Help,1rst time w/PC = 0 results, why?

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dtailmycar

New member
Guys I just got my PC a couple of days ago and decided to test it on my car today. I got a white 86' Saab 900 that was repainted 3 years ago. Since that day the paint hasn't been polish, glaze, or sealed, just a couple of light passes with a cheap carnauba wax. I use the following process with no results, all the light swirls and marks, as well as light scratches and some oxidation points remain the same .. process:

1.wash car with dawn

2.clay magic

3.wash car with turtle wax concentrated wash

4.Meguiar's ColorX with a foam bonnet (no improvement after this step, why)

5.Meguair's Deep Crystal Polish step 2 with the foam pad provided with the pc (no improvement after this step neither)

6. 3M foam polishing pad glaze, swirls mark remover by hand with a foam pad apliccator

7. Black Magic liquid wax by hand with foam pad apliccator,

*for steps 4-5, I started the pc at 2 and worked my way up to 6

for steps 6-7 I buffed away with a microfiber towel
 
tabinha said:
I thouht that the PC came with a backing plate?
Click to expand...



Mine came with one. Not bad, but not very flexible. I've bought a couple different ones since then.



Getting some better pads will vastly improve the performance of the PC. I have no problem removing swirls/light scratches with the proper pads and products.
 
I also want to know if there anything that you could possible do to control the PC vibration, it really gets into your arms when putted on 5.5- 6.0 speeds...
 
Color X and foam bonnet - assuming this is one of the foam bonnets that have either ties or an elastic band that fits over a foam pad, if so, then the pad slides around too much to create any friction. Color X is relatively minor and probably not going to take too many swirls out. Meg's DC #2 is a pure polish with no abrasives that will hide imperfections and not remove them.



The pad supplied with the unit (thick white pad glued to the backing plate) isn't too good for polishing cars. A lot of on-line options properautocare.com (look for lake county pads), autogeek.net, etc. This crappy pad vibrates like mad, nothing like correct polishing pads.



Many options for polishes dedicated to removing swirls - if you do not get them out using polishes then you aren't going to get them out using glazes and waxes. Meguiar's #80 is a good place to start if you like their product (I do) if it isn't getting everything out you might step upto Meg's #83. Poor Boy's SSR1 and 2 (or 2.5) are pretty popular around this forum as well.



Technique has a lot to do with results. First time out I spread a thin coat of Meg's #9 on a panel and buffed off with a microfiber - nothing happened. Learned to apply pressure, go over small areas, do multiple passes, use less product than I thought I needed, and kept inspecting as I went.



Get better pads, dedicated products and try again...
 
A few thoughts:



To lessen the vibration, try taking off the side handle.



The pad that comes with the PC really is junk and might've even made your marring worse. Get some good pads. I'm not all that picky about backing plates but I do prefer the "flex" plate that different places sell.



If the car was reshot in a single stage, good luck. Single stage white is the hardest paint there is and is often beyond correction (at least without a rotary). If, on the other hand, it was reshot in basecoat/clear, then you can probably fix it up pretty well with the right approach.



Try using a more aggressive product. The Color-X is *very* mild, you have to really *work* at it to fix any marring with that stuff and IMO it's too mild for this job (look at how little it did for you). The Meg's DC #2 is *nonabrasive* and the 3m stuff is almost as mild.



Meg's #80 is a standard answer for jobs like this; you could try that. My preferred route: if you can find the recently discontinued 3M PI-III RC (05933) and PI-III MG (05937) I'd use those. If you can find those products (and you can, I still see them around) you should be able to make some great headway towards your goal.



Distill the process down to stuff that'll make a definite, functinal difference: an agressive product (05933) as needed, a milder one (05937) all over, then wax. It'll look good. Heh heh, I'm so certain of it that I'll say this: if those products don't work for you, somebody like me will probably offer to buy them off ya ;)
 
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