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C6 Corvette Paint Correction


cousineau18

Question

So I am new to this whole detailing hobby. I have a 2008 Corvette that over the past 6 years of driving it, has accumulated some swirl marks and water marks and small scratches that have NOT penetrated the clear coat (my fingernail does not catch the scratch just my eye sight does).

I purchased the following products to fix the issue. It might have been a bit of an overkill but I just wanted to make sure I was able to fix the issue.

Porter Cable 7424XP
Clay
M105
M205
Hex Logic 5.5" Orange and White pads
Rejex for the sealant

So after claying the entire car I started the process of applying M105 with the orange pad. For each 2' X 2' section on speed 5 I would complete 6 section passes. I started to get some great results except for some small scratches every now and then, that no matter how many section passes over that particular area to see if doing extra passes would help but it's not. I even tried bumping up the speed to speed 6 but some of the areas on the corvette are fiberglass and bend too easily and I was not able to apply enough pressure to the pad to make it where the pad isn’t spinning too fast so I stopped that.

I know I could possibly buy the teal Heavy Cutting pad and try that or maybe some light wet sanding, but would like to see if someone could give me some insight. Over the entire car I would estimate there are about 15 to 20 of these tiny scratches that I want to remove.
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Well first off you probably will get more help on Megs forum.

 

2nd. 105 is terrible. It creates more of a mess than it fixes.

 

3rd. You have to be sure you're following through all the steps. If you use 105 you need to finish with 205. It doesn't matter if you make 6 passes of 10 passes you have to learn to judge it especially with SMAT Polishes. If you can't judge it you need to use a DAP Polish like Adam's offers that "Flashes" when its time to stop polishing.

 

4th. The PC might be too under powered to work with SMAT polishes which both 105 and 205 are. Also Hex Logic pads aren't they best try Lake Country. 

 

SMAT Polishes aren't for beginners ether. You might be more interested in using Adam's 2 Step Polish since they are both DAP and geared toward beginner to intermediate detailers.

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Agree with Jason on the above:

 

M105 being outdated and dusty as all hell.

 

PC underpowered UNLESS running 5" backing plate and 5.5" pads max. Makes a huge difference if it's the XP.

 

DAT (diminishing abrasive technology) polishes being a little easier to learn polishing than SMAT. Menzerna and Adams both use DAT.

 

I use Buff and Shine pads (foam) and would pick them any day over Hex Logics.

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Wondering why you aren't registered on Meguiars Online forums if you are asking for questions about M105/M205...

Because it has nothing to do with M105. Its in reference to getting these additional scratches out. And for the people that chimed in and mentioned the point they could tell me about Adams products, please do so instead of wasting your breath

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Jeez Mike you sure sound like a breath of fresh air, glad to have you joined on the forum. 

 

Anyways there are a myriad amount of ways to get RIDS (random isolated deeper scratches) out, a quick google search on "RIDS" will probably pull a ton of threads and guidelines from Mike Phillips and the like of members from AG:

 

-More powerful orbital (PC7424XP isn't exactly the more torquey)

-Smaller pads (4", 3.5") and a smaller backing plate to concentrate the correction, as opposed to only the 5.5" pads you mentioned

-Going to a Rotary for spot correction, or using an 18v drill with a smaller backing plate

-Stepping up to a more powerful compound (since you are a Meguiars guy, M100 cuts a ton more than M105)

-If all else fails, wetsanding with 2000 grit or slightly lower

 

 

 

Since Adam pays for the forum for us it would probably be in your best interest to at least try out their products with your correction, but a smaller pad will be a huge step in helping you out.  The orange Correcting Polish is actually pretty powerful depending on pad size/machine selection/pad type that you use.  I've used it with BnS MF pads and Meg's MF cutting pads and gotten better correction than M105, and it finishes down better and dusts less.

Edited by Ricky Bobby
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Correcting Polish.

 

Its not exactly like M100 but works on both MF and Foam Pads. It's also a Diminishing Abrasive Polish, which means it will change its looks as you polish and cannot be worked as long as M100 but will give similar results. It's worth a look if you are new to the polishing world. M100, 101, 105 and 205 are more geared toward Intermediate to Expert users.

Edited by Kingsford
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Ricky, thank a lot for your response. What is similar to M100 for Adams that I can purchase?

 

^^Jason gave you the link above for the Correcting Polish.

 

By the way, you should really step up to the Adams MF or the Meg's MF pads to give you the most amount of cut with it.  I have found the Meg's pads being a slightly thinner backing material do have a bit more cut than Adam's pads using the same polish.  Adam's orange polish has a decently long work term per pass as well so be sure to work it down all the way.

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I know what your problem is... You're using the wrong products. Meguires is the past. Adams is the future.

 

Edit- this post is meant to be sarcastic at an attempt to be humorous. If you take offense to this comment...too bad...so sad.

; )

Edited by PhilT3 2014 BMW M5
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Because it has nothing to do with M105. Its in reference to getting these additional scratches out. And for the people that chimed in and mentioned the point they could tell me about Adams products, please do so instead of wasting your breath

Mike- just an observation... Your post that I am quoting above ends in a comment that could be perceived as somewhat curt. Being I am a bit new here as you are, this is a forum where folks are very helpful and not mean spirited. The person who you were responding to was most likely just asking a fair question.

Best of luck.

Edited by PhilT3 2014 BMW M5
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To go along with what some others recommended with trying out the orange Paint Correcting Polish, Adam's is designed to be a 2-stage polishing system, with color coded polishing pads.  For the deeper swirls and scratches, you would want to start out with the orange microfiber polishing pads as mentioned, then step down to the orange foam pad.  With a Porter Cable, it may take several passes, or it may simply just not have enough correcting power to get your car back to perfect, where a polisher like the Flex might get it there.  

