First polishing experience

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Xcessiv

New member
Hi!



My 4 years old black paint is getting pretty swirled after all these years without a complete polish. I wax it 2-3 times per summer, but now I think it really needs some serious care.



Here's the paint under 2x 250w bulbs:

Polish01.jpg


Polish02.jpg




Here's what I plan on buying:

- PC 7424

- 5" Backing Plate

- Lake Country 6.5" CCS pads: 1x orange, 1x white, 1x blue. 1st question: should I buy more than one? Especially for the white one?

- Tornado Buffing Towel. 2nd question: how many?

- 1x 100% Sheepskin Mitt

- 1x cheap mitt for the dirty areas

- 2x buckets (1 for soap, 1 to rinse)



Products and steps:

- Poorboy's Super Slick & Suds Wash. 3rd question: does it need to be clayed or if I can go directly to SSR2.5?

- Poorboy's SSR2.5 with white pad first. With orange pad if white isn't mild enough.

- Poorboy's SSR1 with white pad. 4th question: or should I replace SSR1 by Poorboy's Professional Polish?

- Poorboy's EX-P with white pad

- Poorboy's Natty's Paste Wax with blue pad



5th question: do I forget anything (tool, material, product)? Do you suggest replacing products or adding ones?



Thank you.
 
From the looks i wouldn't think a Pc is going to handle that job, looks more like a job for a rotary me i would get 2 of each pads myself.

I would clay after you wash

try orange first being the swirls are so bad then go to white Also i would try a spot first to see how the polishes are working before you tackel the whole car the pc may not be enough to remove the swirls that are in the pic's. haven't used ssr products so i can say much on them. other will chime in and offer more tips that i can right now.
 
That looks worse than my car and I haven't polished in 12 years. I used the UDM and optimum polish and hyper compound over the weekend to knock off the swirls on my hood. I got about 80% of them after 3 hours and endless confusion over what edge pads to use on the swirls. This was the first time I ever used a polisher and it takes some getting used to. First be prepared for the excessive vibrations from the UDM. I had to go find some padded gloves from my gardening supplies so that my hands didn't hurt after a while. You will probably get rid of your swirls, just give it time and work slowly. Move about and inch every second and you should be fine. It will take multiple passes to finally achieve correction. I have never used the ssr line of polishes but I'm sure they'll work fine.
 
First, don't get 6.5" pads for correction unless you "like" to hold a PC for a long time. Get some 5.5" low profile orange and white pads. Menzerna IP (91) and FFII (87). Go to target get some Vroom towels, Stoner IG, and some Megs car wash. Swing by Home Depot and get some grout sponges and buckets. Pick up Clay Magic for 10 bucks at Auto Zone and you're good to go.

LSP - NXT 2.0 or Megs 21 2.0 - either Target or Carquest, depending on your choice.
 
What he said ^ is honestly the best advice, and go with the low profile pads, you need heat and motion to polish out those nasties. I would start with white, make one pass (full product breakdown 2 min +) if you don't see much correction, go straight to orange pad and stiffer product. Don't be afraid of going as abrasive as you can, just make sure you spend your time to break down product and take incremental steps towards your most aggressive combo.



Grout sponge (lowes is my recommendation), clay, megs wash, all save huge $...



IB
 
Wow, those are some pretty bad swirls there, hehe.



Since you'll be purchasing your first machine, I'd highly suggest the UDM considering it's slightly better correction ability than the PC. The backing plate you'll be getting will be fine for 6.5" pads which are great for soft paint. However, if your paint is hard, I would suggest purchasing the spot (4") pads with a 3.75" or smaller backing plate. You'll be able to achieve better results with this setup than the former. In my opinion, it would be better for you to pair up on each type of pad (yellow, orange, white, green, gray) so you can let one pad soak to clean while you buff on the other.



For future reference, you can NEVER have enough microfiber towels. It's a good idea to pick up more than 1 sheepskin mitt, preferably 2 or more, but if you'd like to save some money, a few simple grout sponges from Lowe's or Home Depot will suffice. Ideally you'd want to clay after you wash the car. I would try to stay away from PB's stuff because they typically have a nasty dusting effect and aren't as user friendly as say Optimum's products. As for your LSP, I would go with Optimum's OptiSeal or if OTC, go with NXT 2.0, it's pretty good stuff.



Hope this information helps. Good luck! :waxing:
 
Denzil said:
Wow, those are some pretty bad swirls there, hehe.



Since you'll be purchasing your first machine, I'd highly suggest the UDM considering it's slightly better correction ability than the PC. The backing plate you'll be getting will be fine for 6.5" pads which are great for soft paint. However, if your paint is hard, I would suggest purchasing the spot (4") pads with a 3.75" or smaller backing plate. You'll be able to achieve better results with this setup than the former. In my opinion, it would be better for you to pair up on each type of pad (yellow, orange, white, green, gray) so you can let one pad soak to clean while you buff on the other.



For future reference, you can NEVER have enough microfiber towels. It's a good idea to pick up more than 1 sheepskin mitt, preferably 2 or more, but if you'd like to save some money, a few simple grout sponges from Lowe's or Home Depot will suffice. Ideally you'd want to clay after you wash the car. I would try to stay away from PB's stuff because they typically have a nasty dusting effect and aren't as user friendly as say Optimum's products. As for your LSP, I would go with Optimum's OptiSeal or if OTC, go with NXT 2.0, it's pretty good stuff.



