Completely Confused

[v8mustang]

Re: Completely Confused

I have the same problem. I waxed my new 2012 camaro for the first time and found many fine scratches that can only be seen at certain angles. I thought I did something wrong until I drove by a local car dealer and saw them cleaning there cars with bushes on long sticks and high pressure washers. I have not tried to fix this yet. Keep us posted what works for you.

[thebouncer]

Re: Completely Confused

I ended up having to go to a local detailing auto supply place
They sold me Vitreo Polymeric Shield - they told me this would remove the swirls, I cant find anything that says it will do this, it also says nothing on the bottle about that, this seems to just be a sealant since it has a 3 hour cure to the touch and 24 hour total cure. It also says not to go over 1000 RPM they guy at the detail shop said 2k RPM will be fine.

For the scratches they told me to get 3m perfect-it rubbing compound from what I am reading this is really aggresive stuff, I think this may destroy my clear coat, can anyone confirm this ? what I can find says this needs to be followed up with other rubbing compounds and polishes I have a feling this guy at the detailing shop had no clue what he was talking about...

Blackfire is just too expensive right now and I need to get the swirls out and the scratches the birds have created
I am assuming these are the correct Meg products and in order of use

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g17216-ultimate-compound/

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g19216-ultimate-polish/

then I can use Vitreo correct ?


Also I will be applying all of this stuff using a Porter Cable 7425XP DA Buffer

then Megs carnuba wax ?

[thebouncer]

Re: Completely Confused

Also I just got the Porter Cable 7425XP DA Buffer and it came with a white foam pad glued to a backing plate, it says on the machine not to use bigger then a 5" pad it seems everything is 5.5" where do I get the backing plate from ?

[BrightonRT]

Re: Completely Confused

You can use a pad bigger than 5" just fine, I use the Soft Buff 2.0 pads which are 7" with good results. If you decide to go that route use the W68DA backing plate from Megs. I don't know much about the Vitreo but I found on the web it appears it may have some kind of abrasive in it and be an all in one cleaner wax. I guess in that case it would take place of the UP . All the more reason to do a test spot first. Sticking to a the products I know I would recommend as a starting point:

1. Ultimate Compound with a W8207 polishing pad on speed 5
2. Ultimate Polish with a W9207 on a finishing pad OR try this Vitreo they sold you
3. Over the Ult. Polish: 2 coats of Megs Gold Class if you're looking for the Carnauba Wax look or 2 coats of Ultimate Wax if you want best durability OR over the vitreo: one coat of either
4. Maintain with Ultimate Quik Detailer for removing light dust and finger prints and Ultimate Quik Wax after washing.

Once you do the test spot if you're not quite happy post some pics and let us know what you did and we can help you out from there.

[thebouncer]

Re: Completely Confused

I tried the vitreo which I found out is a polymer paint sealant. I went to another shop and he helped some but all the swirls are not out of the paint, I will have to check on the name of the stuff when I get home it was blue in color I think it might have been finese but not sure... He had told me to hand apply it and remove with foam buffing pad on DA however I was never told a speed. I did it on 2,000 - 2,250 RPMS maybe I needed to do it faster, I did the Vitro at 1,000 RPMS (it says on the bottle not to exceed 1,000). I then went over it with Meguiars Carnuba.

I am still confused by what Meguiars products to use for paint correction.....

1. Ultimate Compound, Ultimate Polish in the consumer line or 105 and 205 in the pro line???

2. Should I be using foam pads, or microfiber bonnets ? (I have a yellow and red meguiars foam pad)

3. Should I be hand applying and using the buffer for removal or use the buffer to apply and remove with microfiber towels ?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Completely Confused

First off, my apologies for just finding this thread. With a couple of trips to Florida recently, doing some new Quik Tips Videos, etc, I was stretched a bit thin.

It sounds like you're still overthinking things just a bit here, thebouncer, so let's see if we can narrow down some choices for you.

