2007 Mustang GT - Black Paint Help Needed

[2black1s]

I have a few thoughts... Some of these may not apply. You will need to determine that as I am not there to see the issue(s) first-hand.

Many "hobbyists", as you have described yourself, approach polishing in too timid of a manner. They never get aggressive enough from the start. I completely understand that. With all of the "paint is thin" cautions discussed on this forum, and it is real, I'm not discounting it, many hobbyists tend to over-emphasize that point and thus approach their polishing "timidly" because they don't want to remove too much paint.

With that in mind, are the defects you're seeing simply those that have not yet been removed by your process, or are they actually something that your process has instilled? This is an important question to answer before proceeding.



If they are in the first category, now you have to decide if they are worth chasing. What is the risk of strikethrough? Should I accept the blemishes and live with them, thereby eliminating any risk of strikethrough?

A race car driver’s analogy would go something like this… I’m in second place on the final lap… I’m going to win or I’m going crash trying… or… I’m going to minimize the crash risk and accept second place.

You have to process all of the information you have available and decide. Unfortunately, there's no substitute for EXPERIENCE when making these decisions.

If deciding to proceed, simply repeat your process, maybe even get more aggressive, until the blemish(s) are removed. Do this unless/until you feel the risk of strikethrough is becoming too great in which case you'll need to live with the blemish(s).



If they are in the second category, then your initial work to this point was most likely aggressive enough and you can eliminate the “timid” factor. At this point, you again need to decide if the blemishes are worth chasing for the same reasons stated above.

If deciding to proceed, this would be my approach.

You will need to determine what it is in your process that is causing the blemish(s). To do that I would change one thing at a time. This is so you can learn from the change and what its effects were. If you change too many things at once, you may achieve the desired result, but you will not have learned all that you could have from the experience. Which change, or combination thereof, yielded the desired result? Or which change really had no effect? You’ll never know if you make too many changes at one time.

Here’s the changes I would try. In sequence…

- Lighten up on the pressure, especially for the final few passes. Use less than the weight of the machine by placing your hand under the polisher and giving a slight lift, or lift on the handle rather than push.

- Adjust the amount of product used to control the “wetness” of the surface being polished. Start in the direction of wetter.

- Try different machine speeds.

- Try different pads or products if you have them available. Again, one at a time. Personally, I think you should be able to dial-in any common product without the need for multiples (in most cases).

- Follow your final machine polishing step with a light hand polishing step.



And get rid of the Isopropyl wipe down step unless it is specifically required for the next-step product being used.

Somewhere in the preceding suggestions you should find your answer. If not, I’m lost and don’t know what else to suggest.

Hope something I have written is of some help.

[Matador]

Thank you for the thoughts guys.

The towels are from reputable companies - it seems Ultimate Polish gets me as close as you can see, but no better.

Sorry to nitpick, but not that the towels aren't quality--more so that they 'blend' of synthetic, if soft paint (or so I've heard), can cause scratching. If you're using an 80/20 blend, that is more for harder clears. Where as 70/30 I hear is the ticket to use for softer clears to help with not putting in more defects when wiping, washing, etc.

[Billy Baldone]

The way i finished out a recent black Mustang was with Essence on a reflection artist Blue coarse pad. Some soft paints need a firm pad and fine polish

[Truckguy24]

I appreciate all of these helpful replies everyone!

I have been experimenting a bit and seem to get it as close as you can see in these pictures.

The wiped down was definitely causing issues and I will have to verify my towels to see what blend they are.

The plan WAS to ceramic coat, so I had to make sure the oils are removed from the polish.

Here are some pictures so you can see the paint on the rear quarter panel. The car looks so nice in regular garage lighting.

Very fine swirling. I had found a thread about a guy with a Challenger and he seemed to be plagued by similar results until he switched to Menzerna. Help With Black Paint Final Polish

[Truckguy24]

I appreciate all of these helpful replies everyone!

I have been experimenting a bit and seem to get it as close as you can see in these pictures.

The wiped down was definitely causing issues and I will have to verify my towels to see what blend they are.

The plan WAS to ceramic coat, so I had to make sure the oils are removed from the polish.

