Help, I can only attain 95% surface correction!

T

TNWIII

New member
I started "really" detailing my cars this summer and with everyone's help and guidance I feel my skills have come a long way, but I have hit a wall!



It appears when I am finished, although I have made majore strides in correcting a car's finish, I can't seem to get the last 3%-5% of the remaining surface imperfections eliminated. I always end up with a minor surface scratch or a small remnant of a swirl, as evident in the Halogens. In the sun or flourescent light the cars look great.



A recent wash, with the results mentioned above, used the following products/steps:

- Spray Detail (garage kept car, clayed three months ago) to remove dust

- SFX-1 on Green Pad with UDM, speed 4

- SFX-2 on White Pad with UDM, Speed 6

- Ultima Paint Prep Plus

- Ultima Paint Guard Plus



Is there another step (product/pads), perhaps one step up on the aggressive scale, which would remove all the imperfections, that the above mentioned steps appear to be missing?



Thanks in advance for all the comments I know I will get.



Have a safe and Happy '08,

Tad
 
Ok, here's my take. Some claim that they have eliminated 100% of the defects on their cars. Unless they have a Trailer Queen I say its BS. 95% elimination of defects is darn good for a driven car. If you can't see it in bright sunlight then I wouldn't worry about it. To constantly have a 100% perfect car means that eventually you'd have removed all the clearcoat. Some defects are deep and shouldn't be removed.
 
Maybe you just need to slow down as you move your UDM across the panel. I have seen too many people work their DA machine too fast across the car, which makes it less effective. Check out this video (choose "heavy swirl removal), it will give you a good idea on how to move the machine when you have tough swirl marks. Detailing Video, How to use the Porter Cable 7424 7336 polisher Try it slowing down as in the video, but use the Orange Pad instead with the SFX 2, as I assume you are using the DAS Pads. On the other hand, 3 to 5% is pretty much a perfect car. If you can't get them out, if they are not so visible, I would just leave them alone.
 
Honestly, 95% is pretty much as good as most car can get. Plus, no one can keep a daily driver at 100% (assuming it was even possible) without a sizeable weekly time investment. Trusts me, your car at 95% correction is better than 99.99999% of the cars on the road.
 
Yeah, 90-some % is very good, and you gotta consider what the starting point was (some vehicles have more potential than others).



On my never-ending (more like just never-completed :o ) M3 project I'm being *VERY* aggressive with the rotary and I'm still not getting things 100%. To do so would result in taking off *so* much paint that it'd need repainted- I oughta be using a paint thickness gauge as it is. Even my S8 has some problems that I'm afraid to try removing 100%. Gotta be reasonable and realistic about this stuff.



But I know exactly what you mean about how different types of lighting show different results. Heh heh, beyond the halogens there's even incandescents, under which I see stuff that I can't spot with the halogens. You can take this whole thing to some pretty goofy extremes if you're so inclined, but IMO it's good to know when to say "good enough".
 
95% is very nice. I would't have an issue with that on a daily driver. If you are interested, check the Menzerna SIP orange and 106ff orange and or white (EDGE pads).
 
This is why I love this site. We have people complaining about *only* 95% correction. I love it :chuckle:
 
95% correction is a great job in my book, i have only got one detail at 100% correction, and that was the 2007 F-150 i did a few weeks ago and i just was dumbfounded on what i had done to this truck. I had to double check the finish with my lights (every panel) to be sure, after a 50/50 wipe down. Can i ever do it again, maybe someday but who knows (maybe never) and that's using the UDM......next machine for me is a Makita! and Great job on your car!
 
I'm w/ these guys. 95% is about as good as you'll get. This site is awesome, but I think it gives a lot of people a false sense of reality in what to expect out of detailing. Thats just my .02 :)

Like accumulator said, you have to be reasonable and know whats good enough on a case by case basis.
 
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