Experienced opinions needed - Paint correction problems

[ignited22]

Hello everyone! I a relatively new to the paint correction aspect of detailing. I decided that I would buff my mother-in-laws 2005 black mustang gt. After a wash and clay mitt, I was ready to start the buffing process. After making several passes on the hood wither different products, I was still left with swirl marks.

My Opinion. I believe these marks are left from the compound. I also believe that I don't have a decent enough polish to remove the compound swirls. I have included pics below. Any experienced buffers suggestions welcome to help remove all the swirl marks and product suggestion.

Products Used:
Flex 3401XC
Chemical Guys Pad Kit - http://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys-Hex-Logic-Buffing-Items/dp/B00BTGDRB8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1453234179&sr=8-3&keywords=chemical+guys+pads
3m 06064 Polish - Amazon.com: 3M 06064 Perfect-It Machine Polish - 1 Quart: Automotive (http://www.amazon.com/3M-06064-Perfect--Machine-Polish/dp/B000P0Q1J4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453234272&sr=8-1&keywords=3m+machine+polish)
3m Rubbing Compound 05974 - Amazon.com: Perfect-It II Rubbing Compound 05974, 1 Gallon: Automotive (http://www.amazon.com/Perfect--Rubbing-Compound-05974-Gallon/dp/B00AZAGISI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453234518&sr=8-2&keywords=3m+rubbing+compound+05974)
As well as some polish products from MSI (local)

Paint on hood after medium/heavy cut pad and 3m rubbing compound. 3-4 passes on speed 5. The hood seem to have "pits" in the clear and it looks like I didn't have enough cut.
http://i.imgur.com/16wtl9o.jpg

Paint on hood after wool cutting pad and 3m rubbing compound. This seemed to cut much better, but I still suffered from some pitting left over. More passes? Also, this was a larger pad for a dewalt rotor buffer, I was looking into a 6.5" wool pad for the Flex. Do they work well?
http://i.imgur.com/LOUFHr1.jpg

The hood after multiple passes with light/med/heavy polish pad and 3m polish + MSI products. Nothing removed the swirls despite 3-5 passes on speeds ranging from 3-4 and various levels of engagement. I also used a heavy cutting pad + 3m to see if I could get more cut and no use. I think I need a better polish for this. Opinions? Any suggestions on products would be helpful.
http://i.imgur.com/qcSPice.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RVfiR97.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/tepD3ur.jpg

[andy2485]

You are correct, you dont have the right compound. are you in a time crunch? you obviously can order from here, or buy OTC. depends on what your situation is.

[ignited22]

Hi Andy! Thank you for the response. I am not in a time crunch. She knows I want to do this right, I will be following up with a correction on my black tahoe, so I need to have the right products in place. Which compound are you referring to? The polish? Do you have a recommendation of a better cut/polish combo? I am also curious about picking up a wool pad for the flex.. any experience with that?

[usmcpab]

I've personally used these products before. And unfortunately with the perfect it 2 polish, sometimes the polish doesn't finish down that great and it's extremely highly visible on black. My big gripe with the polish is that it gummed up at times making it a bit more difficult to have an LSP finish. I always fisnished up with perfect ultrafine machine polish(step 3) which is also part of the 3M system. The ultrafine polish has an extremely long work time too and is always a must when working on black using the 3m system, at least in my opinion.

[ignited22]

I didn't pick the 3m products, it was just what I had at my disposal from a friend. I personally would like to shy away from the 3m lineup. I know exactly what you are talking about "showing on black" I was getting some haze. I have used HDspeed and that worked pretty well in the past. I would love to invest in some Wolfgang products, but they are pricey.

[andy2485]

get your hands on Meguiar's 205, and 100 or 105.

[roguegeek]

Do you have any pics of the paint before you started? The pitting looks like water mark etching. Was there a lot of water marks before you started?

[usmcpab]

I find myself reaching for meguiars m101 and m205. I feel m205 would work for you. In the past when "black" wasn't finishing well enough on a LC white polishing pad with m205, I found that using a black LC finishing pad does the trick and left a perfect LSP finish.

[Rod73]

I think the info here on what's happening is pretty spot on.

I believe it was mentioned by someone before, the 3m compound may be better suited for rotary use. I'm not 100% certain about this but definitely worth researching.

Also I don't know if you are just at that stage of seeing what the compound would do, but I didn't see a finishing polish as a product you have which would be necessary on black paint.

Also if you have an interest in the Wolfgang polishes one of my recommendations would be to try the Menzerna line. FG400 and SF4000 is a nice combination and popular amongst us the forum(they changed the name of SF4000 to something else now). They may have deals discounts if you do some research on it as well.

Also considering the age of the vehicle please take precautions on how much you compound certain spots.

[Mike lambert]

Nice and simple, Meguiars da system

[Mike Honcho]

Experienced opinions needed

Leaves me out.

[jsgntulok]

Nice and simple, Meguiars da system
He is using a Flex 3401. Many on here in other threads reported that microfiber polishing pads do not play well with the Flex 3401.

[dlc95]

90% of the time, it's Meguiar's Ultimate Compound on their green pad, and Ultimate Polish on the blue for me. Occasionally I'll use M100/M205, but being that I'm not in a paint shop, I don't require that body shop safe feature.

I ended up selling off all the yellow, orange, and white pads I had.

I agree though, that those 3M products are typically geared towards rotary machines.

[ignited22]

I have only done the hood on the car in a few spots, I am trying to address the cut/polish combo that will work best. I agree that it looks like water etching, you can see the difference in 2 of the pictures where the etching looks better... this was because of a rotary polisher with a wool cut pad and the 3m rubbing compound. This car has never seen much buffing, so I am not overly worried about the clear. I have a finishing glaze, but I am just looking to get a swirl free surface after 2 steps. I don't believe I will need any serious cut on the rest of the car, I think the clear is most effected on the hood from the water etching. I will take your suggestions on products and make a choice. I still haven't gotten an answer on the wool pads for a 3401.. has anyone used them?

[Aaryn NZ]

Hey. :xyxthumbs:

Wool on the 3401 works fine but most of the time will require a decent second step. Have you considered Lake Country Foamed Wool pads? Cut is fast & in my experience, they usually finish down nicer than wool.

Finishing polish - I like Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish, Megs 205, Wolfgang . . . . Finishing Glaze I think its called? Menzerna has some impressive reviews too but I haven't used it but most quality brands will have a great finishing polish.

Aaryn NZ. :dblthumb2: