Crazy holograms, oem paint, black metalic

[eric.u]

Well heres what happened, i got hit by another car on the freeway.
The repairshop did in my eyes a good work painting the whole car, but the car was covered with holograms, i told them i could fix that my self since I'm pretty good at polishing/detailing, been doing it for 10 years soon on a hobby basis.

Well today i got the time to give it a try, started with the least aggressive approach since I've removed holograms before I'm used to that its pretty simple task.

But it just didn't leave! my led flashlight kept telling me there are still holograms there so i stepped up the game and finally i was doing the 105+brown pad, 205+ yellow pad, and least black pad+205. and still i saw holograms. getting crazy now!

So i didnt have more time so i went home and parked it in the sun and got out and looked at it, no holograms visible instead a very obvious very well polished area

But how is this possible, am i blind or is this not holograms? is led flashlight to bright? take a look at the pics and please tell me how this can be and how i can get a clear circle around my light source.

i might ad that the repairshop painted two layers of color with a clear coat in between the layers of paint. the color is subaru black metallic.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Crazy holograms, oem paint, black metalic

Yep, still looks like you've got some hologramming left.

What buffer are you using - a DA or a rotary?

What speed are you running the tool at?

[eric.u]

Re: Crazy holograms, oem paint, black metalic

Yep, still looks like you've got some hologramming left.

What buffer are you using - a DA or a rotary?

What speed are you running the tool at?

Only DA so far. the newest meguairs with speed control.

starting at the speed of 4-5 for first passes then down to 3 for final pass until only oil is left.

my previous encounters with holograms usually m205+yellow pad solves the problems, and i thought since its a new paint and all it would be easy..

the shop that did the paint job must have messed it up when they polished the paint real good.. maybe rotary and 105+yellow pad is next step?

[Murr1525]

Re: Crazy holograms, oem paint, black metalic

Well, or the new paint is extremely soft, but we'll see what Mike thinks.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Crazy holograms, oem paint, black metalic

Only DA so far. the newest meguairs with speed control.

starting at the speed of 4-5 for first passes then down to 3 for final pass until only oil is left.

my previous encounters with holograms usually m205+yellow pad solves the problems, and i thought since its a new paint and all it would be easy..

the shop that did the paint job must have messed it up when they polished the paint real good.. maybe rotary and 105+yellow pad is next step?

Well, the process you initially described should have pretty easily removed holograms......................

Well, or the new paint is extremely soft, but we'll see what Mike thinks.

..........or maybe it's actually really hard and he can't get rid of them completely.



But...... since you've done a full three step on this, maybe there's something else at play. The marks we see in your pictures appear to be fairly straight line, radiating from that central point of light. Do you recall how the holograms looked before you started trying to remove them? Were they in a random pattern, seeming to flow in all directions? If so, that would seem to indicate that you're making some decent headway, you just need more. But the hardness of the paint is still in question here, so maybe you should try a couple of things here, if you don't mind:

Tape off an area with holograms so that you've got two areas to deal with, side by side. On one use either Ultimate Compound or M105, whatever you've got, on a yellow pad at speed 5 with moderate/heavy pressure and slow passes, buffing for a full cycle before wiping off. On the section right next to it use M205 on a black pad at speed 4 with light/moderate pressure and slow passes, buffing for a full cycle before wiping off. Now look at the two sections with your light and see if there's been any improvement, or at least a change in the appearance of the holograms.

[eric.u]

Re: Crazy holograms, oem paint, black metalic

Well the lines of the hologram when you mention it did get straighter. i worked on one door only so i got plenty more to play with and learn some.

the idea that the paint is super hard, is something i might agree on.. since the finish got very much better after this testing, so some good was made.

Next time i think ill try the rotary +105+ yellow pad and follow up with da black pad + m205 and see what happens.

I know for sure that the repairshop used 3Ms polishing and the guy that did the job don't know how to handle a buffer, i got that out of them afterwards. at least they were honest about it.

Can you give some tips regarding the two scenarios, 1 its very hard, how to tackle it... 2 its soft, how to tackle it..

how to proceed after the two test areas..

Thanx again for your great forum!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Crazy holograms, oem paint, black metalic

If the paint is really soft then M205 on a foam finishing pad on the DA at speed 3 - 4 should do the trick. Or even M205/finishing pad on the rotary at 1000 rpm maximum, slower if your buffer allows, with very slow movements and the pad totally flat against the paint with just the weight of the machine on it.

If it's really hard you may need to knock them down with the rotary first using M205 on a polishing pad at 1200-1400 rpm with the pad as flat as possible against the paint, then follow with M205/finishing pad as described above.

Of course, none of this is written in stone as "hardness" and "softness" come in many degrees so you'll have to be able to adjust your technique on the fly and pay attention to how the paint is responding. That's what separates the good detailers from the hacks; anyone can spin a buffer and move it over the paint, big whoop. Spinning a buffer over the paint in the way the paint wants it, is what sets you apart. The paint will tell you what it wants, but you need to be able to understand what it's telling you. And that comes with time and experience.

[eric.u]

Re: Crazy holograms, oem paint, black metalic

Thanx Michael.

I think its telling med to step it up so ill go rotary next time. i was just so stressed out when i tried to do a quick fix and it didn't work.
Lesson, never stress a polishing job, i know that, just forgot it right there and then.

After rotary +yellow pad + 205 at 1200-1400 rpm ill go with the DA m205 + black finishing pad. dammit that must do the trick!

ill check back here in a couple of weeks... Thanx again guys!