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Re: Practice, practice...NICE!
Thanks Nappers and Lenztoy! I'm definitely learning as I go on this one. Never tackled something this bad.
I hope I don't lead anyone astray and if I do someone please correct me. I just read my post after hitting Submit and added this comment; Sorry for the long winded post! Jeez I put my self to sleep on this one.
Anyway I'd like to have used M105 and M205 on this black Jeep, but I purchased from a backordered source and still waiting.
So...I had to use what I had. OPT polish, M83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish, and when necessary OPT compound. M83 is NICE! Mostly by hand around door handles, mirrors, etc. I probably jumped around to much with products and pads trying to find the solution to these bad scratches and swirls, but as I said, this is my first black paint correction.
I did start with the least aggressive pad/polish combo as I read on here many times. A black Lake Country 6" pad on my DA (on speed 6 after working it around on 4) and OPT polish (black label). Same with M83. Not aggressive enough for this paint, so...
Switched to an orange Lake Country on the DA. Still not enough.
Tried OPT compound (brown label) and same pad on DA. Cut good, but too slow for my time allotment and left haze as expected...
Switched to yellow on the DA and OPT polish or M83, did remove a lot of light swirls, but it was going to take forever and this is a big vehicle (to me) and has terrible paint so...
Went to Makita rotary around speed 2 with a blue 9" pad (Eastwood I think) and back to OPT polish to be safe. Got shiny in a hurry, but still scratches and swirls. (see what I mean about jumping around?)
Went to M83, same setup. Not bad, still some swirls and deep scratches.
Tried a green pad and either M83 or OPT polish was making a big difference. Shine was not what I wanted.
Broke out the yellow 6" (off brand) pad on the rotary and M83 first followed by OPT polish. NICE! Then discovered that out of fear of burning the clear coat I was using too slow a speed.
Switched back to orange 6" pad and M83 or OPT polish on 3 (1500rpm), but it wasn't cutting enough so went back to yellow pad 6" speed 3. Now we're getting somewhere. Followed that up with black 6" pad and OPT polish for the final shine ranging speed from 2.5 to 3.5, then back down to 2, numerous passes after wiping and reapplying. Nice shine, most swirls gone, so that's what I stuck with. Occasionally used OPT compound too, but that seemed to add an extra step and was too aggressive on the yellow pad. I don't have enough blue or white pads to try compound on less aggressive pad. I will say that yellow is very aggressive and can easily do some damage that has to be polished out with numerous passes, but it's cutting good as long as I don't go to compound with it it's working for me with polish or M83 followed by OPT polish, all pretty much on speed 3 (except around trim and the like). I will be applying M21 sealant and may wax if I have time too. Probably won't though. All this experimenting and using too slow a speed out of caution ate up time and I ended up wet sanding quite a few scratches that I hadn't planned on, but it's fun seeing some of those deep scratches disappear or almost do so. Most I can feel with my finger nail.
Under Zenon and Halogens most swirls are gone, but this baby really needs another pass or two in some areas to really be swirl-free, but I just don't have the time, not getting enough money and as Mike from Meguiar's has said, remember what you started with and how much better it will be even though it's not perfect. I'm sure the owner will be happy, probably ecstatic given the paint was pretty much trashed and she got my service on the cheap as a friend of my wife and for me to develop my skills on black paint and to get referrals from her friends.
Hope that answers your questions! If anyone can tell if I'm doing something wrong (I'm sure there's something) or a faster/better way, PLEASE DO! I do not want to spend this much time on the next black vehicle. And my wife says this owner has already told three people about me and two have black cars!!!! I can't wait my M105-205 combo to get here. I know it's going to be much easier and better.
I'll be posting more photos tomorrow of the finished deal and any other info I feel may be helpful. I'll tell you this...learning on black paint with a rotary is quite nerve wracking, but the payoff is TOTAL SATISFACTION!
