General Effectiveness of Cyclo..

[DJJimGreen]

Hey all!

 

So, last night I got home from work and decided it was finally time to see how the cyclo works. I've had it since Christmas, but never really had the opportunity to do a correct on anything. This was also the first time for me to use ANY sort of machine device. Eep!

 

My car: Pitch Black 2015 Challenger. Yea, pitch black. The car is fairly new, but there was a lot of post-factory scratches and spiderwebs in the paint.

 

I took what I've learned and started with the least aggressive pads and polish (white and paint finishing) and noticed it really didn't do too much. Although, on my first pass I managed to get too excited and scuff the clear coat. I tried to take a pic of it, but couldn't really get it to show.

 

Anyways, great, working backwards, I've put a scuff and only barely touched the spiderwebs. Moved on to orange foam pads and correcting. It helped a bit on the spiderwebs, but that scuff was still chilling. It was only on the top coat, so I knew I could get to it.

 

Lastly, I tried the white microfiber pad with finishing polish and it fixed it up the scuff, but it's still there.. but barely. I didn't go to orange microfiber, as I felt the problem was more operator error and not the cyclo.

 

Am I doing too much, or just need to hone in my skills? I'm wondering what my expectations for true correcting power of the cyclo should be. I'm working on a black car, so obviously I'm seeing EVERYTHING and when I see any scratches I feel like it's not good enough. Is a flex better for the OCD folks that want 100% correction?

 

Any thoughts/advice? Here's a few pretty crappy pics I was able to snap. Notice the line above the sticker that I had to see if I was making any sort of progress. Looks like I did, but still... not perfect.

 

Scuff above the flash.. the bottom scuff lookin piece was removable with a towel

 

Pretty Obvious Correcting Line (above the vinyl sticker, obviously)

Edited February 10, 2015 by DJJimGreen

[Ricky Bobby]

Not bad work, you still have a hair of spiderwebbing though.  I'd make another pass with Paint correcting and orange foam and it should get rid of it. 

 

Chasing 100% correction is a fool's errand, get it as close as you can to 95% or so with a few passes of the polisher.  You'll spend a few days chasing 100%, especially on that black.

[DJJimGreen]

Good stuff. Thank you sir. Random question that I was asking myself last night that you may be able to answer.

 

Why does my corrected paint look more dull than the spiderwebbed taped off portion? It didn't look like it this morning in the sunlight, but I was wondering why it looked dulled, when it was freshly corrected. Polish residue?

[Performance Auto Detailing]

Good stuff. Thank you sir. Random question that I was asking myself last night that you may be able to answer.

 

Why does my corrected paint look more dull than the spiderwebbed taped off portion? It didn't look like it this morning in the sunlight, but I was wondering why it looked dulled, when it was freshly corrected. Polish residue?

 

Was the last product you used the Paint Correcting Polish? Did you not go back over it with the Finishing Polish? Paint Correcting Polish will leave a haze on some finishes as it doesn't finish down like the Finishing Polish does

[Chewy]

If this car gets driven, doing a 100% correction IS going to drive you nuts.  However, the hood, roof, trunk and sides up near the side windows and all the pillars should be done close to perfection, because that's where your eye will see most of the imperfections and it'll drive you NUTS!!!  Dull can be residue, but the finishing polishes down pretty nicely.  You can get some haze from the MF pads which is why I usually like to finish with a white foam pad on darker colors although the haze is there regardless of color sometimes.  You CAN get rid of it with an MF pad, just reduce the weight on the pads and hit them with a bit of DS and polish.  It should disappear.  

 

Remember, you don't own a black car, it owns YOU!  

[Ricky Bobby]

^This.  Although it said you made a pass with White MF and white finishing polish, on black especially non metallic I always finish down with white foam and a Finishing polish for ultimate gloss and clarity.

[DJJimGreen]

Was the last product you used the Paint Correcting Polish? Did you not go back over it with the Finishing Polish? Paint Correcting Polish will leave a haze on some finishes as it doesn't finish down like the Finishing Polish does

 

It was paint finishing on white microfiber pad.

 

If this car gets driven, doing a 100% correction IS going to drive you nuts.  However, the hood, roof, trunk and sides up near the side windows and all the pillars should be done close to perfection, because that's where your eye will see most of the imperfections and it'll drive you NUTS!!!  Dull can be residue, but the finishing polishes down pretty nicely.  You can get some haze from the MF pads which is why I usually like to finish with a white foam pad on darker colors although the haze is there regardless of color sometimes.  You CAN get rid of it with an MF pad, just reduce the weight on the pads and hit them with a bit of DS and polish.  It should disappear.  

 

Remember, you don't own a black car, it owns YOU!  

