Help with Polishing

[Ronnald]

This is my first post, and I appreciate the advice.My car is a Honda Accord 2006, graphite#metallic#color. This is the first time I used polish on it since I bought it new.I have swirl marks everywhere. Nothing deep enough to be able to feel with my nails though.I used PC 7424 XP with an orange cutting pad (6.5"), and Meguiars #9 Swirl remover. My backing pad is 5".I went over a 2x2 area twice with a 5 speed, but only about 50% of the swirls were gone. Each time took about 2 mins. I was using moderate force (5-10 lbs). When I applied more pressure, the pad stopped rotating, so that's why I kept it light.When I put the speed at 6, it was more effective, but I wasn't comfortable using it. It was really noisy, and vibrated a lot. I want to be able to get the job done with a 5 speed. But even with the 6 speed, there were about 25% of the swirls left.I also tried Meguiar's ultimate compound with similar results.I thought I should let the#Orbiter#do the work for me. It shouldn't be that hard!Should I be using a harsher pad? A smaller pad (5.5")? A stronger compound? What's the safest way to do this? My paint is still in a really good condition.Thanks a lot,

Ron

[bodavenport]

I would look at first a smaller pad 5.5 or all the way down to a four inch pad with the PC, and think about getting different polishes. Megs 105/205 are a very potent combo.

[Dubbin1]

You should be getting good results with the ultimate compound but like Bo said, 5.5" pads will be much better. You will get better correction and have no problems running it at speed 6.

[Mike Phillips]

Welcome to Autogeek Online! :welcome:





I used PC 7424 XP with an orange cutting pad (6.5"), and Meguiars #9 Swirl remover. My backing pad is 5".I went over a 2x2 area twice with a 5 speed, but only about 50% of the swirls were gone.


I also tried Meguiar's ultimate compound with similar results.I thought I should let the#Orbiter#do the work for me.

It shouldn't be that hard!

Should I be using a harsher pad? A smaller pad (5.5")? A stronger compound? What's the safest way to do this? My paint is still in a really good condition.Thanks a lot,

Ron

2 foot by 2 foot is too large for most paint systems.

#9 Swirl Remover 2.0 is one of the most least aggressive cleaner/polishes on the market, it says "Swirl Remover" so some people think that means "any" swirls. The problem is that removing swirls means removing paint, the deeper the swirls, the more paint you have to remover in order to flatten or level the surface.

Paint hardness and skill and ability are huge factors too...

Ultimate Compound is vastly more aggressive than #9 Swirl Remover but you're not going to see a huge dramatic difference if you've already removed all the light or shallow scratches using the #9 first and then followed with the UC

Get smaller pads, tackle a smaller section.

Have you seen these two videos... lots of information in both of them...


Show Car Garage Video:
How-To do a "Section Pass" when Machine Polishing with a DA Polisher (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-videos/24074-video-how-do-section-pass-when-machine-buffing.html)

How To Remove Swirls, Scratches and Water Spots using a PC 7424XP, Meguiar's G110v2 or Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher (http://www.palmbeachmotoring.net/ascg-videos/porter-2-20-10.html)


Also see tis article, it's probably one of the most detailed articles I've ever written and since I wrote the first version in 2004, I actually haven't seen another version that didn't read like mine...

Tips and Techniques for using the PC 7424XP Dual Action Polisher to remove Below Surface Defects (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/expert-tips/20021-tips-techniques-using-porter-cable-7424xp.html)



Also, did you buff out the entire car already?


:)

[Ronnald]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm not sure where Meg's ultimate compound fit on the abrasive scale (1-12).

Meg #9 (3 out of 12)
Meg 205 (4 out of 12)
Meg 105 (12). Isn't this too much for what I need?

Is there anything in between?

Anyways, I'll do a little experiment and cut 1/2 inch from the outside of my orange pad. That will make it 5.5".

Thanks for the links Mike, very informative. I'll try to focus on smaller areas and take my time. I thought I can do it faster :)

Ron

[Dubbin1]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm not sure where Meg's ultimate compound fit on the abrasive scale (1-12).

Very close to M105.

[Lasthope05]

Dont cut the pads and just use them as they are. 6.5" pads are fine with the newer and more powerful polishers of today. Meguiars Ultimate Compound should take care of the majority of what you need. The Megs Team uses UC and 7" pads on the g110v2 in all the classes they teach and they remove some good defects.

Flip through these treads and see what they correct.

Pictures from Thursday Night Classes - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online (http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=118)
Pictures from Saturday Classes - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online (http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=36)

[bodavenport]

Do not cut them as they will probably come apart. Just look at getting smaller ones at a future date. 6.5 will do some correction just not as much as a smaller pad

[Ronnald]

Alright, maybe it's not such a good idea to cut it. I'll wait till the smaller ones arrive. Thanks for all the advice guys.

Ron