10 hours work with little to show for it...

H

Hakko

New member
So yesterday I carved out the whole day to polish and seal my X3. The previous evening I was able to wash and clay it, so I figured I might even be finished by mid afternoon. In the end, it took me from 9:30 to 7:00, and I'm not sure that I'm too much better off than when I started. Now I'm wondering where I went wrong.



I pretty much followed the process detailed in my earlier thread on this board.



First I wiped the car down with Prep-all on every painted surface and taped off all the trim. Then I broke out the PC and started to work.



I compounded a couple of spots where there were RIDS or marring w/SIP on a 4" PFW followed by Menz SIP on a 4" orange pad. I wiped each area clean between rounds using CG Speed Wipe diluted 3:1. This actually worked well, as the deep scratch is now barely noticeable and the marring is gone.



Then I did the whole car -- except the roof, for which I'd need a ladder and which I wasn't comfortable doing -- with Menz 106FA on a white 5.5" pad one pass on each panel. I wiped off each panel as I went, again with Speed Wipe. This took from about 3 hours, and afterward it wasn't clear to me that it had made any dent in the fine swirls that were on the car. The pad was a bit chewed up in the center by the time I was finished.



After a lunch, I went on to the Menz 115 on a 5.5" blue pad. I think I used too much on the hood, because the residue took forever to get off. Diluted Speed Wipe didn't do it, so I had to use it undiluted, and then IPA. I didn't want to use Prep All as it's pretty nasty stuff, and the less I'm exposed to it the better. So this took another 3 hours, and all I can say is that the flake pops a bit more.



Then I sealed with two coats of JetSeal 109, which was easy to work with and looks good. My car is black and shiny, but the swirls are still there if I look closely in good light.



So what did I do wrong? Should I have done the whole car with SIP? More passes with 106FA (which I'm not sure my white pad would have held up for)? Are there ways to make the polishing process go faster without sacrificing quality? I'm probably not going to be able to do this again until Spring, and if possible I'd like to be more efficient and effective next time.
 
You might have gone with two passes, if that didn't work try one pass with SIP and see where that would have got you and go from there.

As for going faster, step up the machine. I use a Flex and that helps go faster cause the machine works faster. Rotarys are going to be much faster, that said there are some cases where it will still take 10+ hours to polish a paint even with a rotary(I have read). If you aren't ready to step up to a rotary, like I said with the Flex I have noticed it doesn't take quite as long as with a pc.
 
I did a G35 a while ago and came out the same way. I spent HOURS polishing this thing and it helped but I felt terrible because there were still swirling in parts. Some times it just happens. You just have to try different techniques, ie more passes, more time per pass, different pads ect. I have tried different pads and working the product in longer since then and it has gotten much better. Just practice more when you can. I know it can take a toll polishing for so long but if you want quality you can't rush it. Next time break it up into 2 days, polish one side one day and the next day do the other side. Give yourself a break if necessary
 
Bummer. I just did my Lexus 350 with soft paint and very slight marring. I figured Menzerna Final Polish with a white pad would do it. I had to step up to SIP with a 4" orange pad to get the correction I wanted. I think you have to experiment and find out what works for you and your car. I was using a PC not a rotary.



I encourage testing on a small area until you find the best combo - then move on to the rest of the car.
 
I believe it is the PC! I also have a PC and on my Corvette's hard clear it takes forever to have corrections. I say take more time breaking down the product. Or use a more aggresive product/pad.
 
Hakko said:
..I compounded a couple of spots where there were RIDS or marring w/SIP on a 4" PFW followed by Menz SIP on a 4" orange pad. I wiped each area clean between rounds using CG Speed Wipe diluted 3:1. This actually worked well, as the deep scratch is now barely noticeable and the marring is gone...



Then I did the whole car... with Menz 106FA on a white 5.5" pad one pass on each panel. I wiped off each panel as I went, again with Speed Wipe. This took from about 3 hours, and afterward it wasn't clear to me that it had made any dent in the fine swirls that were on the car. The pad was a bit chewed up in the center by the time I was finished....



After a lunch, I went on to the Menz 115 on a 5.5" blue pad. .
Click to expand...



Noting that I don't know from the paint on BMW X3, and that I have limited experience with Menzerna...



Hmm...the deep scratch was improved, the "marring is gone", yet you have "swirls" :think:



Swirls are marring; they're usually fairly light marring. I don't mean to be pedantic, clear communication makes things a little easier.



