Swirls gone... but now holograms?

[Brett LaCroix]

After using SHR with the PC on my hood... I noticed long streaks appeared.

 

Wasn't sure if these were "hidden" clear coat damages and I revealed them using the SHR... or if I caused them.

 

Then I searched this forum and someone described Halograms as "looks almost like the contrails a jet leaves in the sky".

 

So... did I cause them?

 

Should I wait to see if they are still visible after using FMP? or should they be gone before I move on to the next step?

 

Couldn't get them to show up in a photo... and actually are not even sure they are halograms... considering they seem to run from the top of the hood towards the front of the car... as if something dripped/ran all the way down the front of the hood. (nothing side to side)

 

Then again, they do look a lot like contrails... (tiger stripes even...)...

 

Tried to agressively remove them in one area with the PC and more SHR... but couldn't... in other words... I tried to work on an area right in the middle... to see if I could remove part of one... but nothing happened.

 

I figured if I would have been able to remove part of one, I would know that it was either something I caused and/or something I could remove.

 

But in the end... all I did was remove more fine scratches, but the streak remained.

 

???

[Bill-V8V]

It is nearly impossible to create holograms with a PC, it just doesn't rotate fast enough or generate enough heat. Not sure what you are seeing, try taking a picture with the flash on. It may help it show up

 

 

Are you keeping pressure on the PC while polishing ? It isn't skipping around on you is it ?

[Chris@Adams]

It is nearly impossible to create holograms with a PC, it just doesn't rotate fast enough or generate enough heat. Not sure what you are seeing, try taking a picture with the flash on. It may help it show up

 

 

Are you keeping pressure on the PC while polishing ? It isn't skipping around on you is it ?

 

 

Like Bill said pics.

[Brett LaCroix]

I will have to try pics tomorrow... at work today.

 

One reason I think these may not be due to me is because of the length of them... since I did 1/8th of my hood at a time, I can't really see how I could have made streaks that went from top of hood all the way to the bottom.

 

They look as if some liquid dripped on the hood at the top and ran all the way down.

 

The fact that I couldn't (or just didn't) see these until after using the SHR/PC on my hood got me thinking that maybe it was something I did.

 

In any case... as I work my way around the car... with halogen lights... I am seeing a lot more paint imperfections (chips, nicks, small deep scratches) that won't be fixed by polishing.

 

I think this car is going to have to fall into the "three foot rule" for my sanity. i.e. if I like how the results look from 3 feet away (standing upright next to the hood, for example, your eyes are 3ft away) I will be satisfied.

 

After all... the swirls I removed were visible from 3ft away, and now they are gone... and that is what prompted me to get the PC in the first place.

 

The pics in my Signature are how the car was in October when I bought it... and those are clouds showing up on the paint. So when I get done with it, it will be so much better!

 

The funny thing is... our daily drivers (wife's Tahoe, my Jeep) both have better paint, but are not always that clean. However, the very shiny, always clean, black BMW with the blemished paint, that is kept in the garage gets all the comments.

 

I guess the key to sanity is to understand that the tools/products I have will allow me to keep my car the best it can be, based on the paint condition.

[Marylander]

I will have to try pics tomorrow... at work today.

 

One reason I think these may not be due to me is because of the length of them... since I did 1/8th of my hood at a time, I can't really see how I could have made streaks that went from top of hood all the way to the bottom.

 

They look as if some liquid dripped on the hood at the top and ran all the way down.

 

The fact that I couldn't (or just didn't) see these until after using the SHR/PC on my hood got me thinking that maybe it was something I did.

 

In any case... as I work my way around the car... with halogen lights... I am seeing a lot more paint imperfections (chips, nicks, small deep scratches) that won't be fixed by polishing.

 

I think this car is going to have to fall into the "three foot rule" for my sanity. i.e. if I like how the results look from 3 feet away (standing upright next to the hood, for example, your eyes are 3ft away) I will be satisfied.

 

After all... the swirls I removed were visible from 3ft away, and now they are gone... and that is what prompted me to get the PC in the first place.

 

The pics in my Signature are how the car was in October when I bought it... and those are clouds showing up on the paint. So when I get done with it, it will be so much better!

 

The funny thing is... our daily drivers (wife's Tahoe, my Jeep) both have better paint, but are not always that clean. However, the very shiny, always clean, black BMW with the blemished paint, that is kept in the garage gets all the comments.

 

I guess the key to sanity is to understand that the tools/products I have will allow me to keep my car the best it can be, based on the paint condition.

 

I agree with Bill, it's tough to create holograms with a PC. I DID cause some on my wife's black Prius with the 4-inch pads on a drill, but that's another story. I plan on correcting that issue this spring with a full PC detailing.

 

I think your 3-foot rule is a good idea. That's basically what I've done with my Corvette -- it was 5 years old with 35K on it when I bought it, so it had some little things on it that were just never going to be perfect. But I've killed the swirls, gave it a good shine and just enjoy walking up to in a parking lot. So it it what it is, and I'm not going to give myself ulcers over the very little things. Besides, NO ONE else notices that stuff -- they just see a shiny Vette.