OK, so you've got a new Porter Cable XP buffer, great! The paint sealant you picked up is just a synthetic wax, nothing more. It may actually help to hide some fine swirls, but it will degrade over time and the swirls will come back as the product deteriorates. But this could said of almost any synthetic wax (aka sealant) or carnauba wax on the market today. Let's get rid of the swirls, not just hide them.

So dump that white pad that came with the buffer, and pick up our W68DA backing plate and a least two each of our W8207 polishing pad and W9207 finishing pad. Then get some Ultimate Compound, Ultimate Polish, and whatever wax you like - Ultimate Wax, NXT, Gold Class, Blackfire, Dodo Juice, NuFinish, whatever. Of course we're going to lean toward our own products, especially Ultimate Wax, but we know wax choice can get really personal, so you're going to use what you like. That's cool.

Now, after washing and drying the car, clay if needed. Oh, and the guy who told you claying would ruin the clear coat on your new car has no concept of what the clay bar does, how it works, etc. It is totally and completely safe, just don't drop it on the ground and then continue using it. No need to wash the car after claying, just clay small to moderate sized areas and wipe off the excess quick detailer as you go and you're fine.

Mount the W67DA backing plate to the XP, then affix a W8207 yellow polishing pad and make an "X" on the pad with Ultimate Compound. Set the tool to speed 5~6 and begin working an area no larger than 2' x 2' on the hood, using enough pressure to almost stop the pad from rotating, but now quite. You want some rotation of the pad, even though it will be rotating slowly. You also need to keep the pad very flat to the paint - leaning on an edge will stop rotation and you'll lose cut. It is also very important to move the pad slowly over the paint, overlap your passes, and take your time! We see people who can't get a handle on overlapping strokes, or can't visualize that 2' x 2' area and keep expanding it as they go, or just move buffer randomly in that area. You need to be very methodical and pay attention to what you're doing. With the number of cars we've corrected using these pads and UC on a DA, and the number of people we've seen struggling to duplicate the results, the more we're convinced that poor technique is what's frustrating people more than anything else. We hear this when we do demos at events like Barrett-Jackson, and especially at our Saturday Classes. But we digress............ work that small area in overlapping up and down strokes, then move side to side, then repeat both directions. Stop. Wipe off the excess product. Take a good look at the results in direct sunlight or with a good light. Congratulations, you've just done a test spot!! If all the swirls are gone and the paint looks great, then all you have to do is repeat that exact process, section by section, around the entire car. If the swirls are 50 to 75% gone you probably need to just do a second pass to remove them all. If they're almost completely gone, you may just need to buff longer in that single pass, or slow down a bit, or use a bit more pressure, or some combination of those, to get rid of them completely.

Once you've gone around the whole car, swapping to a fresh pad halfway around the car, it's time to move on to the polish step. For this, swap over to a black finishing pad and grab the Ultimate Polish. Drop the tool speed down to 4~5, apply an "X" of product to the pad, and work a 2' x 2' area with less pressure than you did with the Ultimate Compound. Remember, you're no longer trying to remove defects, just refine the surface a bit and add some gloss. You might even work an area a bit larger than 2' x 2' if the paint is responding well. You also won't need to work the polish as long as you worked the compound. Again, though, wipe off the residue before it dries. Continue around the car, section by section, until finished. A single pad should be more than sufficient for the whole car.

Finally, swap to a fresh finishing pad and apply your wax. A little bit goes a long way here, so don't over use it. This holds true for all of our waxes, and also for any competing wax you may choose. The buffer will make it very easy to spread a very thin and uniform coat over all the painted surfaces of the car. Let the wax dry before wiping off with a clean microfiber towel.

If you do that test spot first so that you know what you need to do to correct all the defects, you'll be well ahead of the game and everything else should then fall into place without any surprises. Just make sure that from here on out you are extremely careful about how you wash and dry the car, because poor technique there will start creating a whole new batch of swirls that you'll have to remove sometime in the future.

