Black Paint/Swirls Under Light

J

JeffM

New member
My friend bought a black truck and he left it with me to "play" with.



After i washed it, it appeared to have rotary marks on it, it was the worst on the hood.



I have improved it quite a bit, and it is looking pretty good, until i shine a flahslight onto the areas i am working on.



There are very small swirls that i simply cannot remove.



I have gone as aggressive as DACP and Optimum on a 4" yellow cutting pad, then stepped down to an orange power pad/DACP, then to a white 4" spot pad with DP's Mild Swirl eliminator.



I have been working on a 2x2 area, and i cannot for the life of me remove all the marring under direct light.



Is Ford CC this hard, or does dealer installed SMs , require a rotary to fix?
 
My friend bought a black truck and he left it with me to "play" with.



After i washed it, it appeared to have rotary marks on it, it was the worst on the hood.



I have improved it quite a bit, and it is looking pretty good, until i shine a flahslight onto the areas i am working on.



There are very small swirls that i simply cannot remove.



I have gone as aggressive as DACP and Optimum on a 4" yellow cutting pad, then stepped down to an orange power pad/DACP, then to a white 4" spot pad with DP's Mild Swirl eliminator.



I have been working on a 2x2 area, and i cannot for the life of me remove all the marring under direct light.



Is Ford CC this hard, or does dealer installed SMs , require a rotary to fix?
 
I think the 4" white finishing pad with something a little more aggressive than the DP swirl remover may be in order Such as SSR1, FPII or #80 are a few that come to mind. A polish that leaves a good finish, has enough abrasives to remove the light marring and a pad that wont leave marring of its own (which is probably what you see) are the marks sysmetrical is shape and size?
 
I think the 4" white finishing pad with something a little more aggressive than the DP swirl remover may be in order Such as SSR1, FPII or #80 are a few that come to mind. A polish that leaves a good finish, has enough abrasives to remove the light marring and a pad that wont leave marring of its own (which is probably what you see) are the marks sysmetrical is shape and size?
 
Yes, i have some marring from the yellow cutting pad, little half moon shaped marks, but on the rest of the hood i have millions of swirls, all very tight, and they seem very light, but i had to goto the 4" yellow cutting pad to remove them.



The swirls are not visible to the naked eye, only under lighting.
 
Yes, i have some marring from the yellow cutting pad, little half moon shaped marks, but on the rest of the hood i have millions of swirls, all very tight, and they seem very light, but i had to goto the 4" yellow cutting pad to remove them.



The swirls are not visible to the naked eye, only under lighting.
 
JBM said:
Yes, i have some marring from the yellow cutting pad, little half moon shaped marks, but on the rest of the hood i have millions of swirls, all very tight, and they seem very light, but i had to goto the 4" yellow cutting pad to remove them.



The swirls are not visible to the naked eye, only under lighting.
Click to expand...



Welcome to the world of good lighting ;) This sounds like one of those "four hours per panel" jobs...once you figure out how to really illuminate/spot the flaws it's a whole 'nother ballgame, huh?



Disclaimer: I haven't worked with Ford clear or Optimim.



I'd use the yellow pad and OCP to remove the worst marring, then step down with the OCP and milder pads. I wouldn't switch to really mild combos until things were almost perfect.



This sounds like the black rent-a-Suburban I did (GM vs. Ford notwithstanding). The only way I could fix that one was with a rotary. Using a PC/Cyclo would've taken dozens of hours if it would've worked at all. In cases like that, you might want to use the #80 for the final polishing as it'll fill in the tiny flaws that don't polish out.
 
JBM said:
Yes, i have some marring from the yellow cutting pad, little half moon shaped marks, but on the rest of the hood i have millions of swirls, all very tight, and they seem very light, but i had to goto the 4" yellow cutting pad to remove them.



The swirls are not visible to the naked eye, only under lighting.
Click to expand...



Welcome to the world of good lighting ;) This sounds like one of those "four hours per panel" jobs...once you figure out how to really illuminate/spot the flaws it's a whole 'nother ballgame, huh?



Disclaimer: I haven't worked with Ford clear or Optimim.



I'd use the yellow pad and OCP to remove the worst marring, then step down with the OCP and milder pads. I wouldn't switch to really mild combos until things were almost perfect.



This sounds like the black rent-a-Suburban I did (GM vs. Ford notwithstanding). The only way I could fix that one was with a rotary. Using a PC/Cyclo would've taken dozens of hours if it would've worked at all. In cases like that, you might want to use the #80 for the final polishing as it'll fill in the tiny flaws that don't polish out.
 
JBM said:
Is Ford CC this hard, or does dealer installed SMs , require a rotary to fix?
Click to expand...





I think this is a case of multiple hours per panel with a PC or the necessity of a rotary,perhaps followed up with the PC/Cyclo with a final, light polish to truly get it defect free under the scrutiny of the lights.
 
