removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

[bheiser]

Hi All,

I just got myself a 7424XP, and am working on my '06 Jeep Liberty. I bought the Jeep used - and it's obvious it's been through lots of car washes. It's just covered in serious swirls. There are some light scratches here and there as well. Funny, most of them don't show up too badly in ordinary light, but with the shop light on the vehicle in the garage, they really stand out.

I am working with all Meguiars cleaners/polish/wax. I'm using Lake Country 4" pads because the Liberty has very little "wide open space" ... there are lots of trim pieces and "lines". Six inch pads wouldn't be practical.

I started today on just one door to get started. I used the Lake Country Orange pad, supposedly good for swirls. I tried several polishes, starting with fine cut, then medium cut, then ended up using Heavy-Cut (M0416). Even at that, it took me nearly 3 hours to get most of the worst of the swirls removed from this one panel!

It seems like I need something more heavy duty for this first pass to clean up the heavy swirls & scratches. I am thinking I'll move to the Yellow pads, but wonder if I should try something heavier than M0416. It seems the Liberty has a very hard clearcoat.

I've attached the image below to show what I mean. The panel on the left hasn't been touched. The one on the right shows what I have been able to do so far ... it's not perfect but it's far better.

Should I expect to spend 3 hours per panel for a moderate improvement? or should i use a different product? (what's heavier than heavy-cut?)

Thanks!

[Murr1525]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

Your problem may not be "heavy cut", but proper product. #4 isnt exactly best for DA use. And of course we would check technique as well.

Be sure to be moving the machine slowly, and adding just enough pressure to not stop the pad spinning. Mark the back of the pad with a marker so you can watch it.

I would want to try something like Ultimate Compound with a DA.

And of course some scratches could just be too deep to worry about.

[bheiser]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

Thanks for the quick response! I will check out the Ultimate Compound.

As for technique, I agree, mine could be "suspect", as this is my first "real" polisher. I did some of this kind of thing before, but I used a Craftsman polisher ('nuff said ).

I did read elsewhere about marking the the pad to observe the spinning, so I did that (actually I marked the backing plate). But that leads me to a question: I've read that you should apply 15-20lbs of pressure while polishing. I tested that effort with the DA on a bathroom scale to get a sense for how it should feel. But when I exert that much force with the device on the vehicle, the pad stops spinning.

'sounds like I should focus on keeping it spinning then...

While we're talking about proper product, I'm also planning to use Swirl Remover to fine tune after the Heavy-Cut/Ultimate, and then Show Car Glaze. Will these be OK with the DA? I'll also be using NXT wax, but I assume I should just use the applied applicator, not the DA to apply this (?).

Thanks for bearing with a newbie...


Thanks again!

[dc2_]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

yes swirl remover after ultimate compound would be good

u could apply wax with the DA as well with low speed and a finishing pad

3 hours seems a bit long..

[Shawn T.]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

It certainly looks like you are doing the proper technique of trying the least aggressive product.

Unless you are using a rotary, do not use M04. It doesn't play well by DA and needs a rotary to break down the abrasives. M04 is also very good for taking water spots off of windows by hand with a terry cloth or by rotary.

Like Murr suggested, go with Ultimate Compound. It was made to be used by hand and DA. It has a very long work time and allows you to really work it almost as long as you want. Of course, stop buffing before it dries so that you prevent marring.

Are you making nice, slow section passes moving the bufferr at about 1" per second? That is a good speed to try and maintain.

Do not move to the yellow pad yet. Try the orange with Ultimate Compound and see how that works.

Follow Ultimate Compound with Swirlx, Ultimate Polish, M205, etc. if you think you need a finishing polish. Ultimate Compound can finish out very nicely on it's own.

[bheiser]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

Thanks, this is all great feedback. Elsewhere I've seen suggestions that M105 Ultra Cut may be a good option for this situation, rather than Ultimate Compound. What do you-all think about this?

[bheiser]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

What speed do you recommend using on the 7424XP when using something like Ultimate Compound (or Ultra Cut)?

[dc2_]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

speed 5 is more then enough

[Murr1525]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

UC would be more DA friendly in most situations.

[Shawn T.]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

Go with UC. It is so much more user friendly. People think it isn't good because it is a consumer productr but it provides a lot of cut with great work time.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

First, if you haven't yet read through D/A Buffing 101 – An Introduction to the G110v2 and similar tools, we highly recommend you do so.

You should be just fine staying with Ultimate Compound rather than jumping all the way up to M105. As others have mentioned, the user experience with UC is much nicer on a D/A than M105, especially for a new user. You'll get a lot less dust and a much longer buffing cycle with UC.

Don't focus too much on the pressure aspect of tool use - pressure needed is really determined more by what the paint requires based on the severity of defects and the overall workability of the paint. Plenty of paint systems don't need a lot of pressure, while others demand it. This is just one of the many reasons why doing a test spot is so important.

Just as important as the pressure used is you arm speed, or the speed at which you move the tool across the paint. You need to really slow this down, and keep it consistent. Smooth, overlapping passes covering an area no larger than about 2' x 2', even smaller if the paint is a bit resistant to polishing.

[bheiser]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

Thanks everyone. Michael, I don't think I've read this particular article, but others like it. I'll go thru this one too.

Meanwhile I ordered some "UC" (which I now realize means "Ultimate Compound", as opposed to "Ultra Cut" , so will try it this weekend and let you all know how it goes .

Thanks again!

[Murr1525]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

#105 would be used around here for the Ultra-Cut.

[bheiser]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

OK, I tried the Ultimate Compound (UC) as you'all suggested. I tried it first with the orange pads I was using before. The UC made a huge difference over the Heavy-Cut Cleaner, but was still taking several passes to reach remove the heavy swirls. So I stepped up to the yellow pads. Wow, the combination of the UC with the Yellow Pads is amazing! I worked a couple panels this afternoon, and there's not a swirl to be seen! . There are still a few scratches but they're pretty deep so I doubt I can remove them.

I am also working on my technique .. keeping the pad spinning, etc. It's working .

I'll post an update when I've made more progress. Meanwhile, thanks again for all the feedback, it's been very helpful!

[cjcruz]

Re: removing swirls & scratches on '06 Jeep Liberty

So I stepped up to the yellow pads. Wow, the combination of the UC with the Yellow Pads is amazing!

which yellow pad did you use? Meguiar's?