[thebouncer]

Re: Completely Confused

First off, my apologies for just finding this thread. With a couple of trips to Florida recently, doing some new Quik Tips Videos, etc, I was stretched a bit thin.

It sounds like you're still overthinking things just a bit here, thebouncer, so let's see if we can narrow down some choices for you.

OK, so you've got a new Porter Cable XP buffer, great! The paint sealant you picked up is just a synthetic wax, nothing more. It may actually help to hide some fine swirls, but it will degrade over time and the swirls will come back as the product deteriorates. But this could said of almost any synthetic wax (aka sealant) or carnauba wax on the market today. Let's get rid of the swirls, not just hide them.

So dump that white pad that came with the buffer, and pick up our W68DA backing plate and a least two each of our W8207 polishing pad and W9207 finishing pad. Then get some Ultimate Compound, Ultimate Polish, and whatever wax you like - Ultimate Wax, NXT, Gold Class, Blackfire, Dodo Juice, NuFinish, whatever. Of course we're going to lean toward our own products, especially Ultimate Wax, but we know wax choice can get really personal, so you're going to use what you like. That's cool.
.

I have a 5" backing plate currently and I already have a w7006 pad and two w8006 6.5" pads. Thats what they sold me at the store.

It was looking decent but I think the wax hid it... cause now it looks horrible with spider scratches. I am also getting deeper scratches appearing. I think my car cover my be causing them but I need to cover the car or else it gets attacked by Robins all day pecking at it and clawing at it. The cover is a covercraft cover. It is soft on the underside but I am wondering if it is trapping debris and then when i go to put it back on it is scratching the car. This car is my daily driver and I am forced to put the cover on and off of it 7 days a week.

[pawalsh]

Re: Completely Confused

The scratches may be coming from tiny debris on your polishing pads - it will act almost like sandpaper. Make sure your pads are 100% clean and never drop them on the ground. If dropped, it is best to discard them. As painful as that may seem - it is better than scratching your car all over again.
Secondly, if using a car cover make sure it is clean for the same reason and that it is fastened well. If it is windy it will cause an ill fitting cover to vibrate and move over your car and the friction may remove paint over time. If it is lose and has debris then it is all the worse. Most car covers can be washed but will most likely need to be taken somewhere that has very large machines. I never put mine in the dryer. They are designed for the outdoors anyway and have no problem with being left to dry.

[somegreatwood]

Re: Completely Confused

I have a Journey with the same Blackberry finish. I clay barred, used #7 Mirror Glaze to REALLY punch up the shine and darken the color. Then used Ultimate Liquid Wax to seal it all up. Looks fantastic. It's better than last year when I used the Gold Class wax.

Also - washing with the Gold Class wash makes the color look great as well.

Hello everyone I am new here but I have been trying to read up and understand as much as I can unfortunately I think I'm now suffering from information overload and I am totally confused now

I just bought a brand new 2012 Dodge Charger Blackberry Pearl Color Car.

On the dealer lot it looked shiny as can be, however not shiny enough for me.

I went to the local auto store and got microfiber drying towels, a chamois, a washmit Meguiars Gold Auto Soap, Meguiars NXT 2.0 Liquid Wax


I completely washed and dried the car by hand (no car wash) I used the mit and consistently checked it and cleaned it of any debris it picked up especially around the dirtier areas. I waxed it using the NXT but it wasn't shiny enough to me. Two days later I went back to the store and got Meguiars Carnuba Paste Wax and applied it to the entire car. It looks good but I have been noticing as soon as the slightest dust gets on it I am seeing fine lines in the paint its not scratches almost like spider webs (swirl marks ) I guess you could call them... I have read all sorts of stuff from people claying there cars to using buffers. I used a Sears two speed buffer years ago and absolutely ruined the finish on a car ... I am