Please suggest a new aggressive polish for me!

B

BigLouMaxSE

New member
Last summer, I used my PC for the first time, with the Sonus DAS pad kit, and Sonus SFX-1 and SFX-2. I spent a lot of time in my polishing steps (I'm talking like 5-6 hours EACH polish).

I worked the SFX-1 with the Orange DAS pad on speed 5-6, and the SFX-2 with the Green DAS pad on speed 5. I wasn't working in the best lighting possible either, which may have caused me to not work certain areas into the paint as efficiently as possible.

My questions:

On another forum (maxima.org), our detailing guru suggested I try either Meg's DACP, SSR 2.5, or Menzerna's IP. I was thinking about trying Optimum Compound out on my swirls. So, which polish would you choose, and why? Are there any others that you can think of that would help my situation?

Also, how can I polish "faster"? I go to the click and brag section, and guys are pumping out full car details, including polishing in the amount of time it took for me to do ONE stage of polishing.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Lou



If you click on "My Autopia Garage" linked in my signature, you can see the detail went pretty successfully. There are water spots and swirling that stayed however, that I'm looking to get rid of. I'm also looking to cut down my polishing time (either through my technique or by using a different polish). I'll also have a 500w halogen lamp to guide me this time too.
 
You might have applied too much Sonus to the pad and it took too logn to buff out. Quiet a few people do that on the first PC use. I just ordered some Optimum Polish cause someone suggested it since it has no fillers and actually removes the swirl marks and other defects. I also ordered the Sonus SFX 1-3 polishing kit and i also have the DAS polishing pads :). I have not tried using it yet since i am still waiting on the Optimum polishing compound and Sonus so i can remove acid rain from my roof and hood. I wish i could help out a little more.
 
How fast are you moving the PC? For swirl/defect removal, slow it down to no more than 1" per second with 50% overlapping passes and make 3-4 passes or until the polish begins to clear out.



Optimum Compound and Hyper Compound both work well. So does Clearkote Compound and DACP.
 
I had good results with Sonus SFX polishes. If it wasn't mentioned earlier, you could try gradually turning the speed up until you reach #6 (I believe you may have mentioned it), and then in moderate strokes go over the area until the polish begins to turn into a clear haze. Also add more polish after hazing with the pc, and make additional passes over areas as you see fit.



If they are swirls, then the pc should make short work of them. I would not rush, as you will want to do a thorough job in polishing the paint right.
 
cj99si said:
are you talking about getting scratches out? If so a PC is not the machine for it.
Click to expand...
Totally not true, I have gotten tons of swirls out with a PC.



I also have a Maxi and have used SSR 2.5, or Menzerna's IP with great success, although the Menzerna's IP is better with the rotary
 
-KGB- said:
Totally not true, I have gotten tons of swirls out with a PC.



I also have a Maxi and have used SSR 2.5, or Menzerna's IP with great success, although the Menzerna's IP is better with the rotary
Click to expand...



To my understanding scratches and swirls are not the same thing. A scratch is really visible without the light but a swirl is only visible when light is shining at it. Using the PC to remove the swirl is the best way but if you want to remove a scratch you will need touch up paint (if deep enough) and then use the PC to even out the surface. I think thats what he meant by that...I think..
 
VwGti said:
To my understanding scratches and swirls are not the same thing. A scratch is really visible without the light but a swirl is only visible when light is shining at it. Using the PC to remove the swirl is the best way but if you want to remove a scratch you will need touch up paint (if deep enough) and then use the PC to even out the surface. I think thats what he meant by that...I think..
Click to expand...



Yes, but he said that a PC wasn't the machine for removing scratches, which isn't necessarily true.



I'm a complete novice and although it takes a long time, you CAN remove scratches with a PC (if I can do it, anyone can), and you can do so without any significant risk of causing permanent harm to the paint (a risk that is ever present with a rotary).
 
Scottwax said:
How fast are you moving the PC? For swirl/defect removal, slow it down to no more than 1" per second with 50% overlapping passes and make 3-4 passes or until the polish begins to clear out.



Optimum Compound and Hyper Compound both work well. So does Clearkote Compound and DACP.
Click to expand...



I'm moving the PC exactly that speed, actually. Note how long each polishing stage took for me - I think I would've worked the polish enough by then...or maybe not



I was spreading the polish out on the 2x2 area, and then I set to work doing horizontal, vertical, and slanted passes, each overlapping 50%. Can you further explain what you mean by 3-4 passes? (I could interpret that a number of ways. For example, one pass being the horizontal, one the vertical, another the slanted, and then one more doing the horizontal or whatever. IIRC, I did MANY more than that amount of passes. Maybe that's the problem? Perhaps that shows that I had too much polish on my pad if I was able to work it for THAT long?)



About the excessive amount of polish possibly being used, what should I aim for? I can't specifically remember how much I actually used being that this was done last summer.



Thanks for the comments fellas, keep em coming!



As you can see from this pic, the detail did some things very impressively, but I want to cut down on the amount of time needed, as well as get most if not all of the swirls and other defects out, which I have come to realize I didn't do.



Click Here
 
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