Newbie Needs Help!

[wildjyoung]

This is an excellent forum which I am glad to have found!

I have read the articles, purchased the items, but am struggling. I have the Porter Cable 7424XP with Meguiars 105, swirl remover, Merznerna nano polish, and various other items. I also have CCS orange, white, light green, blue, and red pads.

I was recently trying to remove some spider webbing and very light scratches from my car. I started with the orange pad and Meguiars 105 which greatly reduced the blemishes. I then moved to the swirl remover with the light green pad, and then went to the Merzerna with the grey pad.

It looks better but I can now see very light scratches in the area. It looks like I removed the original ones but put some back in with the buffer.

Was the orange pad and 105 too aggressive?

Is my technique wrong? I am following the how to videos to a T.

Thank you in advance for your help!!!

[SeaJay's]

Since this is your 1st post, welcome!

And it is possible to induce scratches when your polishing. A lot of times the Megs 105 can leave some light marring, which can be cleaned up with a lighter polish and green pad.

Also, did you prep the paint prior to polishing? As in claying it to ensure there are no contaminants in the paint?

What type of car is it? Could be soft paint that doesn't need something as aggressive as the Megs 105.

[Mike Phillips]

This is an excellent forum which I am glad to have found!

Since this is your first post and thread...

Welcome to Autogeek Online!

It looks better but I can now see very light scratches in the area. It looks like I removed the original ones but put some back in with the buffer.

Let's drill down...

When you say scratches, do you mean deeper scratches that now stand out like a sore thumb or hazing from the pad, product and buffing process?

Here's a thread on this,

The difference between Rotary Buffer Swirls, Cobweb Swirls and Micro-Marring


Below are some pictures from the above thread. Most of us think of scratches as defects that are in more or less straight lines, like this,

Random, Isolated, Deeper Scratch




Micro-Marring - Tick-Marks - DA-Haze

These three terms are pretty much the accepted terms for a scratch pattern left in some paints from the oscillating and rotating action from a compound or polish and a buffing pad when applied using a DA Polisher.

Unlike Cobweb swirls or Rotary Buffer Swirls, the scratch pattern instilled by a dual action polisher is made up of millions of tiny scratches, some are curved or circular but some are straight, like a small tick mark you would make with a pencil if you were keeping track of a count of some type.

Tick Marks are a sign that either the paint is on the soft side, so easily scratched or the pad and compound or polish you're using are too aggressive to finish out without leaving a mark.

In most cases Tick Marks can be removed by re-polishing with a different pad and product combination.

[wildjyoung]

Thank you for the welcome!

Yes, I did completely prep the car with a full wash and clay. I did the "plastic bag" test after using the clay just to ensure everything was clean.

The car is a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix in silver. Nothing special but I am getting ready to trade it in and want it to look great.

What polish would you recommend in addition to or instead of the 105? I am not necessarily a Meguiars disciple but just bought it at the recommendation of the local paint store. Any product help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Again!

[wildjyoung]

After looking at the pictures it is definitely like tick marks and micro marring. By the description, I guess I went to aggressive for the clear coat.......

[Mike Phillips]

After looking at the pictures it is definitely like tick marks and micro marring. By the description, I guess I went to aggressive for the clear coat.......

This is the importance of doing a Test Spot first to a small area and dialing in a process that works to your expectations before going over the entire car.

If you're process is working to a small area then simply duplicate the process to the entire car. If your process isn't working to a small area, then STOP, get help or try something else until you dial in a process that works for your car's specific paint system.

Otherwise... you might have to re-buff the entire car to remove things like micro-marring.

As for fixing the tick marks, re-polishing with a less aggressive polish and a polishing pad should remove them, check with a Test Spot.

To date, I have found the finishing polishes in the Menzerna Line to be the most consistent in quality of end-results, that is finishing down without leaving tick marks aka micro-marring.


I use the Wolfgang Finishing Glaze, which is similar to Menzerna PO106 FA whenever I'm testing other products as my benchmark.




You should be able to use your Menzerna Nano Polish with either a polishing pad or a finishing pad and remove the hazing left by the M105/Pad Combination.

If you can't then try re-polishing an section with the M105 and a polishing pad to refine any tick marks to be more shallow, then try the Menzerna and either a polishing pad or a finishing pad.

For all these steps you need to be in the 5.0 to 6.0 speed settings.

[Mike Phillips]

I also have CCS orange, white, light green, blue, and red pads.

What size are your pads?

Be sure to mark your backing plate with a black permanent marker so you can easily see when your pads are rotating. It's important to maintain pad rotation when removing defects, even when removing tick marks or micro-marring.

[wildjyoung]

Thank you so much for the help!

I have both 6.5" and 5.5" pads. I was told that the 5.5" actually result in better results. What do you prefer?

What is less aggressive than the 105 that I should add to my supplies?

[SeaJay's]

A Pontiac huh? Typically GM's (in my experience and others on this forum) tend to have a harder clear coat, so the Megs 105 would probably be a good bet. It may be your 2nd finer polish you need to re-do. You mention swirl remover, would this be swirl x by Megs?

Either way, like Mike said do a test spot to ensure you get the results you want. Then tackle the rest of the car.

[SeaJay's]

Autogeek Swirl Removers & Compounds Comparison Chart

This is the compound chart that can give you the aggressiveness of each polish you choose. A lot of people like the Megs 105 & 205 combo, but a lot of people also like the Menz line of polishes. It's really what your looking to spend. The Megs line is less expensive than the Menz, but with most things you really get what you pay for.