Did i fail ?

[NiSyam]

Hey guys

I decided to practice paint correction on my new 98 forester. Im very disappointed with the results, i dont know if i did something wrong or not. I would like to get some feedback please!

Before i post the pics I would like to chose you guys some pics of my previous attempts

My first ever try

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/26043-first-time-polishing-2000-subaru-outback.html

and my second one

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/26450-my-first-paint-restoration.html

* I just bought this car 2 days ago and ignor how well it was taken care of, i dont even know if it was ever waxed!!

Now where my problems begins!

The steps i followed were:

Washed the hood with ONR
Griots yellow clay
One pass megs 105
IPA wipedown
One pass megs 205
IPA wipedown
Coat of menzerna PL
Coat of pinnacle wax

( Ive never used another claybar other than the griots, i really dont like it, it always sticks to my fingers and its so hard to remove! Also i see pics here all the time and claybars are so dirty! mine barely picks up dirty, am i doing something wrong ? i pour i cup of ONR in a 32oz bottle.)

here are some of the pics


before

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/7906/img0619gd.jpg (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/img0619gd.jpg/)



http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/8573/img0616mr.jpg (http://img16.imageshack.us/i/img0616mr.jpg/)



http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/7653/img0617x.jpg (http://img833.imageshack.us/i/img0617x.jpg/)



http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2778/img0618a.jpg (http://img293.imageshack.us/i/img0618a.jpg/)




testing spot (megs 105+ orange lc pad)

before

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5821/img0620mf.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/i/img0620mf.jpg/)

after

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/556/img0622n.jpg (http://img84.imageshack.us/i/img0622n.jpg/)




one pass of meg 105 on orange lc pad

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8514/img0624h.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/i/img0624h.jpg/)



http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9175/img0625t.jpg (http://img230.imageshack.us/i/img0625t.jpg/)



http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/1934/img0626ra.jpg (http://img38.imageshack.us/i/img0626ra.jpg/)




one pass of meg 205 on white lc pad

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/594/img0629p.jpg (http://img291.imageshack.us/i/img0629p.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/5926/img0628i.jpg (http://img690.imageshack.us/i/img0628i.jpg/)



a coat of menz Power lock

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/1534/img0631e.jpg (http://img12.imageshack.us/i/img0631e.jpg/)


a coat of pinnacle wax

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/4329/img0635f.jpg (http://img192.imageshack.us/i/img0635f.jpg/)

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/1894/img0636k.jpg (http://img841.imageshack.us/i/img0636k.jpg/)

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/4778/img0634jr.jpg (http://img707.imageshack.us/i/img0634jr.jpg/)

And the products used

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1020/img0632r.jpg (http://img46.imageshack.us/i/img0632r.jpg/)

[bottlefed02]

Probably used way to much ONR in your clay lube. 8 ounces is supposed to be for a gallon, not a 32 ounce bottle. Optimum recommends 2 ounces for a gallon to make clay lube. That should be around 1/2 ounce for a 32 ounce bottle. Or 2 ounces per 32 ounces to make a quick detailer.

[kronos]

Before you buffed your entire hood, you should have continued to work on the test spot until you achieved satisfactory results. You'll need to use M105 alot more to remove some of those defects. If your using a PC, it's probably going to take a while. Make sure the pad is rotating under pressure, here's how to tell, draw a mark from the center of the backing plate to the outer edge, somewhat like this:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc256/01540i/polish-2.gif

[NiSyam]

You are right i think i should of practiced a bit on the test spot.

I'm using a DA and the pads rotating! I have the principles of machine polishing video!

thanks!

[AeroCleanse]

Sounds like you needed to work M105 a lot more before moving onto M205.

[CEE DOG]

Yeah, that truck is in seriously bad shape! As said, perfect your test spot first.
Some of those scratches might be so deep it's not worth removing that much paint. Depends on the use of the vehicle and how much longer you want that paint to last. If it's going to be hauling gravel and shrubs through the wilderness... Well, you get my point. If you do want to go deeper with a DA then the SurBuf pads might help. I haven't used them yet but just got a couple last week.

[NiSyam]

Whats so different about the Surbuf pads?

This car has 195000kms, and has done lots of highway! Most likely the previous owner never took good care of the paints car.

I spent a lot of time on the test spot, i guess thats the best i can do with my DA. Ill move on and do the rest of the car and will update with pics on the weekend.

thanks for the input guys!

[canairb]

It definitely looks a lot better than when you started. You got a majority of the haze and swirls out.

I haven't tried the surbuf pads myself, but I hear they have a better cut to them. You can acheive the same results with the orange pad and 105, but it will take more than one pass of 105. As you move on to the rest of the panels, inspect your work after a pass or two and see if you got the results you are looking for. If not, you may need a few more passes.

