Round 2 - Paint Correction w/Porter Cable 7424XP with HD Videos!

[ralphsmithiii]

Hi everyone, I just got in the states and had a few new tools I ordered from Adam's last week as well as the Severe Swirl Removal polish and pad.

 

I just went out, taped off a section on my roof and went to town. 5 minutes later, I was and still are disappointed. There clearly must be something wrong with my technique as I am new to paint correction. When I researched different products and polishers, it was recommended to me to go with the Porter Cable as a beginner as it is supposed to produce the same results as the Flex but will take much longer.

 

Therefore, I broke out my camera and took two video's. One explaining my situation and it's about 1 - 2 minutes long. The second one is much longer at around 7 minutes. It shows the process I'm using to try and remove the swirls and hard water etchings out of my clear. I really felt confident that when I tried this a week ago I just didn't have the right polish. But even with the severe polish, I'm barely seeing any difference.

 

Please take a look at the video's and let me know what I am doing wrong. Maybe my hand speed is still too fast, or I'm not applying enough pressure / too much pressure. Maybe I'm using too little polish or too much polish. Or maybe it's just going to take many, many passes to get these imperfections out. Lastly, maybe I just need a more aggressive polish to cut through all of this.

 

Links to YouTube videos:

Part 1 - Explanation

 

Part 2 - Technique in action

[camaro2ssblack]

You might need a more aggressive product but do more passes on a smaller area to see if you get better results.

[ralphsmithiii]

Just to clarify, I should run the severe swirl remover over the same area just shrunk the size of the area down to maybe a 1 x 1 and see what happens? When I ran it in the video's I think I did around 6 total passes, 3 vertical and 3 horizontal which happened to be right around the time the product started to flash.

[Chris]

You only did one pass? If the swirls are very bad you usually need to do more than one pass, starting with green and then going to orange, then white (I believe you go all the way). Then after seeing how that comes out for you, you may need to do that process a second or third time to achieve correction.

 

Please correct me if I am wrong, that's what I've gathered from the videos.

[ralphsmithiii]

I did one pass or "run" which means I went left to right and top to bottom a total of 6 times, 3 in each direction. That's after I ran several passes the week prior with the orange compound and white fine machine polish.

 

I didn't expect it all to come out with that one pass, even with the severe swirl removal polish. However, I did expect it to gradually step down or start to fade/demish/remove or even lighten what was there before I started.

 

If I need to run it several more passes (top/down and left/right), I can easily do that. But before I do I need to know if my technique is correct or I'll be wasting more time.

[Chase@InsanePaint]

It is considered "one pass" when you work the product til it flashes. I doesn't matter how many times you went in different directions, when you work the product until it flashes, that's considered "one pass." Make sense?

 

That being said, you might not like what I have to say about those water spots. My Charger is flawless in paint care, and had a FRESH layer of Americana on it. And one day, I unknowingly parked next to a sprinkler (that I still couldn't find afterwards) or had some acid rain on a HOT day. And within ONE hour, those spots etched far enough into my clearcoat that repainting and wetsanding was necessary. Even SSR couldn't get them out, after 7 full passes.

[ralphsmithiii]

It is considered "one pass" when you work the product til it flashes. I doesn't matter how many times you went in different directions, when you work the product until it flashes, that's considered "one pass." Make sense?

 

That being said, you might not like what I have to say about those water spots. My Charger is flawless in paint care, and had a FRESH layer of Americana on it. And one day, I unknowingly parked next to a sprinkler (that I still couldn't find afterwards) or had some acid rain on a HOT day. And within ONE hour, those spots etched far enough into my clearcoat that repainting and wetsanding was necessary. Even SSR couldn't get them out, after 7 full passes.

 

Makes perfect sense and that may just be the case with my clear as well. A member of the corvette forums had the same issue as me and said he was able to get all of his water etchings out with another product and suggested I try a more abrassive polish. However, I understand every car, clear, imperfection is different and the only way I'll know is if I try. If my technique is correct then all I can do is:

 

Try another polish.

Buy a Flex and repeat.

