Are these Holograms? - Please Help

[Sherif]

My 2010 Chevy Tahoe had a paint job done to the right rear back fender/panel after a minor damage (ironically while it was in the GM agency for service). After receiving the car a week ago, I found the car to have orange peel.

I returned it back to correct the orange peel, and after a few days I received it and noticed in the sun, those weird wavy marks. As far as I read in the forum here, I figured it may be holograms, and people talk about that it can be fixed with M205 and the yellow foam pad.

However, I do not know if this is in fact holograms, and I also do not know about this paint hardness or softness thing.

Appreciate your help. Thanks.

Attached pics in my gallery that I took under LED light.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/showgallery.php/ppuser/32724/username/sherif

[Marc08EX]

Re: Are these Holograms? - Please Help

Yes those are holograms / buffer trails.

What equipment do you have? Do you have a DA polisher? It really depends on your paint's hardness if M205 will work or if you need to step up to a stronger product like UC or M105. It's best to do a test spot and see how it improves.

[Sherif]

Re: Are these Holograms? - Please Help

Hi Marc,

Yes I do have the DA, yellow pads. How can I know the hardness or softness of paint?

[Marc08EX]

Re: Are these Holograms? - Please Help

Hi Marc,

Yes I do have the DA, yellow pads. How can I know the hardness or softness of paint?

Do a test spot and see what products would work best with your G110v2 and yellow polishing pads.

[Sherif]

Re: Are these Holograms? - Please Help

So I start with what? M205?

[jmmoore3]

Re: Are these Holograms? - Please Help

Always go least aggressive first so M205, do a test spot, if it works then great thats all you need. If halograms are still there then you can move up to M105 or UC. Ive had success with halograms and M205 but all paint is different. Good luck!

[Sherif]

Re: Are these Holograms? - Please Help

Ok will give it a try and see. Thanks guys.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Are these Holograms? - Please Help

Sherif, those are definitely holograms, caused by hurried use of a rotary buffer without proper follow up. Correction should be quite straightforward, and as the guys have already mentioned, M205 should take care of it for you. M205, yellow pad, speed 4 or 5, slow overlapping passes with moderate pressure and you'll get a feel for how quickly the paint responds. If M205 doesn't quite do it, then step up to Ultimate Compound.

The following piece is from a Saturday Class back in 2011 where someone brought in a horribly hologrammed Audi TT and we fixed it quickly and easily with Ultimate Compound on a yellow pad with the G110v2:

Here's the rear quarter panel of the TT. Since this and the rear spoiler were the only impacted areas it wasn't really suitable for our demo car, but for a little experiment it would do nicely.



Pretty spectacular, isn't it?



Now, some people might go straight for M105 and a small pad because they've read about Audi's having crazy hard paint. But we wanted to see how it responded to our typical classroom demo of Ultimate Compound, W8207 foam polishing pad, G110v2 set at speed 5 and moderate (ie, "normal") pressure. So we taped off a section and set to it.



We did just a single section pass using the above mentioned combination, and here's what we got after that single pass. Remember now, this is after a single pass UC only - no polish, no wax. Oh, and just for giggles, we did an IPA wipe down of the corrected area just to prove that we weren't merely filling in the holograms. We weren't.

[Jarhead0754]

I love those 50/50 shots. Just shows the amazing work that's done

[Sherif]

Re: Are these Holograms? - Please Help

Thanks Michael for your feedback.

So how will this fixing fit into the replace 5 cycle?

Meaning, what comes before and after the fix (claying before, then waxing or do I need to polish...etc.? Keeping in mind that I want to polish the whole of the remaining car sections.

Thanks Chief.

[Hernandez.Art13]

Re: Are these Holograms? - Please Help

First make sure the paint is clean, you can do a regular 2bm method or a watereless wash too. I would just make sure that whichever you choose and whatever product you choose are body shop safe, since you said it just got painted about a week ago.

For the paint that got repainted, I would check if it needs to be clayed. You said it got painted about a week ago? If if it feels smooth to your hand, you could put on a sandwich bag and run your hand across the paint that way. This is called the baggie test and then clay if necessary. (Not sure if it has a different name over here )

Then polish like others including Mike suggested and step it up if need be, like they suggested.

As far as waxing, I am not sure what paint the shop used, but I doubt that it's fully cured to apply a wax/sealant to the paint. A lot of times if you do "wax" your paint before it cures, nothing really happens, it's just takes longer for the paint to fully cure. (What paint the shop used and shop itself can always vary) So it's always safe to wait for the paint to fully cure before applying a wax/sealant to the paint.

What I would recommend is maybe calling the place and asking them when they recommend it is safe to wax/seal your car. Furthermore, you can also ask them what paint system they used, i.e. PPG, Dupont, House of Kolor etc..., and call the paint company too.

I think Meguiar's has body shop safe LSP's, but not sure which ones they are. (If any...?)

I also noticed this in the picture you provided, it could just be the lighting or the picture itself. However, I noticed this right away and like I said could just be the picture itself, but the area I circled right on the edge seems pretty off to me. Meaning, hopefully it is not heavily "buffed" in that area. So I would be careful on polishing that area for too long, until you know for sure. IMO.




Good luck and keep us posted!

Art

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Are these Holograms? - Please Help

Thanks Michael for your feedback.

So how will this fixing fit into the replace 5 cycle?

Meaning, what comes before and after the fix (claying before, then waxing or do I need to polish...etc.? Keeping in mind that I want to polish the whole of the remaining car sections.

Thanks Chief.

This would be part of Step 2: Cleaning in the 5 step process. Wash and dry as per Step 1, then move on to Step 2 meaning clay if needed, and then compound to remove the holograms. Holograms are nothing more than a series of fine scratches in the paint, which puts them in the "below surface defect" category. In some cases, however, holograms can actually be quite deep and need some fairly aggressive work to remove them. But even the really horrible looking holograms in the images we posted above cleaned up very quickly with Ultimate Compound on a yellow polishing pad with a G110v2. After removing the holograms, it's up to you to determine if you need Step 3: Polish. If the paint is really touch sensitive it is possible that the same compounding step that removes the holograms could (could) create a bit of light haze, and a light polish like Ultimate Polish, M205 or even M80 will clean that up. After that, as Art pointed out, you may want to hold off on waxing this new paint until it has fully cured. We generally recommend 60 to 90 days, but your painter can tell you for sure with the specific paint he used.