I had great results with the Kevin Brown Method (KBM) using 105. Try a search on AG or Google it.

[Dubbin1]

What size pads are you using? If they are 6.5" then you really need to step down to 5.5".

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Surbuf pads cut a lot more than orange LC, but leave behind a good amount of micro-marring. DA +Surbuf + non-dimishing abrasive = defect killer

[Mike Phillips]

Hey guys

I decided to practice paint correction on my new 98 forester. Im very disappointed with the results, i dont know if i did something wrong or not. I would like to get some feedback please!

One pass megs 105

Before
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/7906/img0619gd.jpg (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/img0619gd.jpg/)

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5821/img0620mf.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/i/img0620mf.jpg/)



After
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/556/img0622n.jpg (http://img84.imageshack.us/i/img0622n.jpg/)




Hi NICOBKN,

I didn't see where you listed the tool you used? Assuming it's a DA Polisher I think you see a dramatic before and after with the majority of shallow swirls removed. By removing the shallow swirls and scratches your restored clarity and that's what I'm seeing in the difference between the after pictures and the before pictures that I carved out of your original post.

What is being left behind are the RIDS, some scratches, some other defects, but all are deeper and that's why they didn't come out with one pass of M105

Now follow me on this...

If one pass of M105 netted the "after" results in the picture above, you could try 2 passes and the simple act of removing more of the upper surface will result in further leveling of the surface which will result in less defects.

At some point you want to learn to live with the deeper defects as removing clear paint means removing UV protection and if the car in question is a daily driver, not a show car then for the long run it's better to learn to live with the deeper defects versus trying to remove them all.

See this article...
"Taking your car's paint to it's maximum potential" (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/27081-taking-your-car-s-paint-s-maximum-potential.html)


Also, make sure you're using good technique when doing your "Section Passes" with the DA Polisher.


5.0 to 6.0 Speed Setting
Firm downward pressure but maintain pad rotation
Do at least 6 section passes for for each section, more if you're not buffing to a dry buff.



How to do a Section Pass
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q70g83mnTn4]YouTube - How to do a "Section Pass" with a Porter Cable 7424XP[/video]



:)

[Mike Phillips]

As mentioned...

5.5" pads will give more abrading power with increased pressure, you can even get the yellow foam cutting pad which is more aggressive than the orange cutting pad or the purple Kompressor cutting pad.

Surbuf MicroFinger pads also offer good cutting ability...

:)

[Fly bye]

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/7906/img0619gd.jpg (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/img0619gd.jpg/)


http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2778/img0618a.jpg (http://img293.imageshack.us/i/img0618a.jpg/)


[/url]





Ouch!!!






after

[url="http://img84.imageshack.us/i/img0622n.jpg/"]http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/556/img0622n.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/i/img0620mf.jpg/)


http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/594/img0629p.jpg (http://img291.imageshack.us/i/img0629p.jpg/)




That is a heck of a lot better. For someone new to polishing paint, and has done this only a small handful of times, I take my hat off to you :dblthumb2:

Even if you were a seasoned pro, there is a possibility that all the defects may not be easily removed without aggressive means such as sandpaper. Even then, if a defect is deep, it would not be advisable, or practical to remove such a defect, thus, you either let it fly and live with it, or repaint it.

I think you did some good work :buffing:

[NiSyam]

Thanks so much for the feedback and good comments!

Im using a PC with 5.5" pads and i did all 3 steps that mike mentioned, i even have the video and every time i work on cars paint i watch it because sometimes i forget some stuff.

After taking a look at the paint it does actually look a lot better, all the little defects shown on the pics are either rids, deep scratches or rock chips!

Ill be doing the whole car during the weekend hopefully and will update with new pics!!

Thank you again guys!

PS: I dont know if mike is going to read this but i think it would be a really good idea if you can make a video or write an article on how to properly use the megs twins, these products are used for a lot of people and i've read that they often have problems because it seems to dry up really fast and produce a lot of dust.

[NiSyam]

Hey guys!

I worked on the fenders last night, spent around 1.5 to 2 hrs.

clay bar
megs 1.5 with orange lc pad
ipa wipedown
megs 205 with white lc pad
ipa wipedown

Im really happy with the results

Im gonna try and finish the rest of the car today so hopefully ill post more pics later!!


Before

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/9296/dsc01160j.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/i/dsc01160j.jpg/)

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/6250/dsc01161l.jpg (http://img51.imageshack.us/i/dsc01161l.jpg/)


after

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/8962/dsc01163dk.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/i/dsc01163dk.jpg/)

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/9991/dsc01164k.jpg (http://img835.imageshack.us/i/dsc01164k.jpg/)