(so far, anyway, no burn-throughs)
Thanks Nappers and Lenztoy! I'm definitely learning as I go on this one. Never tackled something this bad.
I hope I don't lead anyone astray and if I do someone please correct me. I just read my post after hitting Submit and added this comment; Sorry for the long winded post! Jeez I put my self to sleep on this one.
Anyway I'd like to have used M105 and M205 on this black Jeep, but I purchased from a backordered source and still waiting.
So...I had to use what I had. OPT polish, M83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish, and when necessary OPT compound. M83 is NICE! Mostly by hand around door handles, mirrors, etc. I probably jumped around to much with products and pads trying to find the solution to these bad scratches and swirls, but as I said, this is my first black paint correction.
I did start with the least aggressive pad/polish combo as I read on here many times. A black Lake Country 6" pad on my DA (on speed 6 after working it around on 4) and OPT polish (black label). Same with M83. Not aggressive enough for this paint, so...
Switched to an orange Lake Country on the DA. Still not enough.
Tried OPT compound (brown label) and same pad on DA. Cut good, but too slow for my time allotment and left haze as expected...
Switched to yellow on the DA and OPT polish or M83, did remove a lot of light swirls, but it was going to take forever and this is a big vehicle (to me) and has terrible paint so...
Went to Makita rotary around speed 2 with a blue 9" pad (Eastwood I think) and back to OPT polish to be safe. Got shiny in a hurry, but still scratches and swirls. (see what I mean about jumping around?)
Went to M83, same setup. Not bad, still some swirls and deep scratches.
Tried a green pad and either M83 or OPT polish was making a big difference. Shine was not what I wanted.
Broke out the yellow 6" (off brand) pad on the rotary and M83 first followed by OPT polish. NICE! Then discovered that out of fear of burning the clear coat I was using too slow a speed.
Switched back to orange 6" pad and M83 or OPT polish on 3 (1500rpm), but it wasn't cutting enough so went back to yellow pad 6" speed 3. Now we're getting somewhere. Followed that up with black 6" pad and OPT polish for the final shine ranging speed from 2.5 to 3.5, then back down to 2, numerous passes after wiping and reapplying. Nice shine, most swirls gone, so that's what I stuck with. Occasionally used OPT compound too, but that seemed to add an extra step and was too aggressive on the yellow pad. I don't have enough blue or white pads to try compound on less aggressive pad. I will say that yellow is very aggressive and can easily do some damage that has to be polished out with numerous passes, but it's cutting good as long as I don't go to compound with it it's working for me with polish or M83 followed by OPT polish, all pretty much on speed 3 (except around trim and the like). I will be applying M21 sealant and may wax if I have time too. Probably won't though. All this experimenting and using too slow a speed out of caution ate up time and I ended up wet sanding quite a few scratches that I hadn't planned on, but it's fun seeing some of those deep scratches disappear or almost do so. Most I can feel with my finger nail.
Under Zenon and Halogens most swirls are gone, but this baby really needs another pass or two in some areas to really be swirl-free, but I just don't have the time, not getting enough money and as Mike from Meguiar's has said, remember what you started with and how much better it will be even though it's not perfect. I'm sure the owner will be happy, probably ecstatic given the paint was pretty much trashed and she got my service on the cheap as a friend of my wife and for me to develop my skills on black paint and to get referrals from her friends.
Hope that answers your questions! If anyone can tell if I'm doing something wrong (I'm sure there's something) or a faster/better way, PLEASE DO! I do not want to spend this much time on the next black vehicle. And my wife says this owner has already told three people about me and two have black cars!!!! I can't wait my M105-205 combo to get here. I know it's going to be much easier and better.
I'll be posting more photos tomorrow of the finished deal and any other info I feel may be helpful. I'll tell you this...learning on black paint with a rotary is quite nerve wracking, but the payoff is TOTAL SATISFACTION!
(so far, anyway, no burn-throughs)
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