Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

[floydsummerof68]

So I have a silver C6 and as soon as I apply M105, 83, etc... it is completely transparent and I cannot see any measureable amount of polish to know when it is breaking down and it results in my either overpolishing (dry buffing it) or not breaking it down enough.

Are there any tips to overcome this on a silver car?

I basically just have to make 4-5 passes and then assume I should wipe it off...it's very frustrating.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

How much product are you applying, and how large of an area are you spreading it on?

It sounds as if you might not being enough - or possibly working too large of an area.

[FRS]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

How much product are you applying, and how large of an area are you spreading it on?

It sounds as if you might not being enough - or possibly working too large of an area.

This took me a while to acquire. Very important to work on a small area .. then move to the next one, until all done.

Small area, small area, small area ... otherwise, bad or minor results only.

[Mary S]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

I have trouble with visibility of any chemicals on a white car too. I bought one of these halogen work lights on a tripod http://s7.sears.com/is/image/Sears/00914204000 and if you follow the reflection around on your paint you can see the product a lot better.

[tguil]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

About white and silver cars/trucks. If you can't see the swirls, why worry? Just make sure that the surface is clean and smooth and then apply your wax/sealant. It took me almost 50 years to realize this.

Tom

[Mary S]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

About white and silver cars/trucks. If you can't see the swirls, why worry? Just make sure that the surface is clean and smooth and then apply your wax/sealant. It took me almost 50 years to realize this.

Tom

I agree. My car has been looking so good ever since I started detailing everything except for the paint defects that I haven't been in a big hurry to correct them.

And the swirls are hiding deeper defects like light scratches or those pinpoint marks (I don't know if there's a name for them). And you can't remove the orange peel. So I have just corrected one door panel, and I have been going nuts deciding if it is worthwhile going deeper into the clear coat to remove the other defects since I don't have a paint meter and I don't want to go too deep.

And I take the car outside to look at reflections and see if the panel I corrected looks better than the others, and from most angles I honestly can't tell a difference, period. In all reality, someone has to be looking right into your paint with a swirl finder to tell the difference, and especially, to see the scratches and pinpoints left behind after I removed the swirls.

I guess it comes down to practice and getting experience for me. I would love to have a perfect show car finish with perfect optical reflectivity, but with the orange peel, that will never happen unless I repaint the car or take off too much clear coat and I doubt I will ever do either.

[floydsummerof68]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

How much product are you applying, and how large of an area are you spreading it on?

It sounds as if you might not being enough - or possibly working too large of an area.

I tried on a 12x12 area with varying amounts of product. It doesn't matter how much or how little I use. As soon as it hits the paint it is invisible to the eye.

I have trouble with visibility of any chemicals on a white car too. I bought one of these halogen work lights on a tripod http://s7.sears.com/is/image/Sears/00914204000 and if you follow the reflection around on your paint you can see the product a lot better.

I just bought a dual 500/500 watt halogen work light on a tripod, so I'm hoping it'll help (will definitely help on my black WS6)

About white and silver cars/trucks. If you can't see the swirls, why worry? Just make sure that the surface is clean and smooth and then apply your wax/sealant. It took me almost 50 years to realize this.

Because under certain light you CAN see swirls (namely parking garage lighting and parking lot lighting at night)

Tom

[tguil]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

Mary S.

It appears that you are attempting to correct defects from the factory. I'd be darn careful if I were you. Most (almost all) of the time these defects are not correctable unless you have some body work done. Then you are likely to have defects in the repair. (Silver cars are very hard to match with a partial repaint.)

Whatever you do, don't try to get rid of factory orange peel (which by the way is good for hiding hail damage ). It simply cannot be done without wetsanding.

My suggestion use ColorX every couple of months and then just enjoy the heck out of diving your C6. Sometimes "good enough" really is "good enough".


Tom

[Tuck91]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

My suggestion use ColorX every couple of months and then just enjoy the heck out of diving your C6. Sometimes "good enough" really is "good enough".


Tom

That really is a great suggestion.

Just having it clean, smooth, and protected is enough for some folks.

[Mary S]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

Mary S.

It appears that you are attempting to correct defects from the factory. I'd be darn careful if I were you. Most (almost all) of the time these defects are not correctable unless you have some body work done. Then you are likely to have defects in the repair. (Silver cars are very hard to match with a partial repaint.)

Whatever you do, don't try to get rid of factory orange peel (which by the way is good for hiding hail damage ). It simply cannot be done without wetsanding.

Tom

I can't take credit for the orange peel, but my car is 13 years old, 85+ K miles, and the finish has been fairly well neglected until recently, so the swirls and light scratches are mine, and the pinpoint marks, I think that is just from sand in the road hitting it, especially when we lived in Colorado.

I will probably take out the swirls and very superficial scratches, but that is all. Maybe some random isolated deep scratches if I can spot-remove them with ScratchX.

We're going to Tennessee to visit my dad, and I'm bringing my detailing stuff. His cars are darker and might be more fun to work on.

[tguil]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

We're going to Tennessee to visit my dad, and I'm bringing my detailing stuff. His cars are darker and might be more fun to work on.

Just last weekend I took my detailing stuff to my daughter's place. It was my job to detail her car. Ummm .....doesn't seem quite the same as your situation.

She has a two-tone *silver* Subaru Impreza. Clay and ColorX "got-r-done". "Good enough" for most folks is really "good enough". How fussy is your dad?

Tom

[Mary S]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

Just last weekend I took my detailing stuff to my daughter's place. It was my job to detail her car. Ummm .....doesn't seem quite the same as your situation.

She has a two-tone *silver* Subaru Impreza. Clay and ColorX "got-r-done". "Good enough" for most folks is really "good enough". How fussy is your dad?

Tom

He's no where near as fussy as I am! He's got a blue small truck as old as my car and a green Toyota Corolla. I'm actually excited about it, it is much more interesting to work on than our 2 white cars. And it is going to be father's day, after all. I'm not bringing my rotary or my steam machine, but I'm bringing my v2 and 2 buckets and 2 bags all full of detailing stuff.

[floydsummerof68]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

My thread has been hijacked

[Fly Bye]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

[Mary S]

Re: Impossible to see polish breaking down on silver car

My thread has been hijacked

Sorry about that, Floyd. Did the work light help for you? A lot of time even applying wax when there isn't a good light source to reflect on the paint and see what I am doing, even on a darker car, I actually end up just guessing, and probably end up putting too much product down.

The only experience I have had with the rotary or DA, I have used the work light or overhead fluorescent light and it helped. Maybe someone else has a better suggestion.