 

Good to know. I last used the microfiber and never went back over with white fiam pad. It seems fine now, but last night with the camera flash it was showing up as that. I detail sprayed the hell out of it. Haha

 

^This.  Although it said you made a pass with White MF and white finishing polish, on black especially non metallic I always finish down with white foam and a Finishing polish for ultimate gloss and clarity.

 

Got it! Thank you! It was fun to play with the cyclo, for sure.

 

Do you guys find yourself using the microfibers often? It felt like it just wasn't cutting much with anything less. Do you guys put much pressure down on the cyclo? I really wasn't, besides a slight push just to ensure it doesn't go skipping around..

Edited February 10, 2015 by DJJimGreen

[Ricky Bobby]

It was paint finishing on white microfiber pad.

 

 

Good to know. I last used the microfiber and never went back over with white fiam pad. It seems fine now, but last night with the camera flash it was showing up as that. I detail sprayed the hell out of it. Haha

 

 

Got it! Thank you! It was fun to play with the cyclo, for sure.

 

Do you guys find yourself using the microfibers often? It felt like it just wasn't cutting much with anything less. Do you guys put much pressure down on the cyclo? I really wasn't, besides a slight push just to ensure it doesn't go skipping around..

 

I don't have a Cyclo but theres a ton of factors when speaking of correction.

 

-Power/throw of machine

-Pressure on pad

-Speed of machine used

-pad type and size used

-Cutting ability of product

 

In your situation and with any non-metallic black paint correction I 95% of the time finding myself going straight to MF cutting pads and a correcting polish, and sometimes multiple passes depending on how old the vehicle is.  On brand new cars off the lot sometimes I can get by with orange foam but most of the time even that needs the extra oomph of the MF pads in certain areas.

[DJJimGreen]

I don't have a Cyclo but theres a ton of factors when speaking of correction.

 

-Power/throw of machine

-Pressure on pad

-Speed of machine used

-pad type and size used

-Cutting ability of product

 

In your situation and with any non-metallic black paint correction I 95% of the time finding myself going straight to MF cutting pads and a correcting polish, and sometimes multiple passes depending on how old the vehicle is.  On brand new cars off the lot sometimes I can get by with orange foam but most of the time even that needs the extra oomph of the MF pads in certain areas.

 

Sweet. Thanks! I have no source of reference as this was my first car to cyclo and also with it being black, I have no idea what acceptable is for the pads/polish I'm using.

[Team Adam's]

These guys have you pretty well covered, but I'll add a little something:

 

To expect absolutely to have your program perfect and dialed in on your first go is unrealistic. The videos give you a great guide and our products are certainly easy to work with, but I usually tell people to expect to get it about mostly right the first time. The rest of the correction comes in when you learn and get more comfortable with the process and working with a machine.

 

No one has it all figured out on their very first go... if it were that easy you wouldn't need us! LOL

[PacificNWBuckeye]

Not that I can top the Doc or any of the guys above, but I still remember my first correction with a porter cable and the old 3 step process. I didn't know what to expect and I think I got it to 75-80%, but it was an ex police car in dark blue so just that amount of correction made it look amazing. You will learn as you go what works for you, keep reading the tips on here and watching the videos.

[Team Adam's]

If I had to put a number on it, I think most people 'figure it out' completely by they're 3rd attempt... and by that I don't mean 3 passes in one time in the garage, but walking away, coming back and making a separate attempt. As anyone has experienced, if you get frustrated and keep going at it you never get it right... stepping back, thinking about it, and trying another day makes a huge difference.

 

We've said at many clinics and in the videos "DON'T POLISH ANGRY"

[Junior]

Guys do these Dodge Challengers have a "hard" clear coat? I seem to recall a post about that. I know vettes do. So to the OP the clear coat hardness also plays a role in the pads you need to use. I learned that from Dylan in one of the videos where they introduced the Cyclo.

 

On a side note I almost bought a 2012 Challenger and I remember it being swirled to sh%#. The Dealers unwillingness to cut a deal even after the car was hit in the lot after I test drove it caused me to look elsewhere. But I really dig the updates for MY 2014 and up. You have a sweet ride!

Edited February 10, 2015 by Junior

[Chris@Adams]

Jim, it's like everything else you do practice makes perfect!

[Team Adam's]

I've worked on a few Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler products and don't recall any of them having significantly harder clear coat.

 

Anymore exceptionally hard clears are becoming less and less common... without doing any research and just going on gut, I'd say clear coats are getting softer if anything. For the mostpart everything is in the middle of the road though. There are fewer and fewer vehicles that fall on the edges of the spectrum either way.

[DJJimGreen]

These guys have you pretty well covered, but I'll add a little something:

 

To expect absolutely to have your program perfect and dialed in on your first go is unrealistic. The videos give you a great guide and our products are certainly easy to work with, but I usually tell people to expect to get it about mostly right the first time. The rest of the correction comes in when you learn and get more comfortable with the process and working with a machine.