JBM said:
Is Ford CC this hard, or does dealer installed SMs , require a rotary to fix?
Click to expand...





I think this is a case of multiple hours per panel with a PC or the necessity of a rotary,perhaps followed up with the PC/Cyclo with a final, light polish to truly get it defect free under the scrutiny of the lights.
 
I almost went nuts with this problem last year. My black paint reacts SIGNIFICANTLY different to the various products that I 'try'.



If you haven't used a polish before, try it on a 'spot' and inspect very carefully before moving on. I made this mistake on our black Tahoe last year, and it took A LONG time to correct.



For this type of problem (marring, slight 'c' hook scratches) Menzerna FPII and/or P085RD did the trick. I applied via rotary first, and then finished up with the cyclo. IMO, black finishes really distinguish Menzerna polishes from all other makes - period.
 
I almost went nuts with this problem last year. My black paint reacts SIGNIFICANTLY different to the various products that I 'try'.



If you haven't used a polish before, try it on a 'spot' and inspect very carefully before moving on. I made this mistake on our black Tahoe last year, and it took A LONG time to correct.



For this type of problem (marring, slight 'c' hook scratches) Menzerna FPII and/or P085RD did the trick. I applied via rotary first, and then finished up with the cyclo. IMO, black finishes really distinguish Menzerna polishes from all other makes - period.
 
Well i got the hood sorted out, but it took 6 hours.



Its funny, i ended up getting the best results with DACP and a 4" yellow spot pad.



I wasted alot of time with my Orange LC pad and the DP polishes.



They either break down too quickly to get the same results as DACP, or arnt aggressive enough to begin with, i went all the way up to the Super Swirl Remover.



I hadnt used FP2 in quite some time, but it removed the marring from DACP and 4" cutting pad(under direct light) in 2 passes.



The finish was "good enough" for my pal at about 4 hours, but the longer it fought me the more determined i was to "get it right".



I am also wondering if i had a dirty pad when i attempted DP's mild SMR and a white LC pad. To be honest, i didnt notice the kind of swirling until i had polished the whole hood, and brought it out into the sun. The rest of the vehicle had long swooping swirls, but the hood had thousands of very tight light swirls.



I didnt evaluate the finish under direct lighting when i began because it was shiney when he pulled it into the driveway, and it was new....
 
Well i got the hood sorted out, but it took 6 hours.



Its funny, i ended up getting the best results with DACP and a 4" yellow spot pad.



I wasted alot of time with my Orange LC pad and the DP polishes.



They either break down too quickly to get the same results as DACP, or arnt aggressive enough to begin with, i went all the way up to the Super Swirl Remover.



I hadnt used FP2 in quite some time, but it removed the marring from DACP and 4" cutting pad(under direct light) in 2 passes.



The finish was "good enough" for my pal at about 4 hours, but the longer it fought me the more determined i was to "get it right".



I am also wondering if i had a dirty pad when i attempted DP's mild SMR and a white LC pad. To be honest, i didnt notice the kind of swirling until i had polished the whole hood, and brought it out into the sun. The rest of the vehicle had long swooping swirls, but the hood had thousands of very tight light swirls.



I didnt evaluate the finish under direct lighting when i began because it was shiney when he pulled it into the driveway, and it was new....
 
Glad to hear you got it sorted out. Sometimes a certain product/approach just plain works better than anything else you try.



And :xyxthumbs for spending the time that the job called for.
 
Glad to hear you got it sorted out. Sometimes a certain product/approach just plain works better than anything else you try.



And :xyxthumbs for spending the time that the job called for.
 
Thanks, it payed off for sure, but the 6 hours included lunch and a shower too. Its hot down here haha.



Anything better than a Maglight to see defects?



Although it did work fairly well, it has its limitations.
 
Thanks, it payed off for sure, but the 6 hours included lunch and a shower too. Its hot down here haha.



Anything better than a Maglight to see defects?



Although it did work fairly well, it has its limitations.
 
If you're gonna go with a flashlight I'd get something like my SureFires. Much brighter than a MagLite.



But I generally use an incandescent trouble light that takes a high-wattage (2-300W) bulb. I got mine at Lowes for maybe $20 or so. Used in an othewise dark garage it works great and covers more area than the flashlight. Works far better for me than halogen work lights.



The flashlights really do work well though, I even use mine to examine cars in showrooms- the SureFire is bright enough to overwhelm the regular lighting and make the defects show up.
 
If you're gonna go with a flashlight I'd get something like my SureFires. Much brighter than a MagLite.



But I generally use an incandescent trouble light that takes a high-wattage (2-300W) bulb. I got mine at Lowes for maybe $20 or so. Used in an othewise dark garage it works great and covers more area than the flashlight. Works far better for me than halogen work lights.



The flashlights really do work well though, I even use mine to examine cars in showrooms- the SureFire is bright enough to overwhelm the regular lighting and make the defects show up.
 
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