Paint Correction expecting too much?

[bossmustang16]

Ok, so i'm doing my 2010 mustang gt today or atleast starting on it being its my first time on a full car, I've done the hood and fender, using Meguiars ultimate compound with orange GG pad and gg 6" orbital and finished it with swirlx with the black pad even though it probably didn't need it.. and then waxed it with the nxt 2.0 liquid wax. I bought a super bright peak rechargeable led spotlight today and it highlights all paint imperfections heres a 50/50 shot.. but question is.. am I doing all I can do? or should it be better? Its like I can still see like little particles and stuff when I inspect it after all 3 steps..Maybe i'm expecting too much?

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/...psf600876f.jpg

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/...psfc46c304.png

[FUNX650]

These two areas look pretty good
from where I'm sitting...Good Job!






Bob

[Bates Detailing]

Im going to have to agree with Bob - the pics look great. You have to remember that not all imperfections will come out on every car everytime. If you have a stray swirl mark here and there work it with the polish again. Sometimes you can get 100% correction..... but don't beat your head if you only got 99% correction lol. As Bob said, looks great from here

[bossmustang16]

ok awesome thanks guys! its just when I put that led spot light on it, it drives me crazy cause I can see everything lol of course I was taking my time but it took me 4 hours for just the hood and fender lol. i'm sure i'll get quicker with practice

[builthatch]

haha, from what i can see, looks great to me unless you are preparing a total garage queen.

i too have the problem of wanting it to look as good as possible and if it's correctable, i'll usually chase it on my own stuff, esp. for whatever garage queen i currently have. it'd a hard impulse to control but i'm getting better.

but for anything else, it's hard to control the urge but you have to be realistic, esp if the car is going to be outside and/or driven often. a few instances of slight damage that can only really be seen under certain scrutinizing light are not worth thinning the clear coat to chase every single last piece of deep damage.

HOWEVER, it's possible to have an error or two in the process and if things were to tightened it up a bit, more pleasing results could be had. things like checking work properly before moving on to the next step or spending a little more time polishing/refining compounding work can go a long way. i'm not saying you had any process errors, i'm just saying that is something that can sometimes be adjusted to yield better results.

FYI, if you host images on photobucket or the like, you can post the direct image link you did but just put [img] before the link and [/img] after and it'll display them automatically, not just a hyperlink like it did there.



photobucket even has IMG share links to the right of every picture you upload; see below in the pink circle

[VISITOR]

as everyone has already mentioned, it looks great and IMO for a DD one shouldn't expect perfection but more realistically 80-90% paint correction for what it's going to encounter from day to day driving. if I'm not mistaken, the GG orange pad is a polishing pad and you can step it up if need be for more correction to a light cutting pad. of course a test spot is always going to yield/determine the results you're going after...

[BrianMcLeod]

Looks good! I'm a guy that everything has to be right and be done to the best that I can do. The quicker you learn you're not gonna have it %100 perfect the easier it'll be on you. Unless you're getting paid to have it done 100 percent! Keep up the old work

[LRC3]

This is too funny, bc I say the SAME EXACT THING when I'm in the process LOL...

That's the curse of AG bro, we are all chasing perfection.

Some of these dudes here are real craftsman when it comes to this detailing thing. I'm in aww at some of the reclaimation project they post up. I'd say your winning for your first correction.

[aim4squirrels]

ok awesome thanks guys! its just when I put that led spot light on it, it drives me crazy cause I can see everything lol of course I was taking my time but it took me 4 hours for just the hood and fender lol. i'm sure i'll get quicker with practice

4 hours for hood and fender?

First watch the videos from Mike Phillips about doing section passes and notice the speed, arm motion, and time in which he is buffing out a panel.

If you don't get a good correction results from using those techniques, switch to a more aggressive compound/polish or a more aggressive type of pad.

I was way too conservative when I first tried to buff out my car because of the many horror stories I read about burning thru the clear or in some way causing more damage than what was initially there. So I went with a combo that was so mild, I'd be surprised if I even removed 10% of the actual swirls. Old PC, not even the XP variety, some finishing polish and white lake country flat pads, back before lake country made thinner foam pads. I think cussing at the swirls might have gotten the job done faster.




Now, if that was 4 hours by hand, I'd say you're doing great!

[brettS4]

I was way too conservative when I first tried to buff out my car because of the many horror stories I read about burning thru the clear or in some way causing more damage than what was initially there. So I went with a combo that was so mild, I'd be surprised if I even removed 10% of the actual swirls. Old PC, not even the XP variety, some finishing polish and white lake country flat pads, back before lake country made thinner foam pads. I think cussing at the swirls might have gotten the job done faster.

This was EXACTLY how I started, too. You're doing a lot better than I was back then.

Keep up the good work and take your time. It doesn't all have to be done in one day. And it's better to err on the conservative side.