Hope this information helps. Good luck! :waxing:
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4" pads are great even for use on soft paint with a PC. Bigger pads just add alot of unneccessary time to the job. The smaller pads will give you much faster correction time.



You might also want to think about changing to polishes with a bit more bite. Menzerna Super Intensive Polish to correct the paint on a 4" Orange LC pad, then Menzerna Nano Polish (also known as PO106FF) to polish the paint on an 4" White (or green) LC pad.



Without typing a novel, let's just say that those pad/polish choices are among the best correcting/polishing combos you can get on the PC.
 
Here's the final decision. Will I need anything else? Will I get a good finish with this selection? Is pad lubricant necessary?



1x Flex 3401

2x Grit Guard Bucket Insert

1x Riccardo Clay Lubricant

2x Lake Country CCS 6.5" Blue

2x Lake Country CCS 6.5" Orange

2x Lake Country CCS 6.5" White

10x Tornado Buffing Towel

2x 100% Sheepskin Mitt

1x Poorboy's Super Slick & Suds Wash

2x Snappy Clean Foam Pad Cleaner

1x Trim Tape



1x Riccardo Clay

1x Menzerna SIP

1x Menzerna Nano

1x Poorboy's EX-P

1x Poorboy's Natty Blue



Big total: VERY EXPENSIVE :( :( :(
 
Once you get that polished out (or at least improved) you're going to want to focus on improving your washing techniques for your black car so you won't have to be polishing it again right away.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Once you get that polished out (or at least improved) you're going to want to focus on improving your washing techniques for your black car so you won't have to be polishing it again right away.
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+1000



(ten char limit)
 
Yeah I know. That's why I ordered 2 Grit Guard Bucket Inserts and 2 100% Sheepskin Mitts.



I'll also reduce the use of synthec chamois.
 
+1 on the 4" pads. I got nothing done with the 6.5", and the 5.5 worked OK but took longer. The 4" pads made the job much, much easier.



Those swirls are pretty bad, about the same as my Miata when I first bought it. I used SSR 2.5 on orange and then SSR 1 on white, about 90% of them came out no problem.
 
You'll be glad you spent the additional money on the Menzerna polishes. Promise.



Also, you might want to take Setec Astronomy's advice on the wash technique one step further (beyond two bucket method). Take a look at Accumulator's BHB (boars hair brush) thread. Using a foam gun, a BHB, and Accumulator's washing method, you are just darn near guarenteed to never put another mar or swirl in the soft black paint again. Yup, it'll take an hour or two to read, and yet more money in products, but down the road it will save you countless hours of polishing your car. Well worth the time and money, especially for folks with black paint, and *especially* for people with *soft* black paint (like you :) ). Using Accumulator's washing method along with a carnauba based LSP (which release dirt readily) reduces your potential for inducing marring to as close to zero as you can practically get.
 
SuperBee364 said:
You'll be glad you spent the additional money on the Menzerna polishes. Promise.



Also, you might want to take Setec Astronomy's advice on the wash technique one step further (beyond two bucket method). Take a look at Accumulator's BHB (boars hair brush) thread. Using a foam gun, a BHB, and Accumulator's washing method, you are just darn near guarenteed to never put another mar or swirl in the soft black paint again. Yup, it'll take an hour or two to read, and yet more money in products, but down the road it will save you countless hours of polishing your car. Well worth the time and money, especially for folks with black paint, and *especially* for people with *soft* black paint (like you :) ).
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Thanks for the advice. :)



How do you identify the "soft paint" from the pictures? Will Menzerna SIP be too intense for this kind of paint?
 
Xcessiv said:
Thanks for the advice. :)



How do you identify the "soft paint" from the pictures? Will Menzerna SIP be too intense for this kind of paint?
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Not when used with a PC. I wouldn't use SIP on a *rotary* on Honda paint. That's not to say that alot of pros don't do it, but just me... no. But on a PC, it'll work just fine. It'll save you hours of polishing time.



If you are looking to save some money on polishes, you could change the Menzerna Nano Polish to Einszett (1Z) Hochglanz. It is my new favorite polish for use on the PC, and is very similar to Nano Polish, but it's alot cheaper. It also breaks down faster than Nano Polish (a good thing, especially on soft paint). It's 25 bucks per liter at Auto Geek.



Oh, and I'm not actually identifying the soft paint from the pictures... it's just that Hondas are known for having soft clear coat.
 
Xcessiv said:
Please note that I changed my order from a PC to a Flex!!! :|
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That's ok, the SIP will still serve you very well, promise :). I know the description of it makes it sound pretty harsh, but it really isn't. It is a MEDIUM cut polish. MUCH less abrasive than a true compound. The thing that makes it special is that it is formulated for very hard clear coats. Which means that for a medium polish, it works faster, better, and finishes down *much* better than competing medium polishes. It just works. You'll find that it is about *the* most popular medium cut polish here on Autopia. For DA style machines or rotary, SIP is the winner. When used on soft clears, like your Honda, it is best used with a DA style machine unless you're very skilled with a rotary. PC/UDM/Flex (with Flex being the best :) )





Edit: I'd bet that you can get very good correction with a Flex and SIP using an LC Green or White foam pad. Then following that up with either Nano Polish or 1Z Hochglanz on either a white or black LC foam pad will give you a better-than-new finish. You're gonna love that Flex.
 
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