 

And if that doesn't work, then wet sanding and go from there.

[Team Adam's]

Just replied to your thread over on CF Ralph... but I will here too just to make sure you get the info.

 

Your technique appears to be solid, no glaring issues I can see.

 

Definitely go forward with a test section including SHR/Orange and FMP/White before evaluating again to see if you get more improvement.

 

The etching does seem to be pretty severe, and our line isn't really designed for HEAVY restorative work. We're more for taking average to amazing, not so much about repairing heavy damage.

 

Your options, should nothing else work, would be some light sanding (SSR can take out 2500-3000 grit marks) or a heavy cut compound for the heavily etched areas.

[GrpA Calais]

Just a thought, but there may be a simple solution to your problem, that is if your not dead set on doing it yourself.

 

Why not get a local paint/body shop to run over the damage with a rotary and a heavy compound. This should clean up the etching quick smart, but leave you with a swirly, hologrammed mess to go home and clean up with the PC.

 

From what I've read Corvette's have a really hard clear, so the PC is always going to struggle correcting any major damage.

 

Might not be what you want to do, but some food for thought at least

[ralphsmithiii]

Just a thought, but there may be a simple solution to your problem, that is if your not dead set on doing it yourself.

 

Why not get a local paint/body shop to run over the damage with a rotary and a heavy compound. This should clean up the etching quick smart, but leave you with a swirly, hologrammed mess to go home and clean up with the PC.

 

From what I've read Corvette's have a really hard clear, so the PC is always going to struggle correcting any major damage.

 

Might not be what you want to do, but some food for thought at least

 

That's an option I'm looking into. I have a body shop that does incredible work and plan to give them a call when I get back into town.

[ralphsmithiii]

Just replied to your thread over on CF Ralph... but I will here too just to make sure you get the info.

 

Your technique appears to be solid, no glaring issues I can see.

 

Definitely go forward with a test section including SHR/Orange and FMP/White before evaluating again to see if you get more improvement.

 

The etching does seem to be pretty severe, and our line isn't really designed for HEAVY restorative work. We're more for taking average to amazing, not so much about repairing heavy damage.

 

Your options, should nothing else work, would be some light sanding (SSR can take out 2500-3000 grit marks) or a heavy cut compound for the heavily etched areas.

 

Thanks for replying in both places Dylan

 

I was able to pick up some Meg's 105/205 locally and I hit the same area in the video using Adam's green pad and orange pad and the more aggressive compound did cut down the etchings quite a bit. However, I was only able to run a pass or two before I had to leave again out of town for work.

 

I am thinking now that it may have to be taken down further with wet sanding. Maybe a Flex will cut it down further but if that's the idea that Flex is more powerful, then my assumption is that the PC should be able to do the same just with more times/passes. I'm going to run back over it again when I get back home next week and if that doesn't work out, I'll dropping it off somewhere to get the clear completely corrected. Then, I'll go at it again with all of my polishes once the clear is etch free and check the results.

 

So far, all of Adam's products I've purchased have been awesome. The towels I got in the Porter Cable XP kit, Car Wash kit, and some other kit I bought were so much better than I had, I picked up the special on micro fiber towels that was going on last week, as well as the wheel woolies and yellow pad conditioning/cleaning brush. All top notch.

 

My only wonder is, should I have went with a Flex instead of the PC. I'm guessing after I get the clear corrected, my PC should be able to handle future swirl marks and polishing. If not, then I may need to look into upgrading.

[ralphsmithiii]

I'm wondering now, would the Flex really make the difference on the hard clear that comes on the Vettes

[ralphsmithiii]

Just a quick update.

 

Instead of wishing or wondering if the Flex will make or break the difference, I went ahead and ordered one. Should be at my house when I get home on Friday. I'll spin it up on Saturday and post back the results. Nothing like a little trial and error to see what works and what doesn't

 

Now if this doesn't work, I still believe based on it's review, the Flex is a better machine and I'll have to take it down to get it wet sanded.

[Chase@InsanePaint]

Good move bro. That's exactly why & when I bought mine!!! You'll get it figured out!!