Black is a Tough Nut to Crack!

[galaxy]

What is the enemy of good??

 

After countless years of detailing and working with paint, I finally own my first black vehicle.  Bought a 2005 Mustang with 100K miles on it that was actually ridiculously clean for the age and mileage.  But it still needed my finishing touch to make it perfect. Went with a two step approach to fix it up. 
 

The old orange Correcting Polish on a white pad removed the bulk of the damage.  But on black under an inspection light, you could certainly see the remnants of the orange correction. *note* I did try the new blue Compound on a couple worse spots; waaayyyy too aggressive. 
 

Second, the latest white Polish on a white pad. Darn darn near perfect…….right up until I pulled it out in the sun. Under an inspection light and the LED lights of the garage, you absolutely could not see it, but sunlight revealed what I could only describe as the tracks and Uber light marring naturally left behind from the white pad.  Don’t know how else to describe it. My opinion, the white pad still too aggressive for this black, or the Polish is just not right for that fine of a needed finish  (if you search for posts by me, I have been unable to get on board with the new Polish). 
 

fortunately for me, I have juuuusssttt enough of the old white Finishing Polish that I think will do the trick on a LC black pad.  One quick test spot showed improvement, just haven’t had time to retackle yet. Will start tomorrow.  I’m hoping this is my 95% solution.    
 

But anywho…welcome thoughts or input how to finish this out the rest of the way, and to see if you guys know what I’m talking about on how it finished out.  
 

Sorry I don’t have pics, but I’m horrible with a camera and was unable to capture what I can see with the eye.  I’ll post pics of the car thus far, but couldn’t get a pic to show what I see in sunlight. 

Edited March 21 by galaxy

[falcaineer]

So many factors to consider. What machine, what speed and how much pressure are you using with the Polish and white foam? How many passes? How fast are you moving rh machine? What size area are you working with? Are you certain the pads are clean?

 

I will also say don't chase perfection - it's a fool's errand. I'm a firm believer in the current Polish and white foam, but there is a process and as you allude to, every paint is different.

[galaxy]

Chris...totally agree with all your statements.  Totally get it.  But when I can take my techniques, regardless of what they are, and only swap the product and end up with the results I wanted in the first place, that's the route I'm going. I don't claim to be a pro (OK, maybe a veerryy good semi pro, LOL), but I've been doing this toooo long and too happy with my results to start chasing techniques.  I can't (and unwilling to) chase a bunch of technique changes to make a product I have no satisfaction in work.  But like I mentioned, not my first unsuccessful result with the Polish...but it is unfortunately my last.  And I used up the very last drop of my old Finishing Polish to get this black car to where I wanted it. Now I don't know what I'll move on to.  Most likely back to the M205.  

On 3/19/2024 at 9:45 PM, falcaineer said:

I will also say don't chase perfection - it's a fool's errand.

hahahahah...hence my opening remark

 

 

[falcaineer]

Fair enough, Jon! Hopefully you only took my inputs as trying to help. Adam's doesn't claim to make the best of everything, either, I only hope you find something that works as well for you as the Polish has so far for me 🙂.

 

And that does look amazing!!

[galaxy]

4 hours ago, falcaineer said:

Fair enough, Jon! Hopefully you only took my inputs as trying to help.

 

And that does look amazing!!

Oh…100%. And thanks man! It turned out pretty darn good.  

[RayS]

The story reminds me of the Black Roush Mustang that I did a few years ago - maybe it has something to do with the Black paint put on Mustangs.  While I also initially found the old white polish easier to work with, a small change in my routine got the results back to what I expected and all it took was adding a bit more of the the Original Pink Detail Spay to the pad.  I never use any other lube other than the Pink Detail Spray which I still attribute to improving my overall detailing capabilities.

 

My thought on the Black used for the Mustang's is that I did not have the same problem on Red Mustangs or other Black Ford's.