realistically..what are the odds of screwing up my paint with a PC?

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EricAZ

New member
the car is an 03 mustang that has some swirls and waterspots. I have the 3 bottles of sonus polish and the sonus pads. I was planning to start out with the sonus #2 and the green pad then move to orange pad still using #2 if the green pad wasnt working. Im just concerned with how fast you could remove too much clear coat with the orange pad if it comes to that.



im going to clay bar the car and try the vinegar trick to see how much of the water spots go away
 
There is a huge risk in screwing up your paint with the PC. It's very easy to mess up your entire finish, maybe resulting in a replaced body panel.



This is, of course, when you throw the machine at your car. :rofl



Seriously, not very high. You really have to try to do any damage, and even then, I don't think it's much more than some micro marring.
 
There was a guy that washed his engine out with water and SG on another forum a couple days ago. I think that even that guy could use the pc without screwing up his paint.
 
haha...hahahahahaha



i dunno if its just that its so late or what, but the throwin it at the car bit got me pretty good.



supposed to be a really nice day tomorrow, guess Ill give it a go and see what happens.



I know the PCs not supposed to burn the paint but I had no idea just how quickly it would eat away at clear coat.
 
I know a PC is much safer than a rotary but you can still do damage. I have seen a PC go through the clear and hit base coat. You are removing clear every time you use an abrasive. If you over do it you will go through the clear eventually.



If you don't believe me use a compound like 3M PI II FC RC. Use a cutting pad and turn the PC up to 6 and apply some pressure. See how many applications it takes to hit base coat. I watched a guy hit base coat on the 5th application on a new car trying to remove a scratch.
 
Safe to use:

A random orbital buffer wonâ€â„¢t leave swirl or buffer marks on the paint, thatâ€â„¢s because it doesnâ€â„¢t spin like a rotary machine nor does it have the power or speed. Its elliptical motion mimics hand movements (only much, much faster and it doesnâ€â„¢t tire like a human hand) so the paint wonâ€â„¢t friction burn. About the only serious damage that could be done with this machine would be by you dropping it on the hood.

JonM
 
oh i know you can go too deep with it. Im not even gonna try and remove every little defect or anything and i have no scratches to start with. Mostly just fine swirls from my tard days of using crappy towels.
 
It is extremely difficult to ruin a finish with a PC. It is quite easy to ruin a finish with a PC if one uses the "wrong" abrasive (polishes and pads) in combo with a PC. Start with a test area and the least abrasive polish you have available (i.e a paint cleanser) and polishing pad. Step up in abrasiveness using the polishing pad until you get the results you are seeking. Resort to a cutting pad only when absolutely necessary with a dark colored (black) vehicle.

Be patient and work your way towards that absolute real-world swirl-free finish. This may take several getting familiar sessions with the PC and different combos of polishes with a polishing pad. Sorry, I can not comment of the Sonus system that you will be using, but I am sure someone will chime in a give some insight on its usage on black.



A PC with the right polishing abrasive level(s), polishing pads and user experience is completely safe for one's clearcoat longevity.



Being nervous is good when one is using a new system. Now take this nervous energy and incorporate a little patience and you will be fine and quite satisfied with the new tool you just added to your detailing system. :xyxthumbs
 
If you are fearful, why don't you go to a body shop and pick up a hood or something that they are going to scrap and practice on the non-damaged part. Go to town and try to damage it. It will give you a good idea on how to acheive good results, and the damage that can (or cannot) be done. Alternatively, maybe a friend or family member has a beater car they are willing to lend you in the interest of science, or just go out and rent a car and polish it (I know board members have done just that). See here for a thread that describes just that.
 
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