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Looking for a little feedback on my technique


Duper

Question

I did one third of my hood today and it just seemed to take a whole lot more effort than I thought it would. After like 6 passes with the orange pad & SHR, I could still see some micro scratches and swirls. In fact, I couldn't really see a difference between the part I did and the rest of the hood. I was expecting perfection after that much work so I was a little disappointed. Maybe I'm expecting too much? The pics I took didn't show what I was seeing in person unfortunately so they're basically useless for this purpose but I'll include some finished shots. Don't get me wrong, the finish looks great from a distance, I was just expecting it to be completely flawless.

 

Before I gave up doing the rest of the car I shot a quick video of my technique so you can point out anything I might be doing wrong.

 

The video below is me just finishing up the section with the white pad but that's basically how I did it with the orange pad. I might have pressed a little harder with the orange pad, but this is essentially the process and about how long I spent on each pass (you can tell the rotational speed in the video because I put a piece of tape on the backing plate).

 

Watching someone else on a video (AJ / Adam) and seeing it done live are two different things altogether so maybe a critique of my technique would be a close second to seeing it done the right way in person.

 

Anyway, on to the video:<object height="385" width="480">

 

 

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZd15IpaqKs?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></object>

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Edit - I forgot about the pics... I looked at the ones where I tried to get the swirls to show but they truly don't show anything useful. I was planning on doing the whole car today with SHR & FMP but it didn't seem like it was really getting me anywhere so I stopped, washed it again, and put 2 coats of Zaino Z5-Pro on it (I know, blasphemy). But I already had a couple coats of Z2-Pro on it and I like how that turned out so I kept with what worked... Here's a couple shots of the final product. Again, I could never get my camera to show the swirls, and from a distance you can't really see them, but I can when I get up close with light on it.

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Honestly you really shouldn't need to do more than just spot corrections more than 2x a year. In those cases I'd say strip the panel with an IPA water mixture in a sprayer and work the area you need to fix.

 

Roger that...because once I clean up the bad paint and use good technique it shouldn't require whipping out the PC each time?:2thumbs: Gotcha...thanks, as always.

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Ok..so once or twice a year for the strip. But if I'm needing to use the PC more than that should I just skip the dawn and go with the clay only?

 

Honestly you really shouldn't need to do more than just spot corrections more than 2x a year. In those cases I'd say strip the panel with an IPA water mixture in a sprayer and work the area you need to fix.

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You can use 1:1 water:Isopropyl Alcohol mixture to remove wax and sealants in specific areas.

 

 

Ok..so once or twice a year for the strip. But if I'm needing to use the PC more than that should I just skip the dawn and go with the clay only?

 

You could spray down each panel with a mixture stated above.

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Yes and no... clay will get a lot off, but keep in mind you can't see the 'wax' and sometimes it takes multiple times over an area to remove something. Its hard to ensure you're going to get all of it off with clay. Plus it'll clog up your bar and make a mess of it.

 

A strip wash is just a great way to break it down as much as possible, but remember the dish soap is harsh on trim and door seals so you want to limit its use to 1 or 2 times a year MAX and always condition the trim afterwards.

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Thanks, Dylan. Yeah, that would be great. Looks like the Ryan's are down for it too. An upcoming Sunday would work for me!

 

Any other date / time restrictions? This Sunday is a holiday weekend but maybe the next Sunday? Sept 12?

 

I'll check my schedule :D

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Hey Chris,

 

Maybe we get you, both the Ryan's (LOL... I'm making that an official name) and myself plus any other local camaro guys together for a mini gathering and detail instruction? I'll be in Colorado the rest of this week, but next week I'll be back home again and able to help out.

 

Thanks, Dylan. Yeah, that would be great. Looks like the Ryan's are down for it too. An upcoming Sunday would work for me!

 

Any other date / time restrictions? This Sunday is a holiday weekend but maybe the next Sunday? Sept 12?

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Hey Chris,

 

Sorry I'm late to the party here, but looking at your video I'd say you're probably a little light on the pressure and a little fast on your movements. I know Pasadena isn't all that close, but if you're interested maybe we can arrange to either meet at my place or yours and I can give you a little one on one coaching on the process... you technique isn't WAY off, but it could use some refining. (I'm in Rancho Cucamonga so its just a straight shot out the 210 for either one of us)

 

Maybe we get you, both the Ryan's (LOL... I'm making that an official name) and myself plus any other local camaro guys together for a mini gathering and detail instruction? I'll be in Colorado the rest of this week, but next week I'll be back home again and able to help out.

 

Also, what Sal Zaino said is true, but it doesn't make it right (if that makes any sense) the abrasives will remove his product from the surface, but then your pads will have old Zaino caked into the pad, potentially clogging the pores and reducing your cutting power.

 

Its always best to strip wash, especially when removing something like their stuff which is a synthetic polymer.

 

Anyways... you know how to reach me if you want to take me up on the offer... I'm always willing to donate some of my time to show someone how to really get the most out of the products.

