Restoring Paint

[1998Mazda626]

Hello,
I live outside the US and I have a green, 1998 Mazda 626 (Capella) that has a lot of paint deterioration.

I wanted to Polish my car to restore the paint so, I bought Meguiar's Clear Coat Safe Polishing Compound & Meguiar's Application pad, I wanted to polish the car by hand. I followed the instructions on the bottle but for some reason, it was leaving white residue where I worked it. I'm not sure why this is???

Thinking maybe I was doing something wrong or my hand polishing technique was poor, I decided to buy a Black & Decker Orbital Polisher and used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.

Black & Decker WP900 6-Inch Random Orbit Waxer/Polisher - Power Polishing Tools - Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-WP900-6-Inch-Polisher/dp/B000077CPT)

I'd start early in the morning to have some shade and the weather would be cool. I 'd wash the car first before starting and followed the instructions on the bottle. The strange thing is at the time of polishing, the color pops out and there is some shine but, by the evening, it starts turning white????

Am I missing something???

I would appreciate any help.

[haris300]

I've worked on a 626 before that had single stage paint (no clear coat) from the factory. Work in small sections at a time, slowly, making multiple overlapping passes. Wipe away left over residue with a microfiber towel immediately after polishing. If you let the polish dry it will become difficult to remove. You can expect quite a bit of paint transfer and buildup from spent product, so keep your pad(s) clean with a pad brush or microfiber towel. I've never used that B&D orbital and I don't know what kind of polishing pad you're using, but you may have a better time working with Ultimate Polish instead of the compound. I suggest looking into something like a Griot's Garage DA polisher and maybe some Lake Country foam pads to replace your current setup.

[1998Mazda626]

Thank you haris300 for the reply. Can I ask, Is there any way I could permanently damage my car's paint from polishing? Would you consider that my car's photo, attached, is not an acceptable outcome when polishing? In that I mean, is there another stage to go through to clear off the white stuff?

As suggested, I'm working in small sections at a time, slowly, making multiple overlapping passes. I Wipe away left over residue with a microfiber towel. I looked at many youtube videos.

I'm not using a polishing pad but rather the bonnet that came with the B&D Orbital. I would wash the bonnet thoroughly with warm water and let it air dry after each use.

Thanks.

[haris300]

Were you getting colored paint transfer on your pad? If so, then you're working with single stage paint. It's hard to tell what's really going on in the picture, but it really shouldn't look like that after polishing. Mazda loved to spray their cars real thin back in the 90s, but you should be okay to polish again. I still recommend using an actual polishing pad and a more suitable DA if you want good results. Ultimate polish should be able to bring back the gloss with something like an orange or white Lake Country foam pad. Even a simple paint glaze can do wonders for single stage paint when paired with the right pad.

Here's a 50/50 from polishing with an orange Lake Country pad on some soft 90s single stage Mazda paint.

http://media.tumblr.com/050b2025e6c04ad469018c82f8a71c5b/tumblr_inline_n40j5eHRwS1r0mbsx.jpg

[Niblick]

looks like a reaction with badly UV damaged paint.

[conman1395]

Of course it's permanent, the abrasives remove paint, that's the point. When you use the polished with a pad and appropriate machine, then it removes the paint in a uniform and predictable way way. A bonnet will interact very differently a pad on a backing plate