First Attempt Polishing - 1982 VW Rabbit

[thebeastofrock]

Hello all. Just wanted to share my first experience with compounding and polishing with a DA and hopefully get some feedback. I just got a GG6" (my first DA) over the weekend. Today I finally had some free time to go into the garage and put it to use. My intent was absolutely not perfect paint or even perfect technique since I have no experience. I just really wanted to put the pad to the paint and see what happened. This car is over 30 years old and has many cosmetic issues. It has sat outside without running for months at a time in the past and has been repainted at least once. I polished the hood today to get a feel for using a machine. I have a paint inspection light in the mail, but I couldn't wait for that to arrive to start polishing.<br /><br />My technique and products were:<br /><br /><br /> * Wiped down hood with ONR, clayed with Nanoskin red sponge<br /> * GG6" with BnS yellow 5.5", HD Cut, four section passes, speed 6<br /> * GG6" with BnS green 5.5", HD Polish, three section passes, speed 4<br /> * Hood divided into 8 sections<br /> * Cleaned the pad "on-the-fly" with a terry towel after each section<br /> * Applied HD Poxy with black BnS pad<br /><br /><br />The paint was absolutely filthy. I believe that the majority of the improvement was not from the scratch and swirl removal, but more from the cleaning action of polishing. My yellow pad was pretty dirty from just one section of the hood. There were some RIDS and etching left over after polishing but overall I'm happy since this is my first attempt. I apologize in advance for my cell phone camera and poor garage lighting.<br /><br /><b>Dirty Hood</b><br /><br />http://i.imgur.com/ellQcfQ.jpg<br /><br /><b>Dirty Hood Up Close</b><br /><b>http://i.imgur.com/jhBgErx.jpg</b><br /><br /><b>Swirls</b><br />http://i.imgur.com/gfJW9XP.jpg<br /><br /><b>Clayed Hood </b>(Color difference is probably just the camera adjusting)<br />http://i.imgur.com/i5xOwXy.jpg<br /><br /><b>Test Spot</b><br />http://i.imgur.com/lWpiRZa.jpg<br /><br /><b>Finished Hood </b>(Tape left on intentionally)<br /><b>http://i.imgur.com/IPEtCWn.jpg</b><br /><br /><b>Some Clarity</b><br /><b>http://i.imgur.com/P3ds0SC.jpg</b><br /><br /><b>From the Side</b><br />http://i.imgur.com/IMPD8dc.jpg<br />A few hiccups:<br /><br /> * I first tried a test spot with a green pad and HD Polish and the pad seemed to have delaminated almost immediately. This was my first attempt ever polishing on my first ever section and the pad separated from its hook and loop backing halfway, then after another section all the way. I'm not sure if it was because I was not holding the DA flat against the hood at first or if this was just a defective pad. Any ideas?<br /> * I noticed my yellow pad seemed to develop a depression in the middle of it about halfway through compounding the hood. Is this normal? It seems to have mostly returned to flat after hand washing.<br /><br /><br />http://i.imgur.com/krNAPmB.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/l3ut4uK.jpg<br /><br />Thanks for viewing!<br/>

[DaveT435]

It looks to me like the yellow one was overheated. Possibly too much product, pressure, speed, or any combination of these. Just my opinion

[DaveT435]

Hood looks great!!

[DaveT435]

It's hard to tell by the picture but the green one looks like it has a lot of product in it as well. Were you cleaning on the fly?

[thebeastofrock]

It's hard to tell by the picture but the green one looks like it has a lot of product in it as well. Were you cleaning on the fly?
Yes, after each section. Maybe I wasn't cleaning the pad thoroughly enough?

[beamerstrumpet]

It all takes some time. being as that is a 82, i am guessing its single stage. so its a diferent process slightly from a 2 part system. I will say your hood looks very good! something to concider for the rest of the car as Mike and TDave (Tascora Dave(sorry to Dave for killing the spelling) will say, Megs #7 is your best friend on S/S paint. He told me that with old cars and SS, he always puts at least one application of #7 on and lets it sit overnight to feed the paint. then will go about the rest of the process. Mike also does a total by hand with a terry cloth and #7 and its 3 days of apply, let sit overnight, buff, apply.

HD is great stuff,, if you started with polish,, you might want to start with CUT first then polish. I would be interested to see how it would work or using ADAPT. A cutting compound will take the work out of it and you wont have to push down so much for your desired effects
.
As far as your pads,, I agree with everyone else. did you mark your backing plate with a black line so you could tell it was moving? lighten up and go slower. still very good first effort!

[DaveT435]

Somehow I missed that fist section where you explained your process. I would recommend a lower speed. Compounding 4.5-5 polishing 5-5.5. Remember not to apply too much pressure and don't let the bad load up with product. how many pads of each color do you have?
Did you watch Mikes videos?

[thebeastofrock]

HD is great stuff,, if you started with polish,, you might want to start with CUT first then polish. I would be interested to see how it would work or using ADAPT. A cutting compound will take the work out of it and you wont have to push down so much for your desired effects
.
As far as your pads,, I agree with everyone else. did you mark your backing plate with a black line so you could tell it was moving? lighten up and go slower. still very good first effort!

My first pass on the first section (my "test spot") was done with HD Polish and a green pad because I wanted to see what it would accomplish on its own. I then went to HD Cut and a yellow pad for the entire hood, then the green pad with Polish for the entire hood.

Yes, I did mark my backing plate and I made sure the pad was spinning the whole time. Thanks for your kind words.

[thebeastofrock]

Somehow I missed that fist section where you explained your process. I would recommend a lower speed. Compounding 4.5-5 polishing 5-5.5. Remember not to apply too much pressure and don't let the bad load up with product. how many pads of each color do you have?
Did you watch Mikes videos?
I have 3 yellow, 3 orange, 2 green, and 1 black. Actually since that one green pad delaminated I only have one green. I know I could use more pads, but since I was just working on the hood, I figured one pad of each type could handle it. How many panels do you recommend polishing before switching pads?

Yes, I've watched Mike's videos, although it's been a while.