Black is a good teacher . . . Swirled 06 Mustang

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imported_smprince1

New member
A co-worker asked me to take out the swirls/cobwebs on his black 06 Mustang convertible. It is only 5 months old but was already showing a lot of marring (especially being black).



With black, you can really see the swirls and whether your process/product are correcting them. It taught me a lot.



Applying the process of least agressive approach, the process went:



Sonus Green Pad/SSR2.5: Didn't knock out / correct much, slight dusting.

LC Orange Pad/Optimum Polish: Not agressive enough either, but no dust.

LC Orange Pad/SSR2.5: X2 knocked out most of the swirls, but LOTS of dusting & slight marring.

LC White/#80: Cleaned up the marring and left a clear, reflective finish ready for LSP.

LSP: #26 liquid (x2 for coverage)



Lots of orange peel, but 90% of the swirls removed. Left the deeper stuff/scratches.



The Optimum Polish was a pleasure to work since no dusting, but it wasn't strong enough to take out the swirls. Maybe I'll try Optimum Compound to see if it corrects like SSR2.5 without the dusting.



Comments/suggestions/questions welcome.



Before:



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After:



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Looks great! That's why my signature says what it does. You can "see where you are" with black cars. IMO light colors are a pain to polish cause it's so hard to see what's left to be corrected.
 
nice job.



As an alternative to the 2.5 have you considered using 83 and spritzing the pad to give work time? Then follow with 80.



I think you've created a fantastic end result, I find using liquid waxes a complete PITA now, and stick to paste by hand. For value DP max wax is a very wet wax for the darl shades
 
finerdetails said:
nice job.



As an alternative to the 2.5 have you considered using 83 and spritzing the pad to give work time? Then follow with 80.
Click to expand...



I've never tried 83, although I have heard it can be finicky and can gum up the pad.



SSR2.5 I find to be very effective and user friendly with the PC, I just don't like the dust.
 
Holy smokes, great job! The end result looks so much sleeker.



I've downloaded the Autopia guide and am reading right now, but I'm really new to this level of detailing. What are the products that you feel were the ones that really got the Mustang to this result?



Quote:

LC White/#80: Cleaned up the marring and left a clear, reflective finish ready for LSP.

LSP: #26 liquid (x2 for coverage)



What do those acronyms and numbers mean?



Sorry to be asking so many questions, but I am going to be detailing my black car soon and would like to try to achieve your great results as best as I can!



Thanks for any advice.
 
Rex8 said:
Holy smokes, great job! The end result looks so much sleeker.



I've downloaded the Autopia guide and am reading right now, but I'm really new to this level of detailing. What are the products that you feel were the ones that really got the Mustang to this result?



Quote:

LC White/#80: Cleaned up the marring and left a clear, reflective finish ready for LSP.

LSP: #26 liquid (x2 for coverage)



What do those acronyms and numbers mean?



Sorry to be asking so many questions, but I am going to be detailing my black car soon and would like to try to achieve your great results as best as I can!



Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...



This will help you with all the acronyms:

http://autopia.org/forum/faq.php?faq=secret_decoder_ring



SSR2.5 with orange pad to remove the spider webs.

#80 to clean up the haze left by SSR2.5 before applying wax.
 
smprince1 said:
This will help you with all the acronyms:

http://autopia.org/forum/faq.php?faq=secret_decoder_ring
Click to expand...



*gulp* that's a lot of acronyms...!



smprince1 said:
SSR2.5 with orange pad to remove the spider webs.

#80 to clean up the haze left by SSR2.5 before applying wax.
Click to expand...



Superb. Thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction.



**Edit: did you mix SSR 2 with SSR 3 to get the SSR 2.5? Or is there such a solution available to purchase? Also, is the "orange pad" a specific kind of applicator? If so, who is the manufacturer?



Thanks heaps.
 
No need to mix, SSR2.5 is sold just like that by Poorboy's (PB). It is a very popular first step for swirl removal.



The orange pad is made by Lake County (LC). It is a foam cutting pad I used with my Porter Cable dual-action polisher (PC or DA). The pads are availalbe in different coarseness, kind of like different grits of sandpaper. The coarser pads have more "bite", but can leave micro-marring which sometimes needs to be cleaned up with finer pads/polishes.



Just keep reading this forum. There is a lot of information/knowledge here and after reading for a while it will all make sense. Even the acronyms. I am no expert, but I have learned a lot by reading this forum.
 
As I understand it, Optimum Polish is fine, last-step, finishing polishing product. Using the OP Compound or in extreme cases, the Hyper Compound, would have been more effective.
 
D3mon said:
As I understand it, Optimum Polish is fine, last-step, finishing polishing product. Using the OP Compound or in extreme cases, the Hyper Compound, would have been more effective.
Click to expand...



After using the OP, I agree it is more suited as a finishing polish and not for correction.

It was the only 'dust-free' polish I had and I hoped with the orange pad it might cut a little more than it did.



Not sure how well the Optimum Compound or Hyper Compound break down via PC.
 
smprince1 said:
I've never tried 83, although I have heard it can be finicky and can gum up the pad.



SSR2.5 I find to be very effective and user friendly with the PC, I just don't like the dust.
Click to expand...





try Pinnacle Advanced SR then, thats really good and NO dust :2thumbs:
 
klnyc said:
Wow thats pretty nice job. How long it take you?
Click to expand...



Start to finish,including interior and exterior, about 5-6 hours.



I'm not the fastest, but I'm not doing this full time for a living either. I prefer to take my time and be thorough.



I started with the mildest polish/pad, wheel the car out into the sun to see how it was going, then iterate again. It's a friend's car so I wanted to be as gentle to the clear as possible.
 
Black finishes are difficult at best to really get perfect. If you can remove all defects, return a high gloss after leveling the finish, then you've graduated!



You did a damn nice job in getting it back. Seeing all the different pads/polishes shows how difficult it can be till you match the polish to the problem.



I'd get a hood or fender from the junkyard and keep working on the pad/polish technique. Great way to use a rotary for the first time. If you get good with a rotary on "practice" black fender, you'll be much better off, but it takes work and talent. :buffing:



Regards,

Deanski
 
smprince1 said:
I've never tried 83, although I have heard it can be finicky and can gum up the pad.



SSR2.5 I find to be very effective and user friendly with the PC, I just don't like the dust.
Click to expand...



I've never had any problem using DACP. Just work until it pretty much clears out and it wipes off effortlessly.



Optimum Compound and Hyper both work very well with the PC and Cyclo. The abrasive break down via friction, not heat.



Nothing wrong with taking 5-6 hours, especially if you are relatively new to this.
 
I am thinking about picking up some poorboys ssr2.5. Do I need to get something a little finer in case of marring or streaking. I have AIO but do I need something else from the PB line. I also have Menzerna Intensive polish on the way. Since the menzerna IP is coming should I just wait to use all of it before I try 2.5?
 
Scottwax said:
I've never had any problem using DACP. Just work until it pretty much clears out and it wipes off effortlessly.



Optimum Compound and Hyper both work very well with the PC and Cyclo. The abrasive break down via friction, not heat.
Click to expand...

Scottwax,



Which do you prefer for swirl removal with PC: DACP or Optimum Compound and/or Hyper?



And why?



Thanks.
 
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