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Background: 2010 Audi A4 with 18,000 miles and Dark Blue. When I got it I washed then clayed the car. Then I used my PC 7424 XP with Meguiars #205 Ultra Finishing Polishing with orange lake pad. Stepped down to a white pad, same polish. etc etc.... There are some blemishes on the hood and roof that look like bird droppings and water spots. Although it helped it didn't take the marks out.
I just received Pinnacle XMT Intermediate Swirl remover #3 and used that with the orange lake country pad. Spots still there. Although the car looks AWESOME from 7 feet away and the neighbours are jealous it still shows the blemishes.
Did I not go over it with enough passes? Wrong pad and product combo? Like I said, from a few feet away it's stunning. But being anal will these blemishes be part of the car? I'm afraid to proceed from here.
By the way, the Meguiars Black Wax is incredible and was a great final touch.
Any suggestion as to what I should do? Thanks in advance...
That dark blue Audi paint is on the hard side and will require something with a bit more cut for those blemishes. Look into Wolfgang Uber compound or Menzerna fg400. Use those with the orange pad then go back over with the m205 on a white pad if you can see any hazing from the heavier cut compound.
The marks look like they might be kind of deep, do they catch your fingernail when you run it over them? If so the only way to get them out might be to sand them out.
In most cases, Audi's have very hard paint and you're going to want a really good compound that will remove the defects and finish out like a polish.
If it were my Audi, I'd get some Uber Compound. I type this all the time on this forum and people can make their own decision but when it comes to compounds and polishes, this is the one area where if you want the best results then buy the best abrasive technology.
Get the Uber Compound and the Finishing Glaze and you can not only tackle this car but any car.
Here are four products that will take care of about 99.9% of any exterior paint correction product you'll ever have in your garage.
The Wolfgang Four
Forum member RFulmer coined this term, (due credit where credit is due), and since there's been a lot of questions about what each product is, what they do, the order of aggressiveness and when you use one over the other, here's some info...
Uber Compound
Aggressive Compound - More aggressive than Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover and Wolfgang Finishing Glaze.
For use with any type of polisher/buffer and can be used by hand.
Body Shop Safe = Can be used in a fresh paint. environment (body shop) and can be used on fresh paint, (paint just sprayed and less than 30 days old).
Safe for Ceramiclear paints.
Cafe for all clear coat paints.
Safe for all single stage paints.
For some people on some cars it can be used as a compound/polish after which the paint can be sealed with a wax or synthetic paint sealant.
Total Swirl Remover
Medium Cut Polish - Less aggressive than Uber Compound and more aggressive than Wolfgang Finishing Glaze.
For use with any type of polisher/buffer and can be used by hand.
Body Shop Safe = Can be used in a fresh paint. environment (body shop) and can be used on fresh paint, (paint just sprayed and less than 30 days old).
Safe for Ceramiclear paints.
Cafe for all clear coat paints.
Safe for all single stage paints.
Should be tested before using Uber Compound to see if it will remove defects to our satisfaction in keeping with the practice of using the least aggressive product to get the job done.
Finishing Glaze
Fine Cut Polish - Much less aggressive than Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover and of course dramatically less aggressive than Wolfgang Uber Compound.
For use with any type of polisher/buffer and can be used by hand.
Body Shop Safe = Can be used in a fresh paint. environment (body shop) and can be used on fresh paint, (paint just sprayed and less than 30 days old).
Safe for Ceramiclear paints.
Cafe for all clear coat paints.
Safe for all single stage paints.
Should be tested before using Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover to see if it will remove defects to our satisfaction in keeping with the practice of using the least aggressive product to get the job done.
Great "Maintenance Polish" for use removing shallow swirls that show up over time from normal wear-n-tear on daily drivers and after a person has already performed a multi-step procedure to remove serious paint defects.
Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0
German engineered synthetic paint sealant.
Non-cleaning, pure synthetic - Paint must be in excellent condition as in brand new or previously polished to like new condition before use.
Can be applied by hand or any type of dual action polisher wit foam pads.
This product "seals" the paint in the say way a car wax or paint coating will seal the paint. It is water insoluble and as such like all synthetic paint sealants, car waxes and paint coatings is not body shop safe.
Requires 30 to 45 minutes of drying time before removal.
Oxygen activated. After buffing off the excess sealant the remaining protection ingredients should be allowed to cure and fully set-up for an approximate 12 hour window of time before the vehicle is put back into service where it will be exposed to water.
Synergistic Chemical Compatibility
Each product is chemically compatible and chemically beneficial when used as a system approach to take a diamond in the rough and turn it into a glistening gemstone. Using the entire line in the correct order or just a few of the product in the correct order is an example of working forward in the paint polishing process.
All Inclusive System-Approach
This group of four products with just about any tool, any pad and even by hand will produce not only show car results but do it consistently across a VERYwide spectrum of paint systems including,
Hard paints, soft paints and everything in-between.
Factory OEM paints and aftermarket repaints at your local body shop or custom paint shop.
Single stage and basecoat clearcoat.
Which products do you need?
Which product you'll need depend upon the condition of the paint on the car. Click to my list of paint condition categories and read through the descriptions for the different categories. Then after washing and drying your car, inspect the paint both with your sense of touch, (The Baggie Test), and visually with your eyes in bright light for swirls and scratches.
Then determine which category your car's paint fall into. Here are some general guidelines but the best way to determine which exact product you'll need to remove the defects and restore the finish on your car to your expectations can only be determined by doing a Test Spot
The Gods have spoken... uber it is... And I'll have photos of the results later... And no, they don't catch the fingernail.... Thank you for the input everyone...
The Gods have spoken... uber it is... And I'll have photos of the results later... And no, they don't catch the fingernail.... Thank you for the input everyone...
People have assumed that the problem is wholly with the materials. There are a couple of procedural issues that you might also want to address. First, you should be moving the PC very slowly - perhaps 2"/second. Second, you should be running the PC at or close to its top speed (5 or 6). The PC is not the most powerful DA and requires pretty aggressive handling on hard paints.
Another point is that sometimes bird poop will etch right down to the primer (depending on the bird, the temperature, the sun, etc.). So just be sure that is correctable damage before you go too crazy correcting it, lest you make it worse rather than better. A closeup picture may help.
I would also recommend the Blackfire Duo: SRC Compound and SRC Finishing Polish. I used them with great success on my black VW which also has a reputation for being hard.
I'm not discounting Menzerna or Wolfgang, as I've never used them and there is bountiful evidence of them delivering great results. Just providing another option. Had Blackfire not had a great sale here at AG when I bought mine, I'd probably would have purchased Menz or WG.
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Originally Posted by Thudpilotbmx
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