Help, getting very frustrated!

[Zman12]

I am working on my black 2010 camaro. I have been polishing for about 6 hours already and still not happy with a small sample area.

 

I first did one fender all the way through that was about

 

4 passes sshr

2 passes shr

2 passes fmp

This was all on 4" focus pad mainly on pc. I did try drill for a little while to work on one scratch.

I still wasn't perfectly happy with the fender, but just thought maybe that was the best I could get, I know it's black.

 

So I moved to the hood and front bumber, in some places I have went 4 or more passes with SSHR with big pad on PC. I still see long scratches that I just can't seem to get out I understand I will have small swirls when using the sshr but these are still somewhat big.

 

So I guess my question is when do I give up? At this rate just polishing is going to take me 40 plus hours.

How many passes would be considered normal for SSHR?

Am I expecting to much for black. I really was hoping for perfection.

 

Do I need to try and go pack to the 4" pad?

 

I have tried speed 5 and 6 doesn't seem to matter :help:

 

I didn't really think my car was this bad? It only has 6k on it. It's not like it leads a hard life.

[Zman12]

Pictures of the car look nice.

 

A couple/few things:

My DD Dodge Magnum had the passenger side front door skin replaced and the paint was blended into the front fender and rear door on that side then cleared over top. I can see sanding marks in the rear door that will not polish out they are under the clear. You may have the same issue on the hood.

 

I own both the PC and Flex as well as a high speed rotary. All have their place and time in detailing and I wouldn't give up any of them. Go ahead and get a Flex, but keep the PC. I usually keep the 4" backing plate on the pc to work tight areas and use the Flex for the larger places.

 

40 hours to bring a black car to perfection? That'd be nice. I've easily got over 150 hours into my Brazen Orange Metallic GTO to be at 99% perfect. I actually began with the high speed rotary and wool pads on the car with around 1,300 miles on it. At this point I'll probably not need any more than a pass or two with the PC/White Pad/FMP combo to keep her at this level.

 

I wish I had the money to have both the flex and pc right now, if this was my career than I would. But I can't see having two machines just to maintain a couple of cars. But I am determined to get my car as close to perfect as possible.

[BlueGenCoupe]

I agree I need practice but I feel I have watched the videos a lot and am trying to do my best to follow instructions. I do think I gave up on my test patch a little quick. However once I saw how many hours it was going to take I wanted to get started and at least get the car back to where I could take it to a show and drive again.

 

I think the car looks a lot better just not perfect, my family would say I am crazy picky. But aren't we all. Like I say the hood and bumpers are the the main things that in my eyes are far from perfect. But I know since the hood has been painted on to add the stripes and reclear it may be a little different. Also since I think that paint maybe harder that was probably not a great place to start working on to figure out process for rest of car.

 

Zman, watching the videos will give you a good idea on how to use the products. Polish you ride a few times and i'll guarantee after every detail your technique will get better.

 

Just remember to take your time.

[Court M3]

great turnout! Black is a very difficult color to correct.

[Fit08]

Just remember to take your time.

 

This can be a tough one for me at times especially if your day is less then stellar.

 

I suppose it also depends on how anal you want to be, in which case for most of us is quite abit.

[sizzflair]

I am having the same problem on my lotus. I purchased the vehicle from an owner who didn't have a damn garage.... *face palm* It needed so much correction that I went to Adam's Detail and purchased over $800 worth of product.

 

I found a porter cable laying around at home so I went over it 3 times with each polish (sshr, shr, and fmp). Mine still has a lot of scratches (not too deep since I couldn't feel it on my finger nails) and I watched the videos over and over to make sure my technique was correct. The car does look a lot shinier and looks great until I put the light on it and still see some of the scratches left.

 

I think the first half of the car I was applying too much stuff, so I cut it down to one or two pea sized drops. It seemed to work a little better, but scratches would not disappear. I used 3 to spread it and 6 for the polishing.

 

One thing that I have a question is that the white pad seemed to be "shedding" bits and pieces like dust. Maybe it's the polish dusting, but when I looked at it closely it kind of looked like bits and pieces of foam lol. Is this normal?

 

I might try to wash the pads off and go over it again very slowly with a ton of pressure... or might just pick up a flex.

 

 

Edit: Just bought a flex lol

Edited June 11, 2012 by sizzflair

[sizzflair]

I figured out the white pad problem.... upon inspection, the pad was torn around the velcro. It's weird since the other 2 pads are fine and I used the same techniques for all three pads. Maybe I got a defect?

[bhildebrandt]

I figured out the white pad problem.... upon inspection, the pad was torn around the velcro. It's weird since the other 2 pads are fine and I used the same techniques for all three pads. Maybe I got a defect?

 

The same thing happened to me with only one of my pads (the white one) and a very nice local dealer happened to replace it for free for me. Maybe someone can help you out.

[sizzflair]

The same thing happened to me with only one of my pads (the white one) and a very nice local dealer happened to replace it for free for me. Maybe someone can help you out.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

 

Adam??? haha I just happened to order 4" focus pad kit and extra sets of towels too

[Ron Meadows]

My green one disintegrated the first time that I used it. Contacted Lynn on the live chat and was informed that it was user error....the other pads didn't have a problem. I just considered it a lesson learned and moved on.

 

The same thing happened to me with only one of my pads (the white one) and a very nice local dealer happened to replace it for free for me. Maybe someone can help you out.

[Tim]

My green one disintegrated the first time that I used it. Contacted Lynn on the live chat and was informed that it was user error....the other pads didn't have a problem. I just considered it a lesson learned and moved on.

 

Did the exact same thing. Shredded a green one on my first attempt. Learned a lot though!