I wonder if you're having the same problem that I did by pressing too hard and stopping the DA pad from spinning. Try using a bit less pressure and work in a very small area (2' x 2'). You may have to work a bit longer on a spot too. Also some of those scratches may be too deep in the CC that they may not come out with a DA. It may not be a bad idea to be happy with the 90% perfection rather than make a costly mistake.


P.S. you may want to go back to the polishing pad. According to the experts here it's not recommended to use the DA with a cutting pad. Mike Stoops gave me the suggestions I posted above and it worked great on my rock hard paint.

[Murr1525]

Re: The scratches wont go away!

Yeah, make sure you have a black line on your pads so you can see them spinning.

[sobhark]

Re: The scratches wont go away!

Thanks for all of your replies!

I wonder what's wrong using cutting pad on DA?

I've read that it will cause marring and scratches.
But I've got a technique of my own.
It's that always keep moderate pressure on the pad and keep the pad flat at all time.

With this technique I could achieve a smooth finish using D/A + Cutting Pad + M105 !

But just FYI.
I still not recommend to do this anyway.
Only if you encounter very very very hard CC like me ^^