PC Noob help - Seeing PC "swirls"

erik7

New member
Well, I'm entering my first attempts at using a PC. I have a 2005 black Honda S2000.



The paint has water spots that came out perfectly using Sonus Paint Cleaner with a propel blue pad. I did a test area, noticed no water spots, and so I then wanted to check for swirls. Took out my halogen, and WOAH!!! Paint is in far worse shape than I thought. I must wash my car like an idiot.



Anyway, moved up to SSR 2.0 and a propel orange pad. Did a test area again, and it didn't really seem to do much. But I noticed my pad really wasn't covered in product either. Came back inside, did more reading, and this time, applied more pressure, reduced the size of my test area, did vertical and horizontal passes. I worked in for about 3 or 4 minutes on my 1 sq. foot area, moving pretty slowly and then buffed it out with a sonus MF detail towel. Well, all I see are the PC's "marring", basically circular rings..



Should this be happening? Do I need to just go over the car with the paint cleaner afterwards (planned to anyway)? Or am I doing something wrong? Thanks guys. I know you get a lot of noob questions, but I appreciate the help.



Oh, doing this work in my garage, to stay out of the heat of the sun, even at this time of night.
 
Here are 2 pics.



PCMarring2.JPG




PCMarring1.JPG
 
I'm not an expert but i will take a logical leap and say you may want to hit it with a final polish then maybe a cleaner.



The pics will help when the more exp members weigh in on this.
 
Thanks Aaron for the response. I was thinking the same thing. It's tough though when you're trying to make sure the imperfections are out of the paint. I'm not sure if I should move up to the Propel yellow pad with 2.0 or go up to 2.5 with the orange. Well, I guess I can go do some trial and error.



Thanks again.
 
Allways use the least harse product and pad combo. so i would go with a finishing pad and what ever finishing polish you have.. but as i said i am an ametuer hack at this so.
 
Well, I tried using RMG with a blue pad (my finishing pad is 7" and seemed a bit too big for the area), and it doesn't look good at all. It looks like to me that I have little scratches in the paint. So that trial didn't seem to go to well. :(



Any more opinions would be great. I'm obviously doing something wrong, I need a push in the right direction. Thanks.
 
Isn't rmg a glaze? You want something like



SUPER SWIRL REMOVER - SSR1

Light Abrasive

Removes: Light Swirls, Oxidation, Fine Scratches and Over-Spray. Use on: Clearcoats, Paint, Chrome, Gel Coats, Glass, Plastic, and Plexiglass.



then



Professional Polish is the best and most versitile polish available. It is an awesome Paint/Clearcoat cleaner, Metal polish, and super on Glass, Plastic, Headlight Covers, and Plexiglass. Professional Polish is body shop safe and contains no Wax or Silicones. It's perfect as the final preparation before application of a wax or sealant.



* NO WAX

* NO SILICONE

* NO UV PROTECTANT

* BODY SHOP SAFE

* FOR ULTIMATE CLEARCOATS

* DESIGNED FOR PERFECTIONISTS, PROFESSIONAL DETAILERS, BODY SHOPS

* PERFECT FOR: ANTIQUES, CLASSICS, SHOW VEHICLES,TRUCKS, STREET RODS, MOTORCYCLES, MUSCLE CARS, RACE CARS AND BOATS!

* METALS

* CHROME

* PLASTIC
 
Yeah, for some reason, I didn't buy that. It's in my shopping cart now though!!! Just figured RMG might work. It didn't, I'll keep at it!!
 
RMG has some light cleaners in it it should do something. But that looks like the product didn't brake down and wouldn't wipe off. The sonus paint clenser should be the same as SSR 1 what speed was the PC set to???
 
I would spread the product on 1 or 2. For SSR 2.0, 5 or 6, for RMG, around 4. I didn't run the paintcleaner the second time. I will probably run that around 4, should it be faster? I was concerned that I wasn't allowing it to break down enough. Is it something where if you think it's time to buff, to give it one more pass type of thing?



Also, I'm a bit confused now. David's autopia guide says to basically apply 0 pressure and let the polish do the dirty work. Someone in another thread posted this link from Meguiar's that states to use 15 to 20 pounds of pressure for polish. So who is "right"? I know there are many answer's to this, but what do the experts here do?
 
I think I've seen that thread, and I think he did this site with this breakdown. Great pictures. I think that's my problem, I didn't let it break down enough. Well, I'll go at it again tomorrow!!! :)



Thanks for the help.
 
Back
Top