 

No one has it all figured out on their very first go... if it were that easy you wouldn't need us! LOL

 

Good to hear from you. I watched one of your videos while having my go at it. I'm getting the hang of it, but still get hesitant around weird curves.

 

If I had to put a number on it, I think most people 'figure it out' completely by they're 3rd attempt... and by that I don't mean 3 passes in one time in the garage, but walking away, coming back and making a separate attempt. As anyone has experienced, if you get frustrated and keep going at it you never get it right... stepping back, thinking about it, and trying another day makes a huge difference.

 

We've said at many clinics and in the videos "DON'T POLISH ANGRY"

 

I could tell I started to get frustrated after the white microfiber pad and had to walk away before I made a big mistake with the orange microfiber. Haha

 

Guys do these Dodge Challengers have a "hard" clear coat? I seem to recall a post about that. I know vettes do. So to the OP the clear coat hardness also plays a role in the pads you need to use. I learned that from Dylan in one of the videos where they introduced the Cyclo.

 

On a side note I almost bought a 2012 Challenger and I remember it being swirled to sh%#. The Dealers unwillingness to cut a deal even after the car was hit in the lot after I test drove it caused me to look elsewhere. But I really dig the updates for MY 2014 and up. You have a sweet ride!

 

I felt like the car had a harder than normal clearcoat, but I of course have no reference. It didn't budge much though with the foam pads, at least with my current form! Yea, the changes they made in 2015 I'm a huge fan of... however, I hear from a lot of prior challenger owners that they felt like the new one is getting away from the vintage styling (LED tail lights, halo headlights etc)... but whatever. I still love it. 

 

Jim, it's like everything else you do practice makes perfect!

 

Indeed! The support here is awesome.

 

 

One final question on this topic. The trunk of the challenger sort of lips up when it reaches the back windshield and was wondering, since it lips, should I be hesitant when polishing up it? I didn't go to the edge, as it's obviously thin there, but was concerned that since I can't necessarily keep the polisher flat (since it lips up a bit) would it just scratch it? Is it better to approach it head on, or from the side? Sorry, full of questions...

[Junior]

Jim I would not be too concerned there. Use light pressure(if any) its really just the weight of your hand. Watch the Cyclo video where Dylan is polishing the Chevy truck. You can see how to tackle angles. The Cyclo should be very safe when used properly. Buffers are the tools you need to really be mindful of edges/angles with.

 

[Ricky Bobby]

If anything I'd just aim for longer buffing cycles at slower speeds and moderate pressure than getting all aggro on the machine trying to get it corrected in one pass haha

[Chewy]

The first time I corrected or attempted to correct a car, it became VERY clear to me, that I needed to set aside a LOT more time.  My G8 at the time was black and I ended up spending 5 weeks on and off perfecting it and MY technique.  The one thing I found that sped up the job was the small pads on a drill.  I'd hammer out the deeper scratches and "scuffs" with them, and then use the polisher to correct it from there. 

 

At the time I had a PC, and I moved up to a Flex when Adams started selling them and NEVER looked back. It cut my work time easily in half and then the MF pads cut that down again.  

 

The new guys using Adams 2 step don't know how easy they have it.  Their old system worked, but it was nothing like the current one IMO. 

 

Chris

[Ricky Bobby]

^^^Good points Chris.  I think I read somewhere a quote from Mike Phillips "Work slow to get work done faster" in regards to paint correction

[mdolandese]

This may be off topic a little bit, but after your satisfied with the swirls gone after polishing is there anything I could do to get the ultimate blow your mind shine before I install a xpel clear bra. I'm know I'm  only going to get one shot at this before it's put on and my OCD is getting the best of me and I keep saying to myself ,OH I think I could get a blinding result. better or am I just fooling myself? Or does that come after I wax or seal. I just thought 90% of it [the shine] is all in the polishing. Sorry if off topic a little bit 

[Ricky Bobby]

Yes 90% of the shine if not more comes from having your surface fully corrected/polished.  The less defects, the more reflective the surface.  Sealant/wax is more for protection.

 

Xpel clear bra would go over a perfectly polished surface, most likely they would wipe down the surface with alcohol, etc to remove any oils or waxes so the clear bra adheres better.

 

Basically what I'm saying is dont apply Brilliant Glaze under clear bra before its installed and think you'll lock it in for years lol.

[mdolandese]

Exactly- know specific combination with pads or polishes will make it pop anymore right? That's just for getting the swirls and imperfections  out. If so I'm probably good just wait on glaze and sealer when done

[Chewy]

No need to put any sort of LSP on before the bra.  They'll use IPA to clean and scratch the paint before install!    

[mdolandese]

Scratch the paint I hope not. Already did the wipe down lets cross my fingers. Thanks for the help and advice

[DJJimGreen]

What I've learned...

 

98% or bust.