Upgrade to Aggressive Pad or more working time? How do you tell?

[SupraTurbo94]

Hello All,

Well I finally started to do some paint correction (after washing and claying) on my car. I did what Mike suggested and started on a test panel on the hood.

I started with the least aggressive pad first that I thought would be sufficient to correct my swirls with an LC Orange CCS pad.

Flex DA with LC Orange CCS pad and Optimum Hyper Compound corrected a very good bit swirls, but not all.

I wanted to compare the results so then I did another section with LC Orange CCS pad with Optimum Hyper Compound spray then used LC White CCS pad with Optimum Hyper Polish spray.

This did improve even more but I can still see a very small amount of swirls still.

I did do a couple of passes I would say at least 6 or so on each panel I tested.

Do I need to do a lot more passes with the compound or polish or is it time to use a more aggressive pad such as a LC Yellow?

How do you know when to go to a more aggressive pad or do I need to continue to do more passes?

Any input or feedback would be appreciated.

Sorry no pictures since my friend had to borrow my DSLR =/

Thanks!

[AndrewBall]

i recently went to yellow pads from orange CCS and its worth it. I plan to follow it up and step down how aggressive my pads are anyway so there is no reason to not use it.

[dougaross]

Hello All,

Well I finally started to do some paint correction (after washing and claying) on my car. I did what Mike suggested and started on a test panel on the hood.

I started with the least aggressive pad first that I thought would be sufficient to correct my swirls with an LC Orange CCS pad.

Flex DA with LC Orange CCS pad and Optimum Hyper Compound corrected a very good bit swirls, but not all.

I wanted to compare the results so then I did another section with LC Orange CCS pad with Optimum Hyper Compound spray then used LC White CCS pad with Optimum Hyper Polish spray.

This did improve even more but I can still see a very small amount of swirls still.

I did do a couple of passes I would say at least 6 or so on each panel I tested.

Do I need to do a lot more passes with the compound or polish or is it time to use a more aggressive pad such as a LC Yellow?

How do you know when to go to a more aggressive pad or do I need to continue to do more passes?

Any input or feedback would be appreciated.

Sorry no pictures since my friend had to borrow my DSLR =/

Thanks!

It is hard to believe that you can't eliminate swirls with an orange pad and a compound that is similar cut to 105, especially with a flex. I wonder if your technique might be the problem. Pressure, arm speed, rotational/orbital speed. M. Phillips had article on mistakes people make.

[DantheMan]

How fast are you moving while making a 'pass'?

I havent used OHC, but that should still be plenty of cut to just remove swirls..

[SupraTurbo94]

Well.. I am putting some light pressure and when making a pass I do know not to go to fast. Maybe I will slow down a bit more.

Also how long does one take on each section to correct? A minute or less?

I will get pics up tonight when I get my camera back.

Side note - My car has been repainted 3 years ago by one of the best paint shops in Orlando.. could it be my clear coat is very hard?

Thanks !

[StephenK]

wait a minute here. are you saying the least aggressive combo was orange pad and Optimum Hyper Compound? that is a pretty aggressive combo then you add the Flex. you maybe going to aggressive and start alot lighter. and was this done on the Supra or the Acura? my step dad has a 94 TT and it was easy to remove his swirls. even if it was a repaint and the shop is as good as you said they are then they should have used used the same paint and procedures as the original paint

these results with 3M ultra fina se Dewalt rotary and 3M grey finishing pad

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa122/detailgod/cars/DSC00999-1.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa122/detailgod/cars/DSC00997-2.jpg

[dougaross]

Well.. I am putting some light pressure and when making a pass I do know not to go to fast. Maybe I will slow down a bit more.

Also how long does one take on each section to correct? A minute or less?

I will get pics up tonight when I get my camera back.

Side note - My car has been repainted 3 years ago by one of the best paint shops in Orlando.. could it be my clear coat is very hard?

Thanks !

Sounds like not enough pressure. See M. Phillips video on swirl removal.

[IID]

Hello All,

Well I finally started to do some paint correction (after washing and claying) on my car. I did what Mike suggested and started on a test panel on the hood.

