Polished hood but not happy

[CLL]

As some of you remember my last attempt at polishing was rained out. This evening I tried it again and finished the hood only. I started at 4pm and finished at 7:15pm. That's right, 3.25 hours on just the hood. I'm new at polishing so I took my time. The hood had some very severe water etching and some light scratches (nothing that could catch you nail). I did a 2'x2' section with the orange pad and XMT#3. Minimal results. I did this all over the hood. Again minimal results. I did it again. Same results. I moved to the yellow pad with #3. better results but not what I expected. I moved back to the orange pad with #3 then white pad with #1. the hood looked a lot better but I could still see some light etching and a few light scratches. I finished up with XMT glaze the Pinnacle was. The hood looks a 100% better but I'm not impressed.

After all was said and done I think I ruined one pad and the backing pad. The center of the backing pad's Velcro heated up and melted to the back side of the orange pad. I know I didn't apply too much pressure because the pad never stopped rotating.

Here are a few pictures of the hood. Sorry about the lighting it was getting late. I still have few etch marks and something that looks like pin holes all over it.

Polished but no wax:




Waxed photos in the dark:

[Tonya]

Originally Posted by CLL

The hood looks a 100% better but I'm not impressed.

Polished but no wax:




Waxed photos in the dark:

Are you kidding me... I am confussed by your statement, it looks 100% better but your not impressed. I think it looks outstanding, I am not sure what you are seeing with better lighting, but... come on, it looks good to me. I think your standards might be a little too high. It's not like you can have results on you first attempt like the guys that have doing this for years. Cut yourself a break! Sit back, relax....drink a cold one and pat yourself on the back! I am very impressed! Just my opinion

[budman3]

Water etching is very hard to remove with a dual action polisher. They can be minimized but it'll take a very long time, as you see. There are actaully two types of water spots. One kind are actually from minerals on the water and they sit on the paint. They may sound easy to remove (polish) but they won't budge. Some type of acid wash would be needed to remove these. However, if you had some type of acidic water left on your paint, this'll etch away the clear coat, making it virtually impossible to remove without compounding or wetsanding.

That being said, you aren't doing anything wrong except expecting flawless results. It's just not possible in some cases. I know it's hard to swallow but in reality you have to live with certain things. I have a few deep swirls in my truck's paint (see my Tacoma winter prep thread) which bug me but in reality I'd have to use my rotary and a heavy compound to remove them, which I do not want to do as the truck is only 2 years old. I'd rather live with them than removing unnecessary amounts of clear with a compound and a rotary.

Hopefully you learned a few things working on your hood to apply to polishing other vehicles. You'll keep learning as you go and the results will get better. Good luck!

[CLL]

Thanks for the complement. Don't get me wrong I think it looks great too but I'm not too impressed with the XMT polish I used. I think if I used something with more grit (for lack of a better word) it would have been faster. I think I'm just used to the way 3M stuff works on my boats. I need to find something I can purchase locally and try that or switch to my Dewalt 7" polisher I use for the boats. I'll post my results.

[richy]

You may need to step up to Menz PG (although it's VERY strong stuff) or the SIP. Try the SIP 1st with orange and then yellow before moving to the PG. Don't be afraid to lean into the PC too, especially if you have the UDM..it bites pretty good for a RAP.

[advs1]

i bought the same stuff and was very disappointed with the results. then i tried the chemical guys diamond cut 1500. man there was night and day difference. i used the ccs orange pad and porter cable machine. i am never using anythigns else again.

[6LS2]

You prob just need to practise on your technique.. I've removed some pretty serious defects with XMT #3 and a Yellow pad.

[CLL]

Originally Posted by 6LS2

You prob just need to practise on your technique.. I've removed some pretty serious defects with XMT #3 and a Yellow pad.

I was thinking that too but I had to do the hood 6 times to get it to look good. I will say that those spots have been there for years. The rest of the truck isn't that bad so I'll see how it goes.

[Moxie]

I have had much better results when I started with XMT4 and moved down to XMT3. I actually have gone to Megs #83 instead of XMT3, just personal preference I guess.

[orngez]

the xmt line is pretty mild stuff....but xmt takes the minimalist approach in remove defects...if you really want to remove ALL defects nothing beats a strong compound and 100% wool pad...even some wetsanding...but just remember you can only wetsand and compound so many times....