Please tell me what I'm doing wrong

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vMaster0fPuppet

New member
I'm desperatly trying to rid the swirls from my '99 Camaro. I've tried Tropicare TC-8 and Optimum Polish via an Orange LC Pad and have not made a dent. Please tell me what I can do.



I thought I was going too fast and using too much product the the TC-8. So, I went really slow with very little OP this time. The OP faired no better than TC-8.



I have to so this in the sun. Is it possible to use these products in the sun at all?



Is the Camaro clear just too hard? What should I buy short of a rotary?





I'm begging at this point for help. Thanks to any kind soul.
 
Gm clear is very hard and takes a great deal of time to correct. The products you're using are pretty mild, so you may have to step up your pad and/or polish. Use speed 6, slow overlapping passes, and moderate pressure.
 
I've been using the techniques you described.



Would a LC Yellow pad or a wool pad be better?



Should I use Optimum Hyper Compound or would you suggest a different product?
 
What about SSR2.5 or SSR3.



Which do you think would be enough to take out the swirls?



Would OP be enough to remove any marring left by these?
 
SSR 2.5 with an orange pad would be a good start. You'll need to follow with a light pad/polish to remove any micromarring. OP with a polishing pad should take care of it.
 
[quote name='vMaster0fPuppet']I'm desperatly trying to rid the swirls from my '99 Camaro. I've tried Tropicare TC-8 and Optimum Polish via an Orange LC Pad and have not made a dent. Please tell me what I can do.



QUOTE]

Those are fairly mild. How about OC or OHC with the orange or even yellow pad? I've had pretty good success with those when the OP isn't working.
 
Get a more aggressive polish/pad.



I have had good luck with OHC/Orange light cutting pad.



Refine your technique, make sure you use speed 6, move SLOWLY.
 
You could also try a nano tech based polymer. it has much finer pigment enhancing granuales that fill swirls and scratches much better than normal waxes and polishes.
 
vMaster0fPuppet said:
Would a LC Yellow pad or a wool pad be better?
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Nah, don't use a wool pad by PC. Try 4" pads, they allow the PC to work *much* more aggressively. And yeah, get something serious (I like High-Temp Extreme Cut Leveler) for the aggressive work. But be careful working in the sun lest your product dry/flash way too fast and/or stick like glue to the paint.
 
I've been having trouble trying to figure out when is the appropriate time to stop. When it starts dusting that means I went too far right?



For the swirls and scratches I cant get (of which I assume there will be many of an 8 yr old DD) what is a good glaze with decent filler that would work good an pewter underneath DP maxwax?
 
vMaster0fPuppet said:
I've been having trouble trying to figure out when is the appropriate time to stop. When it starts dusting that means I went too far right?
Click to expand...



Yeah, I always try to wipe most such products off while they're still a bit wet (1Z polishes excepted). Just try dialing back your work time a little; I find there's a pretty big range between OK and "dried to powder" so just stop a little sooner, then a little more, until you quit drying it out so much.



For the swirls and scratches I cant get (of which I assume there will be many of an 8 yr old DD) what is a good glaze with decent filler that would work good an pewter underneath DP maxwax?
Click to expand...



Dunno..I'd figure that anything so mild that you could fill it with a glaze would come out with some proper polishing, the stuff that *won't* come out without either a rotary or extensive PCing would, I'd suspect, be too severe to fill.



But see what others are using...I hear One Grand's Omega Glaze is very good for this.
 
OK, here's the plan. I just ordered all these products.



SSR2.5 with 4"Yellow CCS pad.

OP with 6.5" white ccs pad. (will use 6.5" LC orange pad first if needed)

EX-P with Blue LC Pad 2x.

DP maxwax by hand.



Does this seem like it will yield good results on my pewter Camaro?
 
vMaster0fPuppet said:
OK, here's the plan...[list of products follows]..

Does this seem like it will yield good results on my pewter Camaro?
Click to expand...



I dunno how the SSR 2.5 will be, never used the SSR line. On my pewter '00 Blazer I ended up using the rotary because even my most aggressive stuff (H-T EC mixed with a little 1Z Ultra) was taking *FOREVER* with the PC/4" yellow cutting pad. I wouldn't be too surprised if you have to get something more aggressive (IIRC that'd be the SSR3 but I dunno anything about it) and after using something that aggressive you might need 4" pads to deal with the micromarring (but maybe not, just have to see).



Sorry, hard for me to predict what'll happen with stuff I haven't used...I used different stuff on my Blazer and was using the Cyclos instead of the PCs.
 
Thanks for all the help man.



I hope it's strong enough, I don't want to go at this a 4th time...



What's the polish strength rating on H-T EC, and where can I buy the stuff?



Do you think going over marring produced by a 4" yellow with a 6.5" orange and OP or TC-8 would make paint ready for a 6.5 inch white pad?
 
vMaster0fPuppet said:
What about SSR2.5 or SSR3.



Which do you think would be enough to take out the swirls?



Would OP be enough to remove any marring left by these?
Click to expand...





Honestly SSR 2.5 doesnt even touch the swirls in the hood of my 99 SS camaro. Its the hardest paint I have ever dealt with. I got to the point where they were reduced and said good enough. If you really want to get rid of them your going to need something aggressive.
 
:( more wasted cash...



What worked, short of a rotary. At this point, I'm considering taking it to someone with a rotary to get these out, and just trying to maintain it myself with the PC.



My paint isn't terrible by any means but has some swirling apparent in the sun. Here's some pics for an idea. These are freshly coated with #26 so some imperfection is hidden.

bodykit028.jpg


bodykit008.jpg


(Those spots are rain drops)



I don't have any pics to show defects. When I tries to take some with my camera, I couldn't get any to show up. How do I take swirl showing pics?



See... lol

DarkZ28.jpg
 
vMaster0fPuppet said:
What's the polish strength rating on H-T EC, and where can I buy the stuff?
Click to expand...



It's about as aggressive as you can use by PC. Another very aggressive one that works OK by PC/hand is 1Z Ultra/Extra (forget which name they use now). I get H-T at Top of the Line Auto Detailing Supplies and 1Z at Welcome to Exceldetail.com! or Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing Supplies & Accessories .



Do you think going over marring produced by a 4" yellow with a 6.5" orange and OP or TC-8 would make paint ready for a 6.5 inch white pad?
Click to expand...



I don't know for sure, but I'd expect that to work. I just don't polish enough with PC/6.5 these days to have an informed opinion about it.



Looking at the pics...I wonder how it looks in person. I bet you're concerned with marring that nobody else sees anyhow, if that matters to you. If you *really* want it better, I'd probably suggest either finding a pro with good rotary skills or getting a rotary and doing it yourself.



The PC/4" approach really should work, but it'd take a long, long time.



If I weren't me ;) I'd try to convince myself that it looks mighty good already. If I could do that, I'd switch to 1Z brand polishes and keep lots of the #26 over top of them. It wouldn't be *perfect* but it'd still be mighty nice. Some products (like the 1Z) are very user-friendly and that's worth a lot. And products (again, like those) that do some concealing can work out great in the real (i.e., non-Autopia ;) ) world.
 
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