First PC try with #80 and results.

M

mpmiller37

New member
Ok, this was my first attempt to remove swirls/scratches on my black car with my new PC and #80 using Sonus SFX polishing pad. First attempt over the surface, I said "crap, it looks the same or worse", was beginning to get discouraged. So I did it again. A little more speed (5.5) and a little more pressure. Yes, second time was much better. So I'm moving this thing about an 1-2 inches per second and applying some pressure. Took me almost an hour to do the whole trunk, 2 passes with the #80. I'm thinking, man this is taking too long no wonder people like rotaries. The whole car would have taken me an entire day, just to polish away defects. I used 1/3 of a 32 oz bottle of polish.

Posted 2 pics below, the first shows the swirls near the bottom of the picture and these specs that I never noticed. The second pic shows no swirls but still these specs all over the surface.

Questions:

1. Because I feel like I spent too much time with this, could I

move to say #83 or is it possible that as a newbie I will marr

up the surface ?

2. What are those specs ? The pictures do not show what they

actually look like. They are very tiny, like pin head tiny. I

didn't notive them until all the swirls were gone as I first

thought that I created them with polishing. You can't feel

them and they look like microscopic pits or dings. Can these

be removed ?



Ok, so now I'm getting obsessed with a perfect finish and my

wife says I'm out of control when I'm in the garage, in the dark, holding a drop light about 3-4 inches from the surface examining the paint. Am I out of control ? :scared:



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See my answer over at MOL ;)



No, you're not weird; your wife will get used to it and might even appreciate having nice looking vehicles :D



Heh heh, here at Autopia, taking an hour to do a trunk lid by PC is *fast*.
 
Well as for my wife appreciating nice looking vehicles, I do not maintain the interior or exterior of her car because:



#1 she trashes the interior along with the kids by eating, drinking, whatever

#2 she may appreciate the cleaning, but it wouldn't last long

#3 the car is silver metallic and even after 6 years it still looks good as silver

does not seem to show defects

#4 I spend too much time on my black car to worry about her car :cool:
 
just for reference... with an averagely (is that a word?) skilled rotary user, how long would a trunk take?



1/3 of a 32 oz bottle of polish for just a trunk? I think that may be the problem. I think you may be using too much polish. I use a ring of polish to prime the pad for the on the first 2x2 area and 4 dots of polish for each additional area. But still, your trunk looks great :2thumbs: The dots may just be dusted up polish. Try a QD to remove them.
 
No, dots are not dust. I sprayed the polsihed surface with IPA (50/50 alcohol / water) and wiped clean. I did this to make sure the swirls weren't filled so I could examine my work in the sun. I then put an LSP on the car by hand (Meg #21) and buffed off. I'm only a newbie with the PC, not detaling so I know dust versus defect. Ran my nail across some of the tiny pits but you can't feel them. So swirls were removed but these pits are there. I've been told that were probably always there but I never noticed until I polished the car to a defect free finish, now the specs are more noticable. I suppose I could live with them but after spending $200 on buffer and pad kit, along with $100 for MF towels and polish products, I expect a flawless finish :waxing:



The picture does not display the specs properly. They are very tiny and crisp, not blurred like in the picture. They look like the tiny dings you see in a windshield after you clean it and the sun shines through it while you are inside. Small, pinpoint little specs.
 
Has your trunk been repainted? Beasue i have seen these litttle pits on other cars and it is dust that got traped in the paint when they were painting it. But if its new paint who knows.
 
Never repainted. Car is 3 years old and I'm the original owner. I was hoping some other owners of Black cars may have seen this after polishing.
 
Its some sort of fallout or something in the rain. I have them alittle also, but i have to get my nose pretty close to the paint.



You are just learning, to do something fast, you have to learn it by going slow.



Ask any BB in Judo, Pro Boxer, Tattoo artist ect.



So, grab your PC, and empty your cup.



It takes as long as it takes and not a second before.
 
you've just got the Autopia bug.. glad to hear..



the pc process always take long so be wary of that and you're not removing swirls as deep as a rotary would, so be mindful of that as well as the littel cobwebs make appear back sooner than you think.



speed 5 is fine..



you're on the right track though.. posting , asking questions and adding pics as you go along..



good job !!
 
mpmiller37 said:
Ok, so now I'm getting obsessed with a perfect finish and my

wife says I'm out of control when I'm in the garage, in the dark, holding a drop light about 3-4 inches from the surface examining the paint. Am I out of control ?
Click to expand...

:welcome to enlightenment. It looks a lot better.



JBM said:
.........and empty your cup.
Click to expand...

:bow
 
I was told that if I go to #83 I may introduce hazing/marring on the surface and would then need to repair that. So because I'm new to machine polishing I wasn't sure if that would be a wise choice. Not to mention the car is black. I suppose if going over the car twice with #80 solves the problem (even though it takes lots of time), would that be better than going faster with #83 and then having to go over the car again with #80 ?

i.e.. would both processes end up taking the same amount of time anyway ?
 
Sounds like it would be pretty much the same.



The only thing i would mention, is that #80 does a good job of hiding some swirls, so the results you get, even twice, may come back.



If you are using the SFX white pad, you may be able to polish #83 to a pretty clean level, and a go-over with #80 will clean it up pretty well.



Use less #83 than you think, and work it 30 seconds past the first sign of dusting.
 
IMO two passes with #80 won't equal a pass each with #83 and #80. The abrasives in 380 should be able to remove any hazing from the #83 so I wouldn't worry about using #83 on a black car. Just be sure to work it a *long* time so it breaks down.



If you're worried about #80 hiding residual marring you could always wipe things down with rubbing alcohol and see how it looks.
 
I did wipe down with IPA after using the #80 on each pass so I could inspect. It did remove the swirls I had, but 1 pass didn't do it, it appeared to need 2. And I worked the stuff a decent amount of time (seemed to take forever). If I thought #83 could do the job in half the time without causing too much haze/marring then I would attempt it. I do realize I would still need to follow up with #80.
 
Are you sure those little spots are in/on your paint? It looks to me more like dust on the camera lens - I've seen it happen a bunch of times.
 
Lots of cars have those pits. Not sure what causes them though. Could be from rail dust that wasn't removed and once the dust rusts away, it leaves a pit. :nixweiss



#80 isn't particularly aggressive. Optimum Polish, Meguiars #83 or Poorboy's SSR2.5 would remove the swirls more quickly.
 
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