 

Oh, and welcome to AF.

 

Rich

[Junkman2008]

It is nearly impossible to create holograms with a PC, it just doesn't rotate fast enough or generate enough heat. Not sure what you are seeing, try taking a picture with the flash on. It may help it show up

 

 

Are you keeping pressure on the PC while polishing ? It isn't skipping around on you is it ?

 

Ain't no "nearly" to it, it IS impossible to create holograms with the PC! I can tell you exactly where they came from. The last person that detailed your car left them there. Before you started your detailing process with the Adam's products, you were supposed to strip all the old wax off the car. I bet you didn't or you wouldn't be seeing holograms.

 

That's what a rotary will do in the hands of someone who is not an expert with one and is the main reason I avoid using mine at all cost.

[Brett LaCroix]

OK... here are some pics...

 

There are long versions of this on my hood also, but it was easier to photograph the areas that appeared wider:

 

 

 

These seemed to "show up" after the SHR/PC process... but I have not been able to remove any portion of them after they were discovered.

 

Again... I simply tried to remove a portion of one of the long streaks... to see if I could... but slow careful SHR over one area just made it more shiny.

 

Just curious as to what they might be.

 

(by the way... some of those white specs are actually paint chips... so my hood does have more condition issues than I have the time/ability to fix... my goal is to make it as dazzling/shiny as it can be... so the reflection of everything around it "distracts" from the imperfections. )

 

Brett

[Junkman2008]

SHR shouldn't leave the surface shiny at all. It should be quite dull and beat up looking. Maybe you are working the product too long? Also, you could have imperfections in the paint that your last detail guy hide with glaze. How much product are you using per pass, on what size area and what speed of the polisher? Also, how fast are you moving the polisher?

[Brett LaCroix]

The shine is probably from the detail spray.

 

I went again and tried to do one more 18" square in the middle of my hood with plenty of SHR (not too much), going slow, L to R pattern, then top to bottom (like videos), etc...

 

My reasoning was this... if I paid extra attention to one spot... it would either make the streaks less visible in that area (i.e. working towards getting them out)... make them worse (i.e. I caused them)... or have no effect.

 

Pretty much had no effect.

 

Moved on to FMP... then to MSW... for the whole car.

 

Looks good... but streaks are still visible on the hood... and they go from the top of the hood to the end...

 

I really think these are "pre-existing conditions" that I just noticed after polishing.

 

If they are something "I" caused, you would think that they wouldn't be all in one direction.

 

After all... I divided my hood into 8 parts... the 4 middle parts were done with me standing in front of the car... 2 on each side were me using the PC from either side... so pressure issues (i.e. uneven)... or uneven movement (too much side to side or up and down)... would all be different depending upon where I stood and shouldn't have resulted in the same "streak" patterns...

 

Again... these are continuous streaks from top to bottom of hood (none side to side)... grouped together in 3-4 or as many as 7-8 side by side thin streaks.... with the groups of streaks spaced 4"-6" apart.

 

Still pretty much clueless as to what these could be.

 

I am willing to try anything in one little spot... i.e. if I can remove a "swipe" through one of the streaks, I can apply that technique, product, etc... to the whole hood... to remove it all.

 

Ideas?

[Team Adam's]

That is one drawback to jumping into detailing... you start taking a close look at the car, get all the stuff you knew was there out, then a whole new batch of things to work on pop up.

 

But I do like this philosophy:

 

my goal is to make it as dazzling/shiny as it can be... so the reflection of everything around it "distracts" from the imperfections

 

Looking at the pics I don't know if those are necessarily holograms... thats a weird issue you've got there. Do they seem to be less noticeable after you apply wax or do they remain relatively unchanged?

 

Do you by any chance have Revive polish or Brilliant Spray glaze in your collection yet? They both have very minor filling properties and Revive is an excellent paintwork cleanser to boot... perhaps a hand application to test it on the spot is in order.

[Junkman2008]

Answer me this. Did you strip the finish BEFORE using any of the Adam's products? If so, how did you strip it? It appears that you have had the car detailed before by someone who used a rotary polisher. YOU did not create those holograms, the person with the rotary polisher did. Provided that you stripped all of the previous junk off the car and the previous detailer didn't burn the paint, you should not be seeing any holograms. Get back to me with some answers.

[BRZN]

Been wathching this thread, and just a thought. Any chance the Hood's been repainted at some time? Could you actually be seeing how the paint was laid down with overlapping strokes?

[Junkman2008]

Been wathching this thread, and just a thought. Any chance the Hood's been repainted at some time? Could you actually be seeing how the paint was laid down with overlapping strokes?

 

I highly doubt that. That would have to be the worst paint job in America and we're talking about a BMW. BMW owners don't take their cars to Earl Scheib for a paint job (where you may run into the worst paint job in America).