I can't understand why this is happening!!!

D

Danspeed1

New member
I am so angry right now. I have done more cars than I can count over the past 2 years and I have never had this problem. The worst part, is that it is on my OWN CAR! Everybody elses car is perfect, and mines all f'ed up.



Heres whats happening. I have a 96 Impala SS. From what I remember the paint was really hard. Last time I used Megs 83 on a green pad followed by ZPC and the finish was 99% perfect. I am out of megs 83, but I do have Menzerna IP, 106FF, 4 Star LLC and SMR, Danase Swirl Abolisher, ZPC and Megs medium cut cleaner. I spent 10 hours on the paint yesterday and it looks worse than when I started. I was sick for a while at the beginning of this year and the car was neglected. It wasn't being driven at all, until last week (its been sitting outside for 8 months). Its got unimaginable water spots on it that just won't come off. After trying IP on Orange, I quickly realized although the swirls were becoming lighter, the water spots were not going away. So I stepped it up to Danase Swirl Abolisher III, which left the car pretty much water spot free. Then I tried IP on white. Heres where the problem comes in. The swirls are really fine but they are everywhere, and the IP on white is taking forever to reduce them. Then I went to 106FF on black and although the most (not all) the swirls were gone at this point there is a blotchy haze all over the pannel I did.



I am thinking maybe my pads are old... I really don't know whats going on, but its not polishing out like it usually does, and this is too big of a car to do a 10 step process on. Any ideas???



Dan
 
Danspeed1- Sorry to hear you're having such a frustrating time with your b-body.



It sounds like you have the water spotting under control, right?



The problem is now the swirls/scratches/that kind of marring, correct?



You're working by PC, right?



It sounds to me like you're trying to make too big a jump (from an aggressive product/pad combo to the IP/white) too soon. I know you don't want to do a zillion steps, but your clear is pretty hard (all my '94-'96 b-bodies had hard clear) so some steps simply have to be kinda gradual.



I'd use something like the IP (or SIP if you have it) with orange. That oughta knock down the remaining marring a lot faster. While I'm not an authority on Menzerna stuff (and I am *NOT* a fan of 106FF by any means), I think that IP/orange will leave minimal micromarring on your car's clear.



Then move on to a milder product, or use the IP again with the white pad. But don't go to this step until you have the swirls/etc. replaced by very light micromarring; trying to remove swirls/etc. from hard clear with a too-gentle combo is just a waste of time and effort.



I dunno if I'd use the 106FF with black pads...again, I'm assuming you're working with a *non-rotary* machine....I think the black finishing pads would be too gentle for use while you still have any visible imperfections.



As for the pads being old, many of mine are very used and quite a few years old. While cutting pads can lose some of their aggressiveness, pads usually last a long time and it's usually pretty obvious when they're worn out.
 
I agree with Accumulator. Get your swirling under control first with the least aggressive method then refine the paint. I personally love 106FA (same as 106FF but with almost no dusting) has a ton of cut and finishes like nothing I have ever used. For me 106FA and a black finishing pad finishes out beautifully with a PC, probably because of the powdered abrasives. Anyway, You should be able to finish out with 106FF and a polishing pad after the swirls are taken care of. A finishing pad and 106FF is probably not needed.
 
Thanks for the tips guys... I still had no success with the Menzerna so I went out and bought a bottle of swirl free polish (megs 82). 2 passes with the megs, left the finish swirl free, and gleaming. I am still scratching my head on this one. I used about 6 products none of which would work. Makes no sense. I am glad I have the problem solved, but angry because I have yet to find a use for this IP on any of my GM projects.



DG
 
sorry to hear about your troubles. i can add to the good info already posted though.



1066f on a microfiber bonnet and a few spritzes of distilled h20 will kill just about any micromarring on most any paint.



hope this helps in the future and glad you were able to straighten you car out w/ the swirl free polish.
 
Danspeed1 said:
Thanks for the tips guys... I still had no success with the Menzerna so I went out and bought a bottle of swirl free polish (megs 82). 2 passes with the megs, left the finish swirl free, and gleaming. I am still scratching my head on this one. I used about 6 products none of which would work. Makes no sense. I am glad I have the problem solved, but angry because I have yet to find a use for this IP on any of my GM projects.



DG
Click to expand...



Unfortunately, that is the way it goes. Sometimes only 1 product will work on certain paint and it sucks when you don't have that product on hand. I've had more than a few vehicles that I have to try several producs/combos on before I find what works.
 
Danspeed1- Glad you got things sorted out. Yeah...there are great products that just don't work for me the way they do for others and I don't waste time trying to master them.
 
I haven't had that much luck with IP either. I think 106 cuts about as well and finishes much better (obviously). Every time I've tried IP on something, I've ended up going to a compound (3M) because the IP didn't cut it. It may be that IP really needs a rotary to be really useful... I use a PC and Flex.
 
tdekany said:
Is it possible that 82 is filling?
Click to expand...



I've found with Meguiars polishes that if you park the vehicle in the sun, within a few minutes you get a pretty true picture of the actual condition of the paint, especially with #83. Often it looks perfect when I remove the excess after polishing only to have the remaining swirls and/or holograms show up after exposing it to the sun for 5 minutes or so.



I never really noticed any real swirl filling ability (and only minor correction) from #82, but it, IMO, leaves the clearest finish of any of the Meguiars polishes.
 
Scott, I have been using IP and FFII either with a PC or Flex as my polishes of choice. If I were to replace them with Megs - would you say I need 83 and 80 or 82?
 
Junebug- The #80 is nice, but very mild (don't think it'd be as mild as FPII though). I've only had one instance where #80 wasn't mild enough to leave things LSP-ready (that was a still-curing repaint, RM brand paint).



I dunno...IMO the FPII would leave things "cleaner".



It's not that Meg's stuff has "fillers" as much as their Trade Secret Oils can do a bit of concealing and those TSOs can hang around more than the oils in some other products. I've followed Meg's stuff with paint cleaners and had the latter uncover (very light) residual marring that was absolutely invisible after the Meguiar's process.



IMO it's the oils that result in what ScottWax mentioned, the sunlight/heat messes with them in a way that even solvents won't always do and once they're gone you *might* see some fine stuff "come back". Don't think that'd happen with the Menzerna.



(The above in *NOT* a slam at Meguiar's products.)
 
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