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My first PC

Werne1nm

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Werne1nm

Werne1nm

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Could questions before I start my FIRST PC ever on my 2013 Chevy Volt.

 

What kind of tape should I get (if any) to tape the seams?

 

I have some black plastic that runs below my windows on both doors.  Should I avoid the PC on that?  Its black plastic and right below that is metal (looks like metal) trim.  Part of me says it'll be fine and should be polished anyway.  it shows a lot of water marks and imperfections.  Its not trim like whats on the bottom of the car.  I use VRT on all the trim.  Its plastic, black, smooth. (see picture below)

 

I've got LPS, FP, CP three orange foam correcting pads, one microfiber correction pad, one white finishing pad, two black 4 in pads (for the LPS)

 

Is that enough?  I don't want to get half way through and run out of pads specifically.

 

 

How long should the LPS sit on the vehicle before I 1) buff it off and 2) let it cure before americana goes on?

 

this is a DD and would be inconvenient to be w/o for more than a day.

 

Overall it should be a pretty straightforward process.  not a lot of curves in the Volt.  I'm really excited to remove all these swirl marks and scratches in the paint.

 

Any other suggestions?

 

My detail goes as follows. (like most on the forums)

 

Strip wash

sidekick to dry most of the water

drink a beer

clay bar with detail spray (should I use diluted rinseless wash instead?  i have gallon of that.)

Paint correct

drink a beer

LPS

Cure (??hours) (while drinking a beer)

Americana

Drink a beer

DONE

post-14379-0-46518000-1465910672_thumb.jpg

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Tim

Tim

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Polish away on the black area below the windows, just not on the trim between the Windows. You can skip the sidekick drying after the strip wash and go straight to the beer.

 

(I had a 2013 Volt and now have a 2015, so I do know the area you are asking about)

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Werne1nm

Werne1nm

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Polish away on the black area below the windows, just not on the trim between the Windows. You can skip the sidekick drying after the strip wash and go straight to the beer.

 

(I had a 2013 Volt and now have a 2015, so I do know the area you are asking about)

 

Awesome, thanks for the input!  I've been using VRT on that section as well as any of the rubber around the windows in preparation of the polishing.

 

Sounds good to me. As long as it's not some hoity–toity import beer. :)

PBR is my choice.  I know what some may say but I love the stuff for the price!

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Werne1nm

Werne1nm

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Get yourself some more white pads.  One is not enough.  Same goes with the microfiber pad.  It is hard to say if you will need the microfiber pads without doing a test spot.

2 more of each?  I think i'll just buy the pad bundle then.  two of those.  That would be three each and two extra orange pads.

 

Think I need more than two gray 4 in pads for LPS?

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Werne1nm

Werne1nm

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Figured I would mess with you.

 

73,

kd0zv

http://kd0zv.com/

 

 

Beautiful station you have there!

 

I'm an ICOM man myself too.  I've got a 7410 in the basement of our rental house strung up to a GAP titan DX in the backyard!

 

Still convincing the wife to let me install a radio in our car :P

 

See you on the waves sometime maybe!

 

73

WA8RFK 

https://www.qrz.com/db/WA8RFK

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AvsBest

AvsBest

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If you dress with VRT first, you don't really need to tape as the polish residue will be easy to wipe off. If you choose to tape, get some blue painter's tape.

 

I think you have enough pads, I used to use the same pad for the whole car before and it still worked fine. If you have the luxury of using 2 go for it.

 

Given the colour of your car, you may not even need the paint finishing polish, try it when you do your test area and if there is no difference, don't bother.

 

I leave the paint sealant on for 30-45min (I think it says on the bottle) then wipe off. Then wait another hour before putting your americana on.

 

Remember with the PC, slow is fast (your movement speed)

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Werne1nm

Werne1nm

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If you dress with VRT first, you don't really need to tape as the polish residue will be easy to wipe off. If you choose to tape, get some blue painter's tape.

 

I think you have enough pads, I used to use the same pad for the whole car before and it still worked fine. If you have the luxury of using 2 go for it.

 

Given the colour of your car, you may not even need the paint finishing polish, try it when you do your test area and if there is no difference, don't bother.

 

I leave the paint sealant on for 30-45min (I think it says on the bottle) then wipe off. Then wait another hour before putting your americana on.

