...so there I am... car washed and dried, pull out the clay bar and go at it.
so, clay bar is done...then I pull out the painters tape and get to work.
About 2.5 hours later, and my car looking like a crash test dummy, im ready to get to work on compounding. I pull out my PC and my Meguiars M105 ultra cut compound. Affix the backing plate to my PC and attatch the Lake Country Orange pad.
Grab my bottle of black baron pad lubricant, give the pad one quick mist. Grab my bottle of compound, shake it up a little and draw an X across the pad and then begin massaging the compound into the pad. Get done, pad looks like it could use a little more priming (some spots where it didnt look like any compound got to)...so I put a little more here and there and keep massaging.
Finally, pad is primed and ready to go. I place 5 pea sized dots of compound on the pad, up, down, left, right, and center. Place the cord of my PC over my shoulder and place the pad on the surface and begin to manually spread the compound around on the paint. Then, I set my PC to 2 and start slowly spreading the compound around for a few passes in each direction. I stop the machine, set the selector switch to 5 and turn it back on and begin making somewhat slow passes, left right, and up and down. Putting a little pressure on it, not so much that the machine "bogs down", but i have pressure (dunno how much, i guess I need to do the scale test).
Being my first time, im not really sure what to expect or what to look for, so I am careful not to move too slow, but not too fast. I know that once you start to not be able to see the translucency of the compound, it's time to stop. I know angelo told me to buff each section for about 4 to 5 minutes. Well, after about 2 minutes, I notice that it looks like the pad is starting to dry up...or at least that's what it looks like, cause when I make a pass in one direction, i can see compound trail, but a pass in the other direction looks like it's dry. So I stop, mist the area with my final inspection and start to wipe away the residue. For some reason, wiping up the residue with the final inspection and a microfiber towel leaves streaks...so once im done with that, i grab a clean dry microfiber and wipe away the streaks. Surface looks good...but have I done anything??
Hmm...no haze...and come to think of it, im not getting any debris on my pad (was told that as you abrade the surface of the car, what comes off the car will start to mix with the compound and start clumping). Well, I never seen anything on the pad, no clumping or nothing. In fact, the pad looks pretty clean, except the white haze of compound.
I did the whole hood with one pad...and was told that it would probably take me 2 pads just to do the hood. So...this leads me to believe that I am not doing something right. Not enough pressure, too much compound, not enough buffing time? Like I said, the reason I stopped where I did is because I thought the pad was starting to dry up and didnt want to dry buff.
I was out in the garage buffing at night...was about 80ish degrees. Flourescent light above me. Cant really tell if the swirls are still there...ill have to take a look in the morning in the sun light.
Anyone have any ideas what I might be doing wrong?
so, clay bar is done...then I pull out the painters tape and get to work.
About 2.5 hours later, and my car looking like a crash test dummy, im ready to get to work on compounding. I pull out my PC and my Meguiars M105 ultra cut compound. Affix the backing plate to my PC and attatch the Lake Country Orange pad.
Grab my bottle of black baron pad lubricant, give the pad one quick mist. Grab my bottle of compound, shake it up a little and draw an X across the pad and then begin massaging the compound into the pad. Get done, pad looks like it could use a little more priming (some spots where it didnt look like any compound got to)...so I put a little more here and there and keep massaging.
Finally, pad is primed and ready to go. I place 5 pea sized dots of compound on the pad, up, down, left, right, and center. Place the cord of my PC over my shoulder and place the pad on the surface and begin to manually spread the compound around on the paint. Then, I set my PC to 2 and start slowly spreading the compound around for a few passes in each direction. I stop the machine, set the selector switch to 5 and turn it back on and begin making somewhat slow passes, left right, and up and down. Putting a little pressure on it, not so much that the machine "bogs down", but i have pressure (dunno how much, i guess I need to do the scale test).
Being my first time, im not really sure what to expect or what to look for, so I am careful not to move too slow, but not too fast. I know that once you start to not be able to see the translucency of the compound, it's time to stop. I know angelo told me to buff each section for about 4 to 5 minutes. Well, after about 2 minutes, I notice that it looks like the pad is starting to dry up...or at least that's what it looks like, cause when I make a pass in one direction, i can see compound trail, but a pass in the other direction looks like it's dry. So I stop, mist the area with my final inspection and start to wipe away the residue. For some reason, wiping up the residue with the final inspection and a microfiber towel leaves streaks...so once im done with that, i grab a clean dry microfiber and wipe away the streaks. Surface looks good...but have I done anything??
Hmm...no haze...and come to think of it, im not getting any debris on my pad (was told that as you abrade the surface of the car, what comes off the car will start to mix with the compound and start clumping). Well, I never seen anything on the pad, no clumping or nothing. In fact, the pad looks pretty clean, except the white haze of compound.
I did the whole hood with one pad...and was told that it would probably take me 2 pads just to do the hood. So...this leads me to believe that I am not doing something right. Not enough pressure, too much compound, not enough buffing time? Like I said, the reason I stopped where I did is because I thought the pad was starting to dry up and didnt want to dry buff.
I was out in the garage buffing at night...was about 80ish degrees. Flourescent light above me. Cant really tell if the swirls are still there...ill have to take a look in the morning in the sun light.
Anyone have any ideas what I might be doing wrong?
