Polishing check it

[The Count]

So I did my first polishing today.



I got

105

205

Flex 3401



I was workin on my 85 mustang 5.0 I had it all clayed and some of the paint on it was original so it was hazed like crazy. Other parts were normal but with swirls. So I cleaned off the parts I was gonna 105 with ONR and then started. I primed the pad then put some on it and went to work. I did about 2x2 sections. So it went to the roof. This was so hazy if you saw a light bulb in the reflection it would just look like a hazed circle it was so bad. I did 6 section passes 5 were pretty hard, my arm got tired LoL then time 6 I went really light. Now I need advice on that did I do it right or is there a better way? When I got done it looked great, I could actually see reflcection. I had the holegens out and I could see every little detail in them it was awesome, the reflection was almost as good as glass. I could read stuff out of the reflection. Now that it was so good looking I could see all the RIDS and paint imperfections LoL but its worth it to have it look nice and see them it was amazing what all you can see now that I polished it.



Then I went to the hood which was swirled I did the same process and I took out almost all the swirls, I'd say 90%-95% I was so happy. I had to redo one section tho.



But all in all this is going great and I have no one to thank but all you guys on here.



On the roof I don't think there is any clear cuz my pad turned the color of the paint instantly so I might be screwed on that but its ok its just my drifting car so its all good.







Now for my process, how much pressure should I put on it? How many passes do I need to make? How fast should I go? Can I just go real slow with no pressure? Would that be as good as fast with pressure cuz I knew I should have been going slower and towards the end I was going real slow I made myself do what I know I had to do. So what do you suggest? Slow with no pressure 6 passes?

 

[imported_BretFraz]

Well, if your reflections are like glass, and 90-95% of swirls are being removed from a 26 yr old car, I would say you are doing it right. No need to change anything right now.



Don't over think it!!! Do the best with what you have. This process is more art than science. There are no rules cast in stone. It's all about using the tools on hand to get great results.



You will have to adjust your process to every car you detail. The key is being flexible while using a proven process. Sounds to me like you are doing fine. Just keep doing it.

 

[Accumulator]

Now for my process, how much pressure should I put on it? How many passes do I need to make? How fast should I go? Can I just go real slow with no pressure? Would that be as good as fast with pressure cuz I knew I should have been going slower and towards the end I was going real slow I made myself do what I know I had to do. So what do you suggest? Slow with no pressure 6 passes?

As bretfraz mentioned, there are few hard-and-fast rules here. But generally...



Apply moderate pressure. Yeah, I know... but I'll leave the definition of "moderate" up to you I wouldn't press too hard, some people force the backing plate into contact with the felt ring and I consider that excessive. Doing the "zero applied pressure, let the product to all the work" thing only works for me in a few situations via Flex 3401 (one of which is finish polishing). But as you probably noticed, applying pressure with the Flex can take some effort; you don't want to feel like you're "fighting the machine" all the time.



I generally move the polisher rather slowly while running it at high speeds.



With non-diminishing abrasive products like M105/M205, I go across the area until a) the product starts to dry out/flash off or b) the correction has been completed.