Pearl White Sentra, Paint So Bad Help!

G

g35_tx

New member
I worked for 1.5 hours on HALF A HOOD, and this is as far as I got.



1) Clay

2) Meguires #83 with Orange (didn't do a thing)

3) SSR 2.5 with Orange, drastically helped (still had major issues)

4) Wet Sanded with 2000 grit

5) SSr 2.5 with Orange, much better

6) Optima Polish with Green Pad

7) VM with Green Pad

8) Nattys Blue by hand



And this is the best I got on the last picture. I can't get all the damn scratches out. They look terrible still but a lot better than it did. This was all using my PC. Any ideas what I can do to fix this?!



I have many other products that I can use as well as different pads. I have a old Rotary with a Wool Pad on it, which I rather not use UNLESS I have too. Never really had to use it for something like this, so I am not sure what the outcome would be. I used my PC on 6 for mostly everything.



The whole car is like this, it was neglected. The paint doesn't even look pearl anymore except for the portion I just did which made it come alive.



sentra1.jpg




sentra2.jpg




sentra3.jpg




sentraafter1.jpg
 
Unfortunately, it's extremely hard to see what you are talking about in those pictures. If you could possibly retake them in the sunlight, it would be a lot easier for us to see.



You gave a list of products you used, but didn't mention anything about the process. How much product did you use on your pad? How long did you polish each area? What speeds did you use? These kinds of things make a huge difference in the finished product, believe it or not. Let's start here, and we'll figure out where to go next.
 
damage1.jpg




damage2.jpg




damage3.jpg




damage4.jpg




damage5.jpg




After a lot of work......



damageafter1.jpg




damageafter2.jpg




And the finally before right and after left. See the difference, still not good to my liking though.



beforeandaftercompare1.jpg
 
JDookie said:
Unfortunately, it's extremely hard to see what you are talking about in those pictures. If you could possibly retake them in the sunlight, it would be a lot easier for us to see.



You gave a list of products you used, but didn't mention anything about the process. How much product did you use on your pad? How long did you polish each area? What speeds did you use? These kinds of things make a huge difference in the finished product, believe it or not. Let's start here, and we'll figure out where to go next.
Click to expand...





For some reason it didn't post my other pictures. I just posted them.



I said I used speed 6 on everything (or 5, whatever the highest is on the PC). I tried 3 times with the SSR2.5 and the list of products are above that I used. I used one coat of Optima, and VM and Nattys. I might have to go to Wool to get all this damage out. Bug stains on the front caused me to use the wet sanding and all the other containments. There is still a good amount of wet sanding scratches left that didn't come out. I don't think the PC can do it, so my Rotary Buffer with the wool pad might have too.
 
First of all, 2000 grit paper is some pretty rough stuff. I've heard a lot of people using 3000 grit with no problems, but 2000 is usually followed by a rotary. Not saying you *can't* get it with a PC, but it will take a lot of time and patience.



You say that you used speeds 5 and 6, which is fine, but how big of a an area did you polish at a time, and how long did you polish that area? What I'm getting at here, is if you didn't actually *work* the product like you are supposed to, the product won't break down and won't do much of anything at all. You will especially notice this with something like #83 that has diminishing abrasives.



How fast are you moving the PC around on the surface during polishing?



By the way, please don't double post. I have removed your other thread. Thank you.
 
JDookie said:
First of all, 2000 grit paper is some pretty rough stuff. I've heard a lot of people using 3000 grit with no problems, but 2000 is usually followed by a rotary. Not saying you *can't* get it with a PC, but it will take a lot of time and patience.



You say that you used speeds 5 and 6, which is fine, but how big of a an area did you polish at a time, and how long did you polish that area? What I'm getting at here, is if you didn't actually *work* the product like you are supposed to, the product won't break down and won't do much of anything at all. You will especially notice this with something like #83 that has diminishing abrasives.



How fast are you moving the PC around on the surface during polishing?



By the way, please don't double post. I have removed your other thread. Thank you.
Click to expand...



I did a 2x2 area at a time. Basically 1/4 of the side of the hood at time and moved very slowly over that section across, up and down and X wise. I worked the product till it disappeard basically. Very slowly, I would say on a 2x2 it took me 20 sec to go across it.
 
White paint is the hardest paint. You would need to try some ssr3 on it, even if it is used with the pc. I had good results on a white maxima with a pc and ssr3.



from this



tn_117_1775.jpg




to this



tn_117_1782.jpg
 
My pearl white prelude looks similar to that Maxima that was done with SSR3. I took some Menzerna FP on a Sonus green pad to it last night and it didn't do a thing. I have some 3M Perfect-it 2 fine cut rubbing compound; I think I'm going to try that tonight with a Sonus orange pad and see if I can get the swirls out. This is my first attempt at using a PC, btw.
 
I would hit it with the 2.5 and a orange pad. Move very slowly across the paint.



My B14 was in a similar condition when I started. I used the SSR 2.5 with orange 2X and followed that with the 2.5 and green once, however I did not use 2000 grit sandpaper on my vehicle. That is something i would have recommended against. If you want to try a rotary, now is a perfect time. If what I suggested doesn't work, contact a local professional or enthusiast from Autopia. They can work it out for you. I recall seeing many from Texas on this forum.



JJ
 
If your rotary has a velcro backing plate, you may want to try using your foam polishing pad with the SSR 2.5 at or just under 1000 rpms, remembering to keep the rotary moving to avoid excessive heat build-up.



In all honesty, by going to 2000-grit, you've pretty much backed yourself into a corner, meaning that you'll have to do some rotary work (but stay away from that wool pad), unless you want to spend eons with the PC on that one spot. Don't despair, though. The rotary isn't that bad if you're careful, and based on what is remaining on your paint in the way of scratches, should clean up fairly quickly.



A couple months ago, my friend picked up a green 1996 Camry with a mediocre respray on the hood and front fenders. I mean, there was orange peel on the orange peel. We ended up sanding the hood with 2000-grit. As an experiment, I attempted to polish the hood using P085RD with my PC on 5 and 6, but was able to restore only a minimal amount of gloss. I then tried the P085RD with my cheapo Chicago Electric rotary (on speed III to IV), which turned out to be not aggressive enough (brought the gloss back, but still left the heavier sanding marks). I then attacked it with Power Gloss, and that took care of things real quick. Some minor residual hologramming from the PG step was cleaned up with P085 and the PC, and now the hood looks like it just got dipped in canola oil. Which emphasizes the flaws in the rest of the panels, unfortunately.
 
Thank you guys, very helpful responses. I will try the SSR2.5 AGAIN WITH the orange pad AGAIN, and again move slowly. If not, the rotary is my last chance I have, which it isn't a velcro backing so it only has a wool pad. It's a 10 year old rotary, that I use on RARE I mean rare occasions for things. It's out once a year with that pad to remove something on the paint and I go back with some polish to fix the area the rotary was at. Usually comes out great.
 
Agreed, with the PC, slower is better. Work that polish. With a rotary + wool pad, you'll need to move that thing across the paint a little quicker to avoid heat build-up. And I HOPE that wool pad is CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. All it takes is a little of last year's grit to put some nice, circular scratches in the paint! Let us know how it goes...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top