Are the swirls from the use of PFW/SIP? If so, you needed a more aggressive step after that... although I woulda expected the orange/SIP to work.



Or were the swirls pre-existing?



In either case, the orange/SIP combo probably needed to be used more. Maybe you needed more passes, more/less product, longer/shorter work time, and/or maybe your pad got loaded with product and needed more frequent cleaning.



Or maybe you somehow instilled *new* swirls during some wiping process.



Sorry for the long list of possibles, it's just hard to figure out over the internet.



You also might've needed more than one pass with the white/106FA combo, especially with the 5.5" pad. I wouldn't have moved on to that combo until the orange/SIP comboi had things basically OK and I *sure* wouldn't have moved on to it until the swirls were gone (assuming the orange/SIP wasn't *causing* them).



EDIT: I'm gonna go out on a limb here and post something that's probably less-than-helpful (at this point) and also open to criticism:



For people just starting to get serious about this stuff, I'd much rather recommend 1Z brand polishes as they're just *so* user-friendly.



Yeah, I know, plenty of people love Menzerna, including friends of mine. But I'll absolutely stand by my 1Z recommendation for people with limited experience (and I still prefer it myself).
 
Yeah, what he said and I'd add that for a PC, get some Megs 83 and 80 - cheap and most car paint stores either have or can get them.
 
Accumulator - maybe I could look back at your posts for this answer, but with 20,000 posts, well - it could take a while.



I've read many times in your posts about 1Z being best for beginners. Can you give a quick explanation as to why that is in comparison to Menzerna or others?



Thanks!
 
what speeds did you use for which combos?



and....



do you have the washer under the backing plate?
 
JuneBug said:
Yeah, what he said and I'd add that for a PC, get some Megs 83 and 80 - cheap and most car paint stores either have or can get them.
Click to expand...



I agree. It's just that the last batch of dacp tended to gum up on me much faster than usual. Optimum to me is pretty user friendly also.
 
This is exactly why a test spot is so critical with a PC. I am generally very busy in the summer, and taking a weekend (or even a full day) out for a detail is not something I can do all the time. Especially because I use a PC (UDM, actually), which takes so much longer to polish than a Flex or Rotary. I generally do 1/6 of the hood with a combo (i.e. Menz IP followed by Menz FP2) and if it looks perfect, I'll do the entire car with IP, followed by FP2. If that didn't get rid of everything, I'll step up the polish/pad combo and try again. Just to make sure it wasn't the series of two test spots on the same area that made it look good, I'll do a second test spot on the next section of the hood. If that looks just as perfect as the first, I'll finish the car. It takes a few extra minutes, but can save an entire day's worth of work.
 
Accumulator said:
Noting that I don't know from the paint on BMW X3, and that I have limited experience with Menzerna...



Hmm...the deep scratch was improved, the "marring is gone", yet you have "swirls" :think:



Swirls are marring; they're usually fairly light marring. I don't mean to be pedantic, clear communication makes things a little easier.
Click to expand...



Sorry for being imprecise. By "marring" I was referring to what looked like a scuff on the hood that was about 1x2".



Are the swirls from the use of PFW/SIP? If so, you needed a more aggressive step after that... although I woulda expected the orange/SIP to work.



Or were the swirls pre-existing?
Click to expand...



The swirls were already there. They pretty much came with the car, which I've only had for three months.



[quote

Yeah, I know, plenty of people love Menzerna, including friends of mine. But I'll absolutely stand by my 1Z recommendation for people with limited experience (and I still prefer it myself).[/QUOTE]



I had the Menzerna because I won it in an Autogeek giveaway. I also had CG Laser Buff and Final Polish, but I found the CG was a lot dustier when I tested it out on the Subaru. Next time maybe I'll use the CG despite the dust, or try 1Z.
 
Tomstin - I'm in Chapel Hill, NC



ekwarta - Spread the compounds around on speed 1, then did the SIP and 106FA on speed 6; the 115 I did at 4. I had the washer. What would happen w/o it?



tC Crazy - good suggestion.
 
Hakko said:
..By "marring" I was referring to what looked like a scuff on the hood that was about 1x2"...The swirls were already there..
Click to expand...



Ah, OK, sounds like you just needed to do more work with the most aggressive combo.
 
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