Some paint correction issues.

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Hey mike,

My name Is Matthew Jorgenson, I Live in MN about 10 miles from the Twin cities. I have had a love for cars and washing them since I was 10, now im 19 and after I wash my car, I drive it to get it dirty again so I can enjoy washing it again. Im In no means the best detailer or even being close to the best detailer.

Anyway I recently Just bought a New Flex 3401 W/ the Pinnacle kit. I use it on my car 2003 focus SVT with a S1 paint code, Its a water based paint.

1st time I used it, I used the black foam pad that was included with the DA, I used Meguiars Ultimate Polish with the flex on speed 1. Just to get a feel for it

Now its finely warm enough to wash my car again. So I decided to get a feel for the flex again I primed the orange white and blue pads with 3-4 sprays each of a detailer spray

Started with: orange pad and Pinnacle Advanced swirl remover

Then: White pad and pinnacle advanced finnishing polish

last: blue pad and pinnacle liquid souveran wax.

The results where deep but in the sun light you can see what look to be pad scratches, It looks like real light moon shapes.

I will try to get some pictures up. maybe you can tell me what im doing wrong.

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http://i805.photobucket.com/albums/yy337/TACO_BELL_ROCKS/Picture022_zps01968961.jpg

http://i805.photobucket.com/albums/yy337/TACO_BELL_ROCKS/Picture025_zps176a99c9.jpg

http://i805.photobucket.com/albums/yy337/TACO_BELL_ROCKS/Picture024_zpsf32d62f8.jpg

The pictures dont show it to well, but do you kinda have an idea of what im talking about?
I will try to get better pictures whe the sun is shining more.

[swanicyouth]

Couple things:

1. Are you sure the "pad scratches" weren't there to begin with, and you just didn't remove them???

If that's the case, you need a more aggressive pad, polish, or technique.

Assuming that's not the issue, it must be something else?

1. Are you working outside?? Pads and paint have to be 100% surgically clean to get great results. This means cleaning the area your going to be working on seconds before you start polishing with a waterless wash or detail spray.

**** I have a feeling these "moon shapes" were from a pad that got contaminated and was used over and over again. Do you own multiple pads of the same color??? If not, you can polish a car with one pad, but you have to stop after every few panels to 100% clean the pad with pad cleaner, water, then dry.

You can dry it quickly using towels, a fan, a portable heater, or free spinning it carefully on your Flex.


2. 3-4 sprays of detail spray to prime a pad is too much. You only really need 1 full spray. Prime the face of the pad with polish 100%, then use 3 pea to dime size dots. Did you prime the pad face with polish??? Very important.

3. Aim for using enough polish to do about 6 section passes. Arm speed about 2" per second & 15lbs of downward pressure. When you go to remove the polish from the paint, it should be somewhere between wet and dry. Make sure your towels you are using to remove the polish are not contaminated and are high quality towels.

4. Always clean your pad after each section with a pad brush (or some brush) and a terry towel.

5. Do a test spot! Then, pull the car out in the sun. Perfect what you are doing on that section, the repeat all over the car.

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Thanks for taking the time to respond!

I have been using 3 diffrent pads

Orange pad with: advanced swirl remover
White pad with: Advanced polish
Blue pad with: wax

I did prime each pad with detailer spray then covered the pads in the 3 products. Each pad was brand new. I did not clay the car. The pads didnt seem to be covered in contaminents

I did Wash the car the night prior, Could some fine dust particles be the colprit?I washed it and pulled right into the garage and sat until the next day. maybe Im moving the flex around too fast not letting it do its work?:buffing:

The moon shapes look almost like unbuffed wax. but are not.

I am very disapointed in myself, but I guess it takes time to learn this art form.

Thanks!
-Matt.J

[ihaveacamaro]

Thanks for taking the time to respond!

I have been using 3 diffrent pads

Orange pad with: advanced swirl remover
White pad with: Advanced polish
Blue pad with: wax

I did prime each pad with detailer spray then covered the pads in the 3 products. Each pad was brand new. I did not clay the car. The pads didnt seem to be covered in contaminents

I did Wash the car the night prior, Could some fine dust particles be the colprit?I washed it and pulled right into the garage and sat until the next day. maybe Im moving the flex around too fast not letting it do its work?:buffing:

The moon shapes look almost like unbuffed wax. but are not.

I am very disapointed in myself, but I guess it takes time to learn this art form.

Thanks!
-Matt.J

That statement looks so innocuous when it's not enlarged.

There's your problem. You ALWAYS clay before polishing unless of course you clayed like a month or two ago. Still it is always best practice to clay before polishing :)

[Edse30]

I had this happen twice for 2 diffrent reasons:
first, i worked the polish to long and it dried up on the paint and was sooo hard to remove that i thought it would be permanently on. I did a quick search and found that if i run the same polish on the area it would remove it and it did. Finished the car and turned out great.
second time, the hood was VERY oxidized so my pads got real dirty real fast with all that junk it took off the surface. I was having the hardest time on that section until i figured out what it was, washed the pad and was good to go for another tiny section.
It is recomended to have several pads of the same kind, meaning 3+orange pads, 3+white pads and 1 black pad is fine as you are only spreading LSP not removing any paint.
i use 1 pad for 1 or 2 sections(fender+door) before i swap it out for a new one.
Hope this helps!

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Is that called hazing when the polish dries on the paint??

[swanicyouth]

Is that called hazing when the polish dries on the paint??

No hazing is when you use an aggressive polish / compound and it leaves micro- marring on the paint

[swanicyouth]

I think your problem is one of 2 things:

1. You need to clay before you polish, period. Unless the car was recently clayed. I have no idea how clean your car is, but in order to get great results everything needs to be surgically clean. That means, even removing dust on a section before you polish.

2. Your overworking the polish or under applied it to the pad. The polish should be not wet, but not dry when you remove it. Pad shouldn't be dry either. Most polishes should dust little. If you see a lot of dust your dry buffing. Usually, the more aggressive the polish, the more it dusts.

Pad should be primed like this:

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/06/e8uzuqu5.jpg

Then press out with your finger to look like this:

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/06/e6yby2y3.jpg

Then add workable product (this is only a 3" pad):

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/06/ujy6ede7.jpg

When your done polishing the pad should still feel wet, especially in the center, it should look something like this:

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/06/4ujytuza.jpg

Then you should clean it with a brush and a terry towel, especially the gummy center section. After cleaning the center shouldn't be gummy looking. After cleaning:

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/06/y4yda2y2.jpg

Hope this helps. It's all about using the right amount of polish, arm speed, machine speed, and downward pressure. Of course, you need to select the right pads and polish for the job.

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I think you are right on swanicyouth, that I over worked the polish. And thanks for the Pics!

Before my next attempt I will for sure clay bar the paint. I did not know it was such a vital step.
Anyway, Thanks to all who replyed with the helpful tips.
This is my first time with a polisher so thank you all for helping me, and not criticizing me.

-Matt.J

[Ecrissman]

I simply wanted to chime in and say you have premium products and the right machine. I agree If you clay then re-do your process you should be extremely happy. I stumbled onto this thread from doing a search on pinnacle advanced finishing polish. I had some sitting around and was really pleased with the result using a flex 3401, white LC pad then topping with black light and finally pinnacle souveran. Granted the car I used it is only garage candy that has already been corrected but wow!