Frustrated. Tons of swirl marks even after wet sanding, 105 and 205 with DA.

[vrships]

I am in Maryland but will probably move by the end of the year

[acuRAS82]

I am in Maryland but will probably move by the end of the year

Move to Florida to get help from Mike?!?

[vrships]

Thanks so much Mike. This is a lot to take in.

And you have read this article and looked at the pictures?

Yeah. I am aware of it. < 3mils, thinner than a hair... A few panels of this car have been repainted so I figured they might be thicker. The paint was already savaged anyway so I some how treated it as a test project.

With SHORT STROKE polishers you actual push down HARD. It's only LONG STROKE polishers that you only use LIGHT PRESSURE as it is the LONG STROKE that is doing the ABRADING.

And with BOTH of these types of polishers you're going to have to work at maintaining pad rotation.


I would have pushed down on the head of that tool with 15 to 20 pounds of downward pressure.

Is 15 tWe really need to see a picture. You need to LIGHT-UP the paint with some kind of light to show the swirls and then take a good picture.o 20 pounds to much? I read most videos would let the weight of the machine do the work on a horizontal panel. On a vertical panel it's hard to control but 15 would definity stall or slow this GG G9 I have. The problem is I don't know if that is too slow to continue the work (the sound is always as loud). And sometimes I find the throw motion stops but the pad keeps spinning which makes it like a rotary. Is this a possible mechanism on a DA？ Or it's just may illusion...

We really need to see a picture. You need to LIGHT-UP the paint with some kind of light to show the swirls and then take a good picture.

I felt these are sand marks. Either from me or from the paint work, and they are acompanied by a lot of swirls, too. They appeared quite alike on this portion of the panel (The spot and streaks are just uncleaned polishing oils)

Sounds like you need to tweak your technique.

First - I don't ever use, believe or endorse PEA SIZED DROPS or products.

I did use a lot more material than 3 drops. If I do drops, i'll put 6-8. But usually not as much as in your picture. If I put that much, either 105 or 205, it would be slinged everywhere over the car which I have to wipe over and over again..

Each of us has to find a way to make the tool we own do what we need it to do or work by hand - or get a different tool.

You're using a tool that is a FREE SPINNING RANDOM ORBITAL POLISHER. You're going to have to work at maintaining pad rotation for this type of buffing.

I am having more trouble making this work today. So basically I find as long as I am buffing a concave region, the swirls there are simply intact. This is very weird because I made sure the pad was constantly in touch with the panel, and both the throw and spin were on. I also made sure that the buffing time on these areas were a little longer than flatter areas.

This time I did this on the other door, which shouldn't have any sand marks, only swirls. The panel is shaped as in 1. The pad is soft and flex a lot but perhaps there's still some gap just I couldn't see. The picture is also attached.




The result is that swirls start to show up about 8 "(5.5" pad)away from the ridge, and gradually increases up to the ridge. I left half of the panel for comparison and I can tell that swirls near the edge fully remained (it's almost swirl-less out of this range). I put a little bit more pressure when approaching the edge so the pad touches the paint, but I am thinking because the panel is shaped like this, when the center of the pad touches the panel, the outer rims are pressed too hard so the spin always slows down, making if ineffective.

I am also doing (2) in the previous diagram, to let part of the pad hang so the other part can make a good contact. But this didn't work either! The thing that really bothers me is that the buffing starts getting ineffective even far away from the ridge, when the panel is just very slightly curved. I mean, at least half of the areas on the car are shaped like this!

So here are my thoughts:

1. is it true that free rotation DA is just ineffective at these places?
2. So eventually I have to get either a forced rotation DA, or a rotary to correct the whole car?
3. Or a < 3 inch mini buffer. Only do the nearly flat panels with DA and this means I'll be using the mini polisher to do the majority of the area?

Oh by the way, I am using GG G9 but with a boss backing plate which is not designed for it but fits perfectly well. Can this cause any problem? Logically I can't see any incompabilities.

Right now I only have LC hybrid 1.25" thick pads while the BOSS pads are only 1/3" I remember. Could this cause the problem?
But I think thicker pads flex much more easily and exert less leverage on the spindle, and hence less stall. Could I be wrong on this?

[vrships]

Haha that would be an option. I just feel the local detailer around me thinks and cares not even as much as I do. Let alone the professional in this forum.

[Mike Phillips]

T

Right now I only have LC hybrid 1.25" thick pads while the BOSS pads are only 1/3"

Could this cause the problem?


But I think thicker pads flex much more easily and exert less leverage on the spindle, and hence less stall. Could I be wrong on this?

Thicker pads will conform to curved panels better. LC Hybrid pads are THICK. Are you using 6.5" or 5.5"

They key is pad rotation. When buffing are the pads rotating?

Also - when buffing curved panels - don't do crosshatch pattern - just move the polisher back and forth along the length of the panel, not into the curved portion. Hard to explain with keyboard.


What is this car you're working on?

[vrships]

Thicker pads will conform to curved panels better. LC Hybrid pads are THICK. Are you using 6.5" or 5.5"

They key is pad rotation. When buffing are the pads rotating?

Also - when buffing curved panels - don't do crosshatch pattern - just move the polisher back and forth along the length of the panel, not into the curved portion. Hard to explain with keyboard.


What is this car you're working on?

Thanks, Mike.

I am using 5.5". But I just bought another batch of BOSS pads, which almost everyone recommends for G9. They are just 5/8" thick. I am afraid this s gonna make my work even harder.

I was doing a single-line buffing most of the time on the most concave section. But because it's shaped like this, a large part of the pad was just hanging in the air. Is it OK? I really don't want too much sling to the surrounding areas.



It is a 2012 mustang, UA black. I am gonna sell this car so it doesn't bother me that much the unsuccessful correction. But the real car i'll work on in the future has even more and tighter conavely curved areas. I really hope next time i don't mess it up on that brand new softer european clearcoat.