I may have screwed up....

[napalm39]

I may have screwed up my 1999 Corvette

So I obviously did not read the threads enough before going to work on my car. I decided I wanted to take the swirl marks, and scratches out on my 1999 Navy Blue Mettalic Corvette. I bought it this summer and it just doesn't look good in the sun.

I have a pc 7424 that I practiced on my 2000 Acura TL with Nighthawk black pearl. I started using the 7424 with the 8006 pad and 80, moved to 8006 pad and #83. No improvement. I moved to 7006 pad and 83. I have since read today that this is not something I should be doing. It did take the scratches out though. I have not noticed scouring, but I wasn't really looking for it.

So now I am not sure what to do. I was originally going to come on here and ask if I should follow up with 83 then 80, or just 80 and the 8006 pad. I have done about 3/4 of car with 83 and the 7006 pad.

I saw the post Mike had on the black 99 vette and how that had to go to a rotory buffer, as well as the post on when a DAC doesn't cut it anymore. Read them today though. I did not see anything on potentially how to fix the scouring which I'm not sure that I have done.

So reccomendations on how to proceed? I'm trying to not freak out until I get home.

[Murr1525]

Re: I may have screwed up....

Well, if it looks good, you might be just fine...

Get it out in the sun, and check for scouring, swirls, etc. You might be fine, or you might need some #83 again, or just #80. The key will be to evaluate the surface. No permanent damage though.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: I may have screwed up....

Corvettes are known to have crazy hard paint, which certainly explains your difficulty removing the swirls with a DA. While it's true that Meguiar's does not recommend using a 7006 pad with the DA because it can scour the paint, I have used it in the past (before I bought my rotary) to remove stubborn defects. I did find that the 7006 pad traded the existing defects for its own set, but those were easily removed using M80 with an 8006 polishing pad.

As Murr1525 mentioned, if it looks good to you then you may be set. Be extremely critical when looking at it, and look at it from several angles. I would even suggest doing a 2' x 2' test spot with M80 and comparing that with what you have presently. If you notice no improvement then you may well be good to wax and leave it at that. If, on the other hand, you like what you see on the test spot, then go ahead and do the whole car with M80 and then wax.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: I may have screwed up....

I have done about 3/4 of car with 83 and the 7006 pad.

3/4 of the car?

Let's hope when you inspect in the sun it looks clear and glossy.

Time to write a new article called, "Test Spot"

Seriously, before you do anything else, inspect the paint you've worked on compared to a panel you have not worked on in bright light like full sunshine.

Hopefully you'll have horizontal surface with both areas to inspect as it's hard to see the real results if you're comparing a vertical panel to a horizontal panel.

Let us know what you see, you might want to strip the paint first also so you're seeing the real finish, you can do this with a mixture of Isopropyl Alcohol and water.

If you really want to be sure the paint isn't hazy or swirled out and the haze or swirls are merely being masked with fillers from a glaze, then take a spray bottle of a mixture of Isopropyl Alcohol and water and mist this onto the painted area and wipe it dry a couple of times and then inspect the paint.


Note the below bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol is the 90% Alcohol version, not the 50% version, this way when you mix it with water you have closer to a true 50% mixture of water to alcohol and one bottle plus the water will fill up the nice Rubbermaid generic spray bottle. It's about the same price as the weaker version and can be found at most Target stores as can the Rubbermaid spray bottle.




Keep us updated, we'll be happy to see you through to success...

[napalm39]

Re: I may have screwed up....

Thanks guys. Maybe I am freaking a little too soon. I did do a test spot and did not see any problems. I guess I failed to mention that I was removing the 83 as I was going along a section at a time. I wasn't seeing any issues, but I wasn't looking specifically for scouring either, just swirl removal.

I was working in the garage, bright sunnny day outside, but also using the 2 500W Halagen Lamp stand that I have to light my area. I was using that to be my sunshine and look at the refelections to see how well I was doing. I did not see any problems at that time in the test spot or as I was going along.

I'll have to back it out into sunshine and see what I've got. I only have a small horizonatal area left untouched, the part that goes over the top in the middle of the car.

Mike, wouldn't claying the car and using the 83 have removed any fillers from a glaze? I guess not since you are suggesting to use the alcohol.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: I may have screwed up....

Mike, wouldn't claying the car and using the 83 have removed any fillers from a glaze? I guess not since you are suggesting to use the alcohol.

Claying only removes substances on the surface.

M83 contains some polishing oils to lubricate the surface and the process, these could be left behind and mask any remaining imperfections.

If you haven't waxed the paint you could also just wash it with a quality dish soap and this will remove any trace polishing oils.

The idea being to get down to a clean base to see the true finish.

If there is scouring after using a cutting pad, just re-polish using a polishing pad and whichever product removes the scouring best.

For a final polish you may have to use a less aggressive product with a finishing pad, like ColorX, or M66, or M82 or M09

Then go to wax.

Best of luck...

[RDVT4ME]

Re: I may have screwed up....

You will most likely find that there is some hazing of the paint. Not super noticable but under the right light it will be there. If you have a xenon light, you will definitly see the hazing (or micro marring). It looks like really tiny scratches. The solution is to use M80 or M9 with a finishing pad. That will really get you to an excellent shine.

You will find that while corvette paint is very hard, that it scratches very very easily.

Where are you located? There may be an experience MOL member in the are who can assist you.

[napalm39]

Re: I may have screwed up....

I am in Canton, GA. Suburb 25 miles NW of Atlanta.

[napalm39]

Re: I may have screwed up....

Well I'm not able to get home in time to take a picture in the sun, so I got out the Halogen lamp. I got my son to point for me. I could not get picture of a Horizontal surface before and after.

Here is a picture of the right side door thas has only been washed.



Here is a picture of the left side door that has had m83 with the 7006 pad. this is the worst spot I could find:




I wasn't really able to see any scouring, but I need to get it in the sun. I will defenitly needto make another pass with 83 or 80 and the 8006 pad.

[Murr1525]

Re: I may have screwed up....

Do a test spot with each and compare. You might need one of the products, or both.

[napalm39]

Re: I may have screwed up....

Well I was running very late today and the sun was up when I was leaving. It looks pretty good, I did not really see any scouring. Overall it is a hell of a lot better than what it was. I will need to figure out a gameplan for how I continue. I believe I will do a test spot with the following:

M80 - 8006 pad
M9 - 9006 pad or I believe I have some Deep crystal around as well
Then Wax

[napalm39]

Re: I may have screwed up....

Well weekend update... I was able to look at it in better light. I could see where I had scoured the paint. Looked like a light haze on the car. there was a spot where some tape had gotten on the paint, and was brighter underneath. I have gone over with a pass of #80, or two if it needed it. This made a significant difference. The haze seemed to be gone. Paint matched where the tape had been as well.

I tried a small section of #9 but did not see any real difference, so I think I will move to wax next weekend.

[Murr1525]

Re: I may have screwed up....

Sounds good.... it is always good to know you cant really cause damage with the PC.

Remember #83 could be used as well with the 8006 pad if needed, then followed with #80 if there were any real bad spots.

[napalm39]

Re: I may have screwed up....

Everything turned out great.

Here is a link to the results

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22306

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: I may have screwed up....

oh that was your vette. Well I have to say again, great work it looks fantastic. Way to go.