 

Hey Dylan,wanna come to Wisconsin if I pay your airfair? LOL

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Hey Chris,

 

Sorry I'm late to the party here, but looking at your video I'd say you're probably a little light on the pressure and a little fast on your movements. I know Pasadena isn't all that close, but if you're interested maybe we can arrange to either meet at my place or yours and I can give you a little one on one coaching on the process... you technique isn't WAY off, but it could use some refining. (I'm in Rancho Cucamonga so its just a straight shot out the 210 for either one of us)

 

Maybe we get you, both the Ryan's (LOL... I'm making that an official name) and myself plus any other local camaro guys together for a mini gathering and detail instruction? I'll be in Colorado the rest of this week, but next week I'll be back home again and able to help out.

 

Also, what Sal Zaino said is true, but it doesn't make it right (if that makes any sense) the abrasives will remove his product from the surface, but then your pads will have old Zaino caked into the pad, potentially clogging the pores and reducing your cutting power.

 

Its always best to strip wash, especially when removing something like their stuff which is a synthetic polymer.

 

Anyways... you know how to reach me if you want to take me up on the offer... I'm always willing to donate some of my time to show someone how to really get the most out of the products.

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Neither my wife or I had anyone detail the car or use any touch up paint on it. I'll try to take a better picture of it.

 

I clayed the camaro before putting the Z products on it btw. Also, I emailed Zaino about how to remove their product from the car and Sal Zaino replied with the following:

"No need to remove Zaino... because any abrasive medium to remove and buff scratches will completely remove Zaino."

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i agree with the other guys just because its a new car doesnt mean it wont need work. Get the car as clean as possible with dawn and then clay it because all the crap at the railroads and dust and such will land on a new car and cause damage. start with the hood or just the trunk area and see what happens. If you still need a little cover for some of the really fine marks then the what was BSG but now is just dang i dont know what they call it now lol but that will help as well.

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Nice job on the Accord Chris!

I have to do under the door handles on my wife's silver Accord. If you haven't tried it yet the In & Out spray works great on the wiper valley in front of the windshield. You didn't say what you put on as a 'topper' but Americana over MSW really makes that silver 'pop'!

 

Not sure what the mark on the door is, but Ryan's touch up theory makes sense.

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The other thing I noticed is that you stated you had some "Z" products on the car - did you wash the car with dawn before starting the polishing process? If not those "Z" products can clog the pores in the polishing pad causing the pad & polish to not cut the paint properly. Whenever polishing with a PC you have to start on a clean, wax and sealant free surface.

 

Remember getting a 100% swirl, scratch, finish is a VERY labor intensive process. It can take days to remove all the defects in the paint - and if its a daily driver, keeping it that way will be impossible.

 

We're here to help :thumbsup:

 

Yeah, that makes sense. I didn't wash it with Dawn first because I thought the pad would just cut right through it. Good to know, I'll do that next time I take a shot at the Camaro.

 

I was a little discouraged yesterday but I'm not one to give up so I went to town on my Honda and the results were stunning. I was knocking out scratches and little marks I had just resigned to live with before I came across Adams products. Everything except scratches and paint chips that were clearly through the paint came out with very little effort compared to yesterday.

 

There is one 'birth mark' looking thing that I can't figure out though... It feels smooth to the touch but is clearly a defect in the paint. I included it as the first picture below if any can help me identify what this is and how to get rid of it. There are two of these on my car. :confused:

 

The inside of all my door handles had 100 scratches from people opening the door and scratching the clear coat. I used one of those applicator pads and some SHR, and they were gone in under a minute each.

 

I'm a happy camper, nice way to end the weekend. :2thumbs:

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Impossible perhaps, but it sure is fun trying! :willy::pc::willy:

 

Love the new Camaro and I'm really digging those wheels. :2thumbs:

Ryan is correct. If you didn't remove all wax or sealant first, then the pad will load up on SHR AND your wax/sealant. This will make any correction near impossible. Unless you want to use Dawn and rewash the vehicle then use the IPA/water mix Ryan mentioned above to wipe down the area you will be polishing.

 

BTW: I think there's a word missing in that first sentence in the quote above. J/K :lolsmack:

 

I was out drinkin' @ Dylan's party - leave me alone :lolsmack:

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Remember getting a 100% swirl, scratch, finish is a VERY labor intensive process. It can take days to remove all the defects in the paint - and if its a daily driver, keeping it that way will be impossible.

Impossible perhaps, but it sure is fun trying! :willy::pc::willy:

 

Love the new Camaro and I'm really digging those wheels. :2thumbs:

Ryan is correct. If you didn't remove all wax or sealant first, then the pad will load up on SHR AND your wax/sealant. This will make any correction near impossible. Unless you want to use Dawn and rewash the vehicle then use the IPA/water mix Ryan mentioned above to wipe down the area you will be polishing.

 

BTW: I think there's a word missing in that first sentence in the quote above. J/K :lolsmack:

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