 

Remember with the PC, slow is fast (your movement speed)

 

 

I was thinking tape for the gaps as well.

 

Should I just stay away as much as possible from the gaps?

 

Do I have to prime the pads?  I'm watching some old circa 2012 Adam's videos. 

 

I just bought another 3 pad set.  I think I should be all good to go.

 

Thanks everyone for your input.  Before and after pictures will be taken! :D

Edited by Werne1nm
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The Guz

The Guz

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I prefer to have lots of pads.  I can swap out to a new pad after a few panels and not worry about cleaning the pad on the fly to use one pad around the entire car.  Pads load up with spent product and paint residue (aka clear coat). 

 

The thing is to work clean to achieve the best results.  You could probably get by with 4 orange and 4 white pads. 

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AvsBest

AvsBest

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You can cross gaps as long as you do it towards the end of your pass. At which point most of the polish will be on the paint so you won't get it in the seems.

 

Priming the pad is personal preference but as you work more and more panels you probably should use detail spray to re-activate the polish instead of adding new polish every time or you'll end up with a dust fest. If it's your first time doing his I guarantee you'll end up with a dust dest anyways lol.

 

I did a car today and the formula on that one was 1 pass MF and 2 pass Foam. For the foam pads, I only used 2 small pea size drops per panel on my first pass and no more polish on the 2nd pass, just priming. After a few panels I'd use the same amount of polish for 2 panels as it was starting to dust a bit.

 

About the number of pads, I found MF pads only last half the car on a good day until it becomes a dust fest

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AvsBest

AvsBest

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You can do a car with only 1 pad of each but if you have 2 of each, switch when you reach half of the car.

 

The pads get saturated with polish and may loose effectiveness. They also might start dusting because there is too much polish in them, hence the term work clean

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Werne1nm

Werne1nm

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Whew I did a bit of correcting today and quit half way through.

 

The porter cable was able to get about 80% of the swirl marks out of the finish but I think I need some spare microfiber pads. I kept doing passes with it and seemed to not be doing much after a while. Am I doing something wrong?

 

Like I said I was able to get a lot of the swirl marks out on the roof and hood but it seemed to lose its effectiveness after a while. Is that just what to expect with the porter cable?

 

I'm going to order more pads and continue another weekend. Put some amaericana wax on the car to hold it over till then.

 

That was... aLOt of work! Whew.

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blcksilv08

blcksilv08

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Whew I did a bit of correcting today and quit half way through.

 

The porter cable was able to get about 80% of the swirl marks out of the finish but I think I need some spare microfiber pads. I kept doing passes with it and seemed to not be doing much after a while. Am I doing something wrong?

 

Like I said I was able to get a lot of the swirl marks out on the roof and hood but it seemed to lose its effectiveness after a while. Is that just what to expect with the porter cable?

 

I'm going to order more pads and continue another weekend. Put some amaericana wax on the car to hold it over till then.

 

That was... aLOt of work! Whew.

Do you have a pad brush? If so when a pad seems like its not as effective as when you started try turning away from the car, flipping the machine over and brushing out the pad. Sometimes they just get filled with to much polish.
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Werne1nm

Werne1nm

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Do you have a pad brush? If so when a pad seems like its not as effective as when you started try turning away from the car, flipping the machine over and brushing out the pad. Sometimes they just get filled with to much polish.

I didn't use a brush. I fluffed it up with my fingers though. Maybe the "swirl" marks I'm seeing after the mf pad is just plain old scratches that need more passes to get out. I'll be working on this tonight when it cools down outside.

Edited by Werne1nm
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blcksilv08

blcksilv08

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I didn't use a brush. I fluffed it up with my fingers though. Maybe the "swirl" marks I'm seeing after the mf pad is just plain old scratches that need more passes to get out. I'll be working on this tonight when it cools down outside.

That's possible, any pictures would help.

Also check this video out around the 7:40 mark.

 

https://youtu.be/oJ0x1B6Bwcs

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The Guz

The Guz

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Google on how to clean your pad on the fly.  Compressed air also works to clean out and fluff up the microfiber fibers. 

 

What speed were you using? 

 

1 hour is what is recommended before topping LPS. 

Edited by The Guz
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