I started with the least aggressive pad first that I thought would be sufficient to correct my swirls with an LC Orange CCS pad.

Flex DA with LC Orange CCS pad and Optimum Hyper Compound corrected a very good bit swirls, but not all.

I wanted to compare the results so then I did another section with LC Orange CCS pad with Optimum Hyper Compound spray then used LC White CCS pad with Optimum Hyper Polish spray.

This did improve even more but I can still see a very small amount of swirls still.

I did do a couple of passes I would say at least 6 or so on each panel I tested.

Do I need to do a lot more passes with the compound or polish or is it time to use a more aggressive pad such as a LC Yellow?

How do you know when to go to a more aggressive pad or do I need to continue to do more passes?

Any input or feedback would be appreciated.

Sorry no pictures since my friend had to borrow my DSLR =/

Thanks!

Sent you PM
I had luck with a Orange Kompressor pad.

[cooksnj]

i think this is a great question. i am kinda having this problem to. i have a black nissan, and i cant quite get the swirls out. i only have orange pads and a pcxp. i was thinking of just going right to the flex, but maybe i'll try the yellow pads first. just hate to add another step, but hey it could be worth it.

[StephenK]

i still think you are looking at it wrong. you might just be to aggressive. try a less agressive method and see what happens.


cooksnj: the orange pad is a cutting pad and for most paint correction jobs orange is the most aggressive you need. you also need pads with less cut to them so the marring caused by the orange pads can be taken out.

[cooksnj]

yeah i do that, megs twins, white pad. still cant get them all. i mean with the pc i could work them all day, just seems there could be a faster or better way. on my wife and kids mustangs, i have no problems. they seem to have a very soft clear. a cadillac i did for a guy at work, i could not get it to budge. that's kinda why i started thinking i might need to jump to the flex, or at least try the yellow.

[StephenK]

yeah i do that, megs twins, white pad. still cant get them all. i mean with the pc i could work them all day, just seems there could be a faster or better way. on my wife and kids mustangs, i have no problems. they seem to have a very soft clear. a cadillac i did for a guy at work, i could not get it to budge. that's kinda why i started thinking i might need to jump to the flex, or at least try the yellow.

nissan clear coats are usually medium hardness and the combo you use usually works on vettes that have hard clear coats. whic is another reason i am thinking you are being to aggressive. Fords clear coats go from medium to hard(newer vehicles from what i been reading). try Meg 205 with orange pad then step down to white pad and 205 and see how that works. also give the KB method a try as well

[IID]

i still think you are looking at it wrong. you might just be to aggressive. try a less agressive method and see what happens.


cooksnj: the orange pad is a cutting pad and for most paint correction jobs orange is the most aggressive you need. you also need pads with less cut to them so the marring caused by the orange pads can be taken out.

That's where a camera would help.Are they swirls are is there marring going on?

But yes,always start with the least abrasive method on a test spot and if that's not cutting it (no pun intended) move up with a more aggressive pad OR a more abrasive product.

[SupraTurbo94]

Detailgod - Well the paint job I requested was better than factory OEM and it had to with stand Road Racing, Drag, and some very high speed top end runs. It has done very well holding up with very little rock chips etc...especially the front bumper.

The pics you posted of your dad's Supra looks awesome.

Maybe I am just being a bit anal retentive in trying to fix all the swirls.

Here are the pics of my test panel.

This is BEFORE

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_5110.JPG

This is AFTER with just the OHC with Orange pad.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_5127.JPG


Now I was having a heck of a time taking a picture of what I saw with my naked eye with the LED flash light.

This picture was also taken AFTER with OHC and Orange pad. I had to take this picture out of focus to capture the swirls. If i did not take it out of focus it would just look like the above picture.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_5149.JPG

[SupraTurbo94]

I pulled my car out into the sun and you can hardly see the swirls. IF I took a picture you could not be able to tell at all. The third picture is very close up picture taken by my DLSR... My regular camera could not capture it.

Should I just be happy with the out come as shown in picture number 2?