need some more help...

[Mazda3Freak]

so today was nice in new jersey so i busted out my new porter cable 7424XP. i bought it off autogeek.net with the starter package with 4 pads. they are the 5.5 inch pads. here is the exact link i bought with pad colors...

http://autogeek.net/porter-cable-pad-kit.html

i bought some m105, m205 to fix some scratches and swirls on my paint. it worked pretty good but felt that m105 with the orange pad supplied above. since it stated that it will was a light foam cutting pad. it seemed to do the job but after 2-3 tries of working it in and buffing it off. i still had some slight lines in my paint. as hard to buff off by hand and dusted alot! so i switched over to a green pad and used some 205 and it worked a bit more but still had lines. my paint wasn't that bad in shape i just wanted to remove all of the swirls in the paint from my old bad habits of washing.

i switched over to a yellow cutting pad and used some 105 again and it worked better in spots but didn't remove all of my defects in the paint... im guessing my main problem is technique?


ive watched many videos and how to's on meguairs and other popular sites. i did test spots and worked it slow but unsure if i had the correct pad combo to tackle with the right compound. i was expecting magic to happen =(


any help or incite would be very grateful.

[greg0303]

Re: need some more help...

I'm just wondering if you created some new defects going aggressively with M105. If you only have swirls to remove M205 with polishing or light cutting pad should be enough.

Try to do a test spot (2'x2') with M205/ white or orange pad/ and speed 5 on your PCXP. Apply some pressure to the head of your polisher (or side handle if you use it) but keep the pad flat on the surface and use really slow arm speed (like 1"-2"/ second).

When you press down on your machine make sure the backing plate still rotates. The best way to see the rotation is by using a marker to draw a line on the backing plate and see if it moves. If it doesn't rotate release the pressure until it does so.

[Mazda3Freak]

Re: need some more help...

well i had some scratches all around the car and just wanted to compound it as a whole and polish it.

it just didnt seem enough to get it working. maybe it was too cold for the compound/polish? it was about 45 today.

i did the marker method too. i worked the polish in at speed2 then bumped up to speed 5 and got it going.

[HCAD]

Re: need some more help...

If your Mazda3 clearcoat is like my RX-8, it's pretty hard. I didn't have a lot of luck removing swirls with my original Porter Cable back in the day, last year with the Flex and a Surbuf pad it was much easier. It is possible that you have some deeper scratches that may not come out with traditional buffing. Are you getting 80-90% of the surface imperfections?

[Mazda3Freak]

Re: need some more help...

it would remove most of the imperfections but i want more of a clearer picture of my car...

[greg0303]

Re: need some more help...

We were over 50*F today so the temperature was fine and last night wasn't cold at all.

Yellow cutting pad and M105 is a pretty aggressive combo. John said that he had to go even more aggressive on Mazda's hard clear coat to fully remove all below surface defects.

Maybe one more time with that combo, with moderate pressure and super slow arm speed on small test spot to see if the second round reduces all defects.

[Mazda3Freak]

Re: need some more help...

alright, next warm day il try it again. should i do the yellow with 105 again? or just do whitepad with 205?

[greg0303]

Re: need some more help...

I would start with orange light cutting pad first on M205. It should create some paint removal. If it doesn't remove defects to your satisfaction then next step would be M105 with orange pad. Yellow cutting pad and M105 would be the last shot.

Do you have swirl finder light?

[Mazda3Freak]

Re: need some more help...

i have a bunch of different halogen lights but no swirl finder light.

okay il give that a try next time its decent outside. its supposed to pour tonight/tomorrow.

i think my problem was a combo of not working the polish/compound in fully and taking my time. i had to find a combo for my car wrap vinyl aswell, its glossy black... 205 on a white pad did alright didnt fully remove all of the swirls in that though =(

[Mazda3Freak]

Re: need some more help...

also when i was using m105 and orange/yellow pad combo i noticed it wouldnt fully remove my scratches. some of the scratches werent able to be felt with the finger nail trick. it kinda hide them a bit but i still see them..... so im guessing my mazda 3 does indeed have hard clear?

[greg0303]

Re: need some more help...

Let me ask around about this paint's hardness.

I remember that Todd Helme got fantastic results on his red Mazda 3 with DA MF Correction System.

Here's the link:

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46747&highlight=Microfiber+System

[Mazda3Freak]

Re: need some more help...

il have to look into that then. il take a trip to a car detail supply shop tuesday.
but deffinatly let me know about the mazdas paint im very curious

[greg0303]

Re: need some more help...

I only know three places which sell DA MF Correction System: AutoGeek, ADS and detailing.com . You're in NJ so AutoGeek would be the fastest with delivery.

http://autogeek.net/meguiars-da-microfiber-system.html