How to do a Test Spot using the Flex 3401

[Mike Phillips]

Video: How to do a Test Spot using the Flex 3401


The below is a portion taken from this write-up,

1957 Chevrolet Belair Extreme Makeover - Flex 3401 & Wolfgang Smackdown!


Note: You can swap out different pads and chemicals for your test spot, the important point is to test the products, pads, tools and your technique to one small area first, and then check your results before attempting to buff out the entire car.

It does help to actually lay down a strip of tape of tape and then just work on one side of the tape, this will help you to better see the changes taking place.

Make sure the results from your Test Spot meet your expectations, if they don't then start a thread on this forum and let us know what you're seeing and our online community will do their best to help you tweak your technique and see you through to success!


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Begin Copy & Paste
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We're ready to do our test spot and for this we're going to use the Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover 3.0 with the LC Hydro-Tech foam polishing pad with the Flex 3401 If this isn't removing the swirls fast enough or effectively enough then will stick with the same product but try the more aggressive LC Hydro-Tech Cutting pad.


Center the pad onto the backing plate...



And then press the pad firmly against the backing plate to fully engage the Velcro.

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Horizontal surfaces like the hood or the trunk lid always work best for the Test Spot. Here we're using the trunk lid and we've applied a piece of painter's tape to separate between the before and after sides for easier and more accurate evaluation.





Always shake your products well before using them... I like to twist them back in forth at my side...




Lay down a thin strip of product about 6" to 8" long. You'll tend to use less product as you move around the car and your pad becomes more wet with product so it's less likely to absorb product into itself.







Unlike a true Rotary Buffer which the pad would rotate clockwise as you look down on it from behind the buffer, the Flex 3401 rotates counterclockwise and as such we're going to pick up our strip of product running the pad across the panel from left to right and running the strip into the pad at the 4 O'Clock position.
(See the YouTube Video below).












After picking up our bead, we lay the pad flat against the paint and begin making slow, overlapping passes over our test section.







Try to always have a wet film of product at the end of the buffing cycle as buffing to a complete dry buff might lead to hazing if you lose all lubricity on the surface.

YouTube Video Performing A Test Spot using the Flex VRG 3401

Turning the pad over reveals we're working on a single stage paint job, not a basecoat/clear coat finish. Single stage paints are generally softer and easier to work on than clear coat finishes with the exception of white single stage paints as the pigment type for white paint is Titanium Dioxide Powder and the pigment alone will make the paint, (resin), very unworkable or hard-to-polish.



Next we'll wipe the residue off using a Cobra Indigo Microfiber Polishing Cloth and inspect the results both in the shop and outside in full sun.





This is with the before side being lit up using the flash of the Rebel T1i



This is the after side. The tiny craters or pin holes you see are more than likely what' called Solvent Popping, which occurred when the paint was sprayed. These pin holes are actually present on the before side except because there are so many swirls in the before side, the swirls hide the solvent popping pin holes.

No amount of buffing will remove solvent popping because the holes are throughout the layer of paint, not just on the surface. Compounding and polishing more and more will just remove more paint and reveal a greater depth of the pin holes, it won't make the problem go away.

Keep in mind this is a very high resolution camera and it's being held very close to the paint. After polishing and waxing and then looking at the paint from a normal distance you don't really see them. The only fix is to repaint the entire car or the affected panels.




And a shot right on the tape-line...

[Mike Phillips]

Continued...


It's aways a good idea to check your results in at least two kinds of light, so after checking our results with the Swirl Finder Light and the Camera Flash inside the shop, we backed the car out into the sun and inspected our results with full sun directly overhead. At this point this is only the Total Swirl Remover 3.0, no final polishing or jeweling has been performed and there is no paint sealant on the paint.

YouTube Video showing the results from our Test Spot

With our Test Spot finished, the car taped-off, we're ready to move the car back into the shop and get busy.





After we saw how well the swirls were coming out using just the polishing pad we tried the same combination on the roof but found a lot deeper scratches, (not swirls), so we switched to the Cyan colored foam cutting pad but stayed with the Total Swirl Remover 2.0 and polished out all the panels with this combination of pad and chemical on the 5.0 speed setting.



The Flex VRG 3401 has PLENTY of power, it's very close to being as powerful as a true rotary buffer without the heat and swirl issues associated with a true rotary buffer. Note the paint will still become very warm so always use good technique and don't overheat the paint in one section when using this tool. Check the temperature with the palm of your hand and as long as your Fight or Flight Reflexes don't kick in and make you jerk your hand away it's probably not too hot.


The Flex 3401 is easier to learn and control than a true rotary buffer but more difficult than a Porter Cable style dual action polisher. The key to keeping the tool easy to use is keeping the pad flat whenever you're working on flat surfaces.











It's important to hold the tool firmly and in such a way as to keep the pad flat at all times. If you tilt the polisher in any direction so as to put more pressure on any of the edges of the pad, the rotating action of the pad will tend to want to walk the polisher in the direction of the rotation of the pad where the pressure is applied. So it's vitally important to hold the pad flat when using this type of tool.






The Brinkman Dual Xenon Flashlight works great for checking your results as your work around the car.

[Bunky]

I have to believe Max will be selling the Brinkman before long with polishing kits, etc.

[Integra-S]

Wow! what a difference.

[Bunky]

Mike, do you recommend using the picking up the bead method with the Flex DA?

[87rx7chick]

welp. looks like i have a bright light to buy

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, do you recommend using the picking up the bead method with the Flex DA?

Personal preference; you can apply some product to the face of the pad or lay down a bead of product, since my background is using a rotary buffer that's my preference and habit.

Either way will work, once I just wanted to show that you could pick up a bead of product like you can with a rotary buffer for other's to test for themselves.

[dragster]

Is the Flex your go to polisher now?

[Rob T]

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This is the after side. The tiny craters or pin holes you see are more than likely what' called Solvent Popping, which occurred when the paint was sprayed. These pin holes are actually present on the before side except because there are so many swirls in the before side, the swirls hide the solvent popping pin holes.

No amount of buffing will remove solvent popping because the holes are throughout the layer of paint, not just on the surface. Compounding and polishing more and more will just remove more paint and reveal a greater depth of the pin holes, it won't make the problem go away.

Keep in mind this is a very high resolution camera and it's being held very close to the paint. After polishing and waxing and then looking at the paint from a normal distance you don't really see them. The only fix is to repaint the entire car or the affected panels.

I found this to be very interesting information! It reminded me of a detail job I did on a friends 57 Ford F-100 that had the same pin holes in the paint. It was apparently painted in someone's garage..

Here is one of the "after" pics that shows the pin holes:



1957 Ford F-100 Detailed