Need Some Polishing Recommendations/Advice on Technique

[boostedwagon]

Alright guys, I have a 1994 Honda Civic Hatchback project car. I decided to do the $50 paintjob(Roll-on/spray on Rust-Oleum Paint). I fixed the cf hood, and now I painted the sides. I wetsanded with 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, and 2000. At first, I tried getting the scratches out with a sonus green pad and Poorboys SSR 2.5 and that didn't work. Now I have been using a sonus orange pad with Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound, and all of the scratches are gone!! Any tips on using this stuff? From what I have been doing, it works pretty well. I am using my 7424 on the lowest setting. Turtle Wax bottle says between 1000 and 1500 RPM. Anything wrong with what I am doing? What should I follow up with? Some poorboys? I have the ssr2.5 and ssr1, and ex-p sealant and nattys blue paste wax.

Here's some pictures, but I don't think they are going to show too much.

 

[boostedwagon]

I think I know what I was doing wrong with the SSR 2.5. I was moving the PC too fast and did not have it on a high enough setting. I was using the SSR 2.5 at 3. Any other suggestions? Should I keep using the Turtle Wax at 1??

 

[JasonD]

Even though I am glad you were able to achieve the results you were after, you really didn't need to resort to the TW product. I'm not familiar with that product in particular so I can't comment too much on it, but I *can* comment on the PB's polishes since I have used them a lot.



You are correct in thinking that you were using too slow of a speed. Keep in mind whenever seeing instructions that include "rpm" limitations, that you aren't using a rotary. A PC doesn't revolve, it oscillates, and is measured in "opm's".



SSR2.5 should have knocked most, if not all, of the marring left over from the wetsanding. What you should have done was used the orange pad (should be your most aggressive pad) with SSR2.5 on speeds 5 and 6, moving it *very* slowly across the paint, and only doing a small 2ftx2ft area at a time, inspecting each section as you go, and continuing to polish each area until all your defects are gone, or until you are happy with the result.



After going over the whole car with 2.5, and being happy with what you see, at that point it's time to step down to a less aggressive pad/polish, and finally a sealant like the one you mentioned (EX-P) or whatever you would like to use.



9 times out of 10, it is the process that needs to be tweaked, not the product choice. Hope this helped.

 

[boostedwagon]

Even though I am glad you were able to achieve the results you were after, you really didn't need to resort to the TW product. I'm not familiar with that product in particular so I can't comment too much on it, but I *can* comment on the PB's polishes since I have used them a lot.



You are correct in thinking that you were using too slow of a speed. Keep in mind whenever seeing instructions that include "rpm" limitations, that you aren't using a rotary. A PC doesn't revolve, it oscillates, and is measured in "opm's".



SSR2.5 should have knocked most, if not all, of the marring left over from the wetsanding. What you should have done was used the orange pad (should be your most aggressive pad) with SSR2.5 on speeds 5 and 6, moving it *very* slowly across the paint, and only doing a small 2ftx2ft area at a time, inspecting each section as you go, and continuing to polish each area until all your defects are gone, or until you are happy with the result.



After going over the whole car with 2.5, and being happy with what you see, at that point it's time to step down to a less aggressive pad/polish, and finally a sealant like the one you mentioned (EX-P) or whatever you would like to use.



9 times out of 10, it is the process that needs to be tweaked, not the product choice. Hope this helped.

Thank you very much. This helped greatly! I will try the technique on the other side of the painted hood and come back with the results.