Neglected my paint for too long...

[Blackthorn One]

You need to apply pressure to the polisher in order for it to polish effectively. The mark should never stop, though. I suspect you didn't use enough pressure.

[noamd1109]

You need to apply pressure to the polisher in order for it to polish effectively. The mark should never stop, though. I suspect you didn't use enough pressure.

It was either in the PC 7424 video Mike posted or one of the associated threads, but he figured it was about 7 lbs of pressure with just the weight of the polisher and I think he estimated about 20 lbs of pressure being about maximum you would want to apply.

I would say the first application or two I would agree with you, but for compounding passes 3,4 & 5 I was really starting to come to the conclusion that I needed a more aggressive compound.

On those later passes I was trying to be as aggressive as possible and was going as far as making it stop sometimes, but really that wasn't enough... Even with all those passes.

So that is really the question about what it should be like with the spinning when you are being 'aggressive'.

As long as it is still spinning in the proper direction even at a slower speed I assume you are getting the dual action benefit and that is ok, but wanted to see if there was a thought on running it just lightly for longer periods or if being aggressive with more pressure was better.

I tried both essentially.

[HateSwirls]

I'd wash, clay then buff it out using my DeWalt 849x , wool pad , with Meguiar's 105.
Then follow up with my PC using the 205.

[noamd1109]

Finished off the hood, roof and trunk lid finally, and I think I have the hang of this polishing a lot better than I did a few days ago.

A key for new people is I think to have multiple pads, and pay attention to the very low amount of liquids being applied in most of the videos. 3 little drops in most cases and sticking to a smaller area of work helps a lot...

Then stopping and cleaning the pads, or using a new/clean pad after a few passes.

Made a world of difference after I ordered two more cutting pads, and some pad cleaner (it was mentioned in the videos I know...), but I didn't figure I would need to clean them so often for performance reasons (so other new learners should take note!).

Thanks for all who helped with guidance and recommendations from the start of this, and of course to all the info that Mike has posted on all the tools and tricks that give people a shot at doing a decent job on their own.

I learned so much just from reading this site before I started, and then other things takes a little experience before they start to make sense... but I appreciate it all.

Pictures below, and I will post some final pics in a few days when I get the rest of the vertical surfaces finished up and the rest of the car cleaned up as well.

Wife commented that the paint looks brand new and that she couldn't believe how much of an improvement it made.

[noamd1109]

You need to apply pressure to the polisher in order for it to polish effectively. The mark should never stop, though. I suspect you didn't use enough pressure.

I think the majority of the problem was once the pad was filled up with polish it wasn't doing much cutting at all...

Ordered a few more pads to use, and cleaned them more often (washed them in the washing machine with Griots Pad Cleaner and a brush) and that really made all the difference in the world.

So with clean pads each day and a much longer work window pf just working on it a few hours here and there over 3 days I think all worked as expected.

Thanks for your input, as it led me to believe something wasn't being done right, so another run through of the videos and watching a video on pad cleaning from Mike led me down the right path.

[BillE]

WELL DONE!!!

You really get a big for sticking to it.

Now, go grab an adult beverage, stand back and admire your hard work.

Bill

[The Guz]

Nice job. Huge transformation than what you started with.

[Mike Phillips]

A

ny thoughts on if I should clay before trying the vinegar wipe that Mike recommends in another section for water spots?

Not sure if you mean me or some other "Mike" but I don't recommend using Vinegar to remove water spots. Never have. In fact, what I've seen all my life is "other people" recommending it with zero information as to how or why it will work? Zero.

Kind of reminds me of all the people that use to always recommend using IPA to chemically strip the paint but these people NEVER provided any type of quality information on IPA or the process, for example never distinguishing between 91% IPA an 50% IPA, just telling people to use IPA. That's why I wrote my article on how to use IPA safely was to counter all the clowns. And if you read my article on how to use IPA the first thing I state is I NEVER even wanted to write the article but due to so many people recommending to others to use it without telling them how to do it safely I finally, after a year of waiting for ANYONE else to write it, broke down and wrote it because no one else would.


After reading other people's posts recommending vinegar for years now I finally did a little research and wrote the below article that explains when Vinegar MIGHT work and if it did work what you need to do afterwards.


Using Vinegar to remove water spots

Here's an excerpt from the above article....

Vinegar
A common recommendation for removing water spots is to wipe the paint with vinegar, the kind you find in a kitchen pantry. If the water spots are in fact mineral deposits sitting on the top of the paint then this may work but you won't know until you try.

How Vinegar Works - (If and when it works)
Common cooking vinegar or food grade vinegar is a weak form of acetic acid, which is has low pH. Mineral deposits are just that, minerals that are either dissolved in water or embodied in water and when the water evaporates it leaves the physical mineral behind on the surface.

There are different types of minerals in water but one of the most common is Calcium Hydroxide. Calcium Hydroxide has a high pH, if the mineral deposits on your car's paint are Calcium Hydroxide, then the low pH Acetic Acid in the Vinegar will act to neutralize the high pH of the Calcium Hydroxide and either dissolve the minerals or break their bond to the paint and at that point you would be able to wipe them off the surface.

If the hard water spots are some other type of mineral deposits, then there's a good chance the acetic acid in the vinegar will have no effect and in a worse case scenario cause more harm than good. This is why in the forum world you'll often read accounts from some people where they share how great vinegar worked for them in their situation but then you'll read accounts by other people where the vinegar had no effect.

The problem with using Vinegar is that the acetic acid will act to remove any wax or paint sealant previously applied to the paint, wiping a waxed finish with vinegar certainly won't add more protection and what's the opposite of adding?

The other problem with using vinegar is that in and of itself it doesn't provide any extra lubricating ability outside of being a liquid. So using it with some type of cloth, for example a microfiber towel will not be as gentle as using a product formulated by a chemist specifically to be wiped over polished finish. And if fact if there are physical minerals on the surface then wiping them off without some type of added lubricity could in fact lead to scratching of the finish.

After looking at your pictures, after claying the paint I'd probably do some testing with a polish first and if that didn't work I'd test a compound.

After you dial-in a process that works then repeat the process to the rest of the car.

[noamd1109]

Not sure if you mean me or some other "Mike" but I don't recommend using Vinegar to remove water spots. Never have. In fact, what I've seen all my life is "other people" recommending it with zero information as to how or why it will work? Zero.

I went with your recommendation earlier when you replied and used the Meguires Water Spot Remover.

I think it may have helped some, but those were some awful discoloration spots on there, and nothing but some heavy polishing really got rid of them.

Thanks for all the help you have on here.