Tweet
Newb trying to use a rotary...stupid questions inside this post
Let me apologize in advance for being a newb and asking what are likely to be stooooopid questions.
I bought my first rotary buffer about 2 months ago and have been practicing on my wifes van...you know, I don't want to ruin the finish on my car, but who cares about the mini-van.
Anyway, I have 1991 Q45 that I purchased about 3 months ago. The previous owner(s) apparently abused the paint in whatever way they could. The most dominant of the problems is the extremely deep etching in the paint from water spots. My goal has been to remove these waterspots...but, I am struggling in some areas (hood and roof).
To this point I have been using the following:
Schlegel (sorry my choices were limited when buying locally) foam pads. 1 yellow medium cut, 1 blue fin cut/polish, and 1 white finishing pad.
I have been reluctant to get anything with "heavy" cut in either pads or compounds simply because I am so knew to this and thought I should work my way up to it. I started by using Meguiars #2 to clean the finish and remove any spots...but, I quickly saw that this was not enough cut to remove the blemishes from the waterspots.
Today I started again by using Meguiars #84 with my Yellow pad. I did two full passes over the hood and the roof. I followed this up with #2 using the blue pad. And, finally, #2 using the white pad.
I followed up that work with a couple of coats of Gold Class liquid Car Wax and finally a coat of Deep Crystal Carnuba wax.
The paint is much improved. And, for the most part is smooth as glass. None of the cobweb scratches or other small defects...it is a mirror shine. However, there remain some deep pits in the finish. It is shiny...but, hardly perfect.
My question is where I should go from here. I don't want to just keep getting more aggressive and end up doing damage that I can't fix. So, I am here to ask the experts. I will gladly accept any advice you can offer on how I might remove the last of the pits in my finish.
Also...my apologies if my product selections seem a bit random. I am working with limited resources ($) and don't have any shops around that sell a wide selection of the Meguiars line. I have had to make due with what was available.
Thanks, and sorry for the long post.
I bought my first rotary buffer about 2 months ago and have been practicing on my wifes van...you know, I don't want to ruin the finish on my car, but who cares about the mini-van.
Anyway, I have 1991 Q45 that I purchased about 3 months ago. The previous owner(s) apparently abused the paint in whatever way they could. The most dominant of the problems is the extremely deep etching in the paint from water spots. My goal has been to remove these waterspots...but, I am struggling in some areas (hood and roof).
To this point I have been using the following:
Schlegel (sorry my choices were limited when buying locally) foam pads. 1 yellow medium cut, 1 blue fin cut/polish, and 1 white finishing pad.
I have been reluctant to get anything with "heavy" cut in either pads or compounds simply because I am so knew to this and thought I should work my way up to it. I started by using Meguiars #2 to clean the finish and remove any spots...but, I quickly saw that this was not enough cut to remove the blemishes from the waterspots.
Today I started again by using Meguiars #84 with my Yellow pad. I did two full passes over the hood and the roof. I followed this up with #2 using the blue pad. And, finally, #2 using the white pad.
I followed up that work with a couple of coats of Gold Class liquid Car Wax and finally a coat of Deep Crystal Carnuba wax.
The paint is much improved. And, for the most part is smooth as glass. None of the cobweb scratches or other small defects...it is a mirror shine. However, there remain some deep pits in the finish. It is shiny...but, hardly perfect.
My question is where I should go from here. I don't want to just keep getting more aggressive and end up doing damage that I can't fix. So, I am here to ask the experts. I will gladly accept any advice you can offer on how I might remove the last of the pits in my finish.
Also...my apologies if my product selections seem a bit random. I am working with limited resources ($) and don't have any shops around that sell a wide selection of the Meguiars line. I have had to make due with what was available.
Thanks, and sorry for the long post.
Comment