 

After the Paint Correcting Polish, most like to follow it up with the white Paint Finishing Polish, with the matching white polishing pads.  In some cases and on some types of clearcoats, I have been able to achieve near perfect results with just the orange Paint Correcting Polish, but that might not always be the case.  From what I recall, C6 Corvettes have a very hard clearcoat, so that might be why you are having difficulties in getting out some of those last annoying scratches.  My black TBSS was the same way, it had a very hard clearcoat that was always a challenge.  The most difficult car by far that I've corrected was a Nissan GTR...there's even a warning sticker under the hood that the car has a very hard special clearcoat!

 

For a quick summary:

 

- Adam's Orange polishing pads are cutting pads for use with the Paint Correcting Polish

- Adam's White polishing pads are finishing pads for use with the Paint Finishing Polish

 

I recommended this exact kit to a friend of mine a few weeks back for a truck he just repainted.  He was blown away with the results using his rotary polisher.  There is a good video at this link explaining everything too.

 

http://adamspolishes.com/shop/kits/4-polishing-kits/adam-s-7-pad-polish-kit.html

 

Lastly, this is just my personal opinion, but I would not recommend light wet sanding if you are new to machine polishing with just the Porter Cable like you mentioned in your original post.  You can cause some serious damage real quick with wet sanding, and I would guess that your car still being a relatively new 2008 won't need it.  Last year I bought a 2002 Sonoma off of my dad.  It was his work truck for 11 years and the finish was probably the worst vehicle I've ever worked on as far as heavy swirls since he only ever washed it with just a bucket of water and a sponge.  

 

With the kit above and a Flex polisher, I took the paint from this:

 

IMG_20131105_222151_zps121f7112.jpg

IMG_20131108_215624_zps04132a61.jpg
 
IMG_20131104_204230_zpsa4dc2647.jpg
 
To this, with just two passes of Paint Correcting Polish:
 
IMG_20131104_220013_zps35c21867.jpg
 
It's still not perfect in that picture, but I kept working the panel until I got the results I wanted.  Some spots of the truck, it was absolutely necessary to wet sand, but those were mostly areas where he blobbed touch-up paint all over and I wanted to smooth it down.
 
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I hope it helps.
Edited by psu goat
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Come on guys. He's new in the forum and everyone jumps down his throat about using a different brand. Who cares. Everyone starts somewhere with some brand.... Everyone uses different brands, I myself use about 4 different brands, Adam's being my main one. If we can help people out here maybe they'll use more Adam's products but if everyone is going to chime in to just say "Wrong Place" then thats pointless, counter productive and will more than likely drive new people away. If I joined a forum and immediately was treated this way I'd probably be "curt" too. This isn't what Adam's Forums is.

 

Dan's got a good write up if you're interested in Adam's Correcting System. Paint Correcting Polish can be used with M205 as well.

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Come on guys. He's new in the forum and everyone jumps down his throat about using a different brand. Who cares. Everyone starts somewhere with some brand.... Everyone uses different brands, I myself use about 4 different brands, Adam's being my main one. If we can help people out here maybe they'll use more Adam's products but if everyone is going to chime in to just say "Wrong Place" then thats pointless, counter productive and will more than likely drive new people away. If I joined a forum and immediately was treated this way I'd probably be "curt" too. This isn't what Adam's Forums is.

 

Dan's got a good write up if you're interested in Adam's Correcting System. Paint Correcting Polish can be used with M205 as well.

 

Best answer in this thread.

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 I like Adams products along with others and being a novice I read the forums to gather knowledge and info not to see bashing on people who don`t see a their way.

 

I like the Micro-fiber pads and but I am a KISS method person

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I was literally just breaking balls earlier, my dry sarcasm doesn't always fly too far. 

 

If you're doing spot correction the point is to dial down your pad size and really concentrate on an area, to answer the OP's question simply.

 

Most of us use products other than Adam's as well, but I was just giving a dry remark because it was asking about correction and compatibility of a Lake Country pad, with a Meguiar's correction system.  At least tell us you're priming the pads with Detail Spray or something LOL

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Not to be a devil's advocate but I'm new to this process and ordered adam's polishing stuff. I did some research outside of here and alot of people actually recommend M105 and M205. I don't know what they are so I did a little bit of research, and it seems like a great product that can cut better with foam pads (less cleaning on those afaik). M205 works on topping it off and you're set. It apparently takes less work to work with M105 vs the orange paint correction stuff. Now maybe this is because it's bit more advanced stuff who knows. There are some downsides like more dust and hard to see flashing?

 

I'm lucky that I don't have cars with major swirl marks as they are all new and the amount is minor that I can live with them. But for someone who has some work to do (like a used corvette) M105 can make work easier I think... I haven't used either, and I don't think I need the power of M105, but just food for thought. 

 

I like working part of an ecosystem, so I will stick with adam's... but M105 is used widely from what I see and is a great product as well. bit more affordable too.

Edited by Z06Seal
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I don't know what your experience is Emir but M105 dusts like a motherf$$%$

 

Paint Correcting Polish has extremely little dust and a long working time, and doesnt gum up pads as fast in my usage.

 

M105 was used a ton more about 4 years ago, not as much now as there are a wallop of better compounds on the market that make less of a mess.

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M105 is widely used and was one of the best cutting polishes at one time.  Other polishes have improved (including Adam's PCP) and are easier to work with, dust less, and often do not need a 2nd step.  The correcting polish will finish down well enough that the finishing polish is not needed.   

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