Here are some pictures so you can see the paint on the rear quarter panel. The car looks so nice in regular garage lighting and very reflective without intense light on it. Parts of the car are like a mirror.

Very fine swirling. I had found a thread about a guy with a Challenger and he seemed to be plagued by similar results until he switched to Menzerna. Help With Black Paint Final Polish

[2black1s]

I appreciate all of these helpful replies everyone!

I have been experimenting a bit and seem to get it as close as you can see in these pictures.

The wiped down was definitely causing issues and I will have to verify my towels to see what blend they are.

The plan WAS to ceramic coat, so I had to make sure the oils are removed from the polish.

Here are some pictures so you can see the paint on the rear quarter panel. The car looks so nice in regular garage lighting.

Very fine swirling. I had found a thread about a guy with a Challenger and he seemed to be plagued by similar results until he switched to Menzerna. Help With Black Paint Final Polish

Truthfully, those pics don't look that bad to me. You might be chasing an unachievable result.

I recognize perfection as a noble goal but I also recognize achieving it is literally impossible.

Again, without first-hand inspection these comments are conditional based only on what I've seen here. I never trust photographs to tell the whole story.

[mdm298]

I appreciate all of these helpful replies everyone!

I have been experimenting a bit and seem to get it as close as you can see in these pictures.

The wiped down was definitely causing issues and I will have to verify my towels to see what blend they are.

The plan WAS to ceramic coat, so I had to make sure the oils are removed from the polish.

Here are some pictures so you can see the paint on the rear quarter panel. The car looks so nice in regular garage lighting.

Very fine swirling. I had found a thread about a guy with a Challenger and he seemed to be plagued by similar results until he switched to Menzerna. Help With Black Paint Final Polish

Almost looks to me you might be marring the paint when removing the polish. Could be towels. Consider using a lubricant when removing polish or compound as this is very soft paint.

Sent from my SM-T720 using Autogeekonline mobile app

[Truckguy24]

That could be the case too. The towels seem very soft but you never know. They are Adams edgeless:

Completely Borderless
Premium Quality 480gsm Plush Microfiber
Delicate Touch For The Most Delicate Surfaces
For Use with Detail Spray, Spray Wax, H2O Guard & Gloss and More!

I have M210 and Menzerna SF 3500 on the way. I will test it out when it arrives.

I have black hole enroute if I can't get it where I want. But maybe these two polishes can get me a marr free finish.

I have Lake country pads and their tangerine coming too.

[Truckguy24]

I wish I was just being picky. The swirls look awful under the right light. When I pulled it outside last weekend, it was hologramed. I was so stunned be used the paint looks so nice otherwise. But when you really look, it's marred. Talk about a punch in the gut lol.

Like you say, pictures are hard to tell. I'm kind of anal with the black, but this is actually marring up.

The Menzerna SF3500 and Meguiars M210 I will give a try. Both are supposed to be suited well for soft paint.

[The Guz]

M205 and Ultimate Polish are not the polishes I would reach for when it comes to soft paints. How many times has it been mentioned that M205 does not do well on soft paints. M210 should get the job done. A primer polish on soft paint works really well.

Menzerna polishes are on the oily side so keep that in mind when it comes to using a panel wipe. Also Black Hole would not be recommended prior to using a coating.

The op posted this on another forum after using

At this point I'm beyond frustrated and need a break. I ordered Poorboy's black Hole. 3 weeks full of this all weekend. I'm just beyond burnt out.

The paint looks phenomenal under my shop lighting and LED phone light. The halogen shop light reveals the scratches under the right angle. You can see the shop light clear as day looking straight on. There are microscratches I cannot get out as you can see in the pictures.

For now I just need to drive my car - this was supposed to be a daily driver for me - not a mental breakdown LOL!

I'll just seal it up with my trusty Collinite 845 Insulator Wax.

I have tried: Orange pad M205/ White Pad M205/ Black Pad M205

Orange pad Ultimate Polish/ White Pad Ultimate Polish/ Black Pad Ultimate Polish

Same result - super clear paint once cleaned up with 4-5 passes and medium to light pressure on 4-5 speed. Just will not remove those fine swirls.

The Iso wipedown appears to have been scratching my paint I noticed. I went and used the Adam's surface prep from my ceramic kit and additional scratches were not added