somewhat disappointed with pc 7424xp

[hemi1300]

just received it thursday, main reason for purchase was to remove some very light hairline clearcoat scratches on the truck. Truck is an 07-black, and paint is in excellent shape, other than some of these light scratches. The pc did a decent job on the problem areas i wanted fixed, but didn't seem to completely remove them. Went over the area probably 3 or 4 times with shr, followed by fmp. Definitely an improvement, but not the WOW factor i was expecting. Am I doing something wrong, or is it normal to have to polish certain areas numerous times to remove imperfections? Is it safe to keep going over certain areas, would the pc eventually damage the clearcoat if used too much in a specific spot, or could u pretty much polish all day with no worries.

[Marylander]

just received it thursday, main reason for purchase was to remove some very light hairline clearcoat scratches on the truck. Truck is an 07-black, and paint is in excellent shape, other than some of these light scratches. The pc did a decent job on the problem areas i wanted fixed, but didn't seem to completely remove them. Went over the area probably 3 or 4 times with shr, followed by fmp. Definitely an improvement, but not the WOW factor i was expecting. Am I doing something wrong, or is it normal to have to polish certain areas numerous times to remove imperfections? Is it safe to keep going over certain areas, would the pc eventually damage the clearcoat if used too much in a specific spot, or could u pretty much polish all day with no worries.

 

Some vehicles take a lot more time and passes, and of course the severity of the scratches will impact the results. The clear coat on my 99 Corvette, for instance, took a good half dozen of passes with SHR and and orange pad before I saw any real results.

 

On your scratches -- can you feel them with your fingernail? If so, they may be deeper than the Adam's line is designed to fix. And if you can post up some pics, chances are some of the pros around here can give you some good advice on what to try next.

 

Rich

[Team Adam's]

Technique is a lot of it... can you go into detail about the process.

 

How much product used on the first pass?

How much product used on each subsequent pass?

What speed?

How are you gauging your pressure?

[hemi1300]

started with the single line of shr, just like in the video, on the first pass. From then on i would apply a quick shot of ds for other panels. Applied a small drop or two after 4 or 5 passes. Using speed 5, trying to get the method where the pad is just slowly rotating, got it down for the most part. Actually think i like speed 6 better, seems easier for me to keep a constant slow rotation of the pad. Think my problem tonight is, cleaned the pads last night with apc under the sink, and the shr orange pad still has a bit of water in it and applying way too much product. Will try to post some pics shortly

[hemi1300]

here are a few pics, doubt the scratches will show up though. Polished the drivers side of the hood and the bed side.

 

 

 

 

[hemi1300]

[attach]12044[/attach]

[hemi1300]

of course they don't show up on cam lol. The lights in the garage drive me nuts sometimes, they show every imperfection. Get the truck out in the bright sun light and paint looks perfect, but under the fluorescent lights i always see very light scratches

[Team Adam's]

The camera tends to focus on the flake more than anything else on paint like that.

 

try placing a small piece of tape just next to one of the scratches, focus on that and take the shot.

[PacificNWBuckeye]

A guy I work with has the last body style Charger in the same color. He has one of the Adams Flex kits (bought it after he saw the turn around on my Vic) and he is having simmilar issue with fine scratches.

 

Is the clear on the Dodges a particularly hard one?

[hemi1300]

not sure about the hardness of the clearcoat, but it must be pretty tough. Gave it another try tonight on the hood, had quite a few clearcoat scratches on it. Ended up going over certain areas 5 or 6 times with just the orange pad and shr, then hit it with the white pad and fmp. Very happy now lol, 90% of the scratches removed and i stood back and looked at the reflection of the hood, holy cow!! Never seen the paint shine and reflect like that. Took a while to get all the scratches, but damn that thing has a shine to it. Apparently my new method will be-just keep hitting it with shr remover until scratches are removed-seemed to work great, some just took quite a few passes

[hemi1300]

also, didn't use anything to remove any wax the first try, so maybe that was my problem. Did an isopropyl alcohol wipe down on the hood before polishing. Tend to wax my truck every few weeks bc i have ocd mental issues about keeping it clean lol, hood must have had 15 coats of wax on it

[Pureshine]

Ok you need it strip off old wax and clay car first.

[Z71_Denali]

if you know your technique is good, and your not getting the job done with SHR, step it up to SSR and a green pad.

 

as for your technique, the amount of polish in the pad, the speed, and the pressure you put down all factor in and are very important. just watch the videos over and over between polishing, and keep practicing. practice makes perfect.

 

one of the tips i got from an older instructional video was marking the backing plate so you know that it is spinning at the right RPMs when you press down on it

[GXPaycheck]

Claying prior to polishing is a must!

[afmilboy02]

what is best to strip the old wax off?

[LFairbanks]

3-4 oz. of APC in your wash bucket along with Adams car shampoo.

[Pureshine]

You can use Dawn soap works great and cheap been using for years.

[Bassmaster]

You can use Dawn soap works great and cheap been using for years.

 

Heard you must use the "original" blue dawn soap to work the best. Is that what you use

 

sent from your HTC Rezound

[Pureshine]

I use the green or the blue doesn't matter really. I mix in with Adams shampoo in my foam canyon.

Edited November 5, 2012 by Pureshine

[Adam]

Scratches will need the 4" pads with a drill to fix! Then follow with the PC.

 

See here:Thank You Detailing Video

[GXPaycheck]

Dawn can dry out the plastic parts. If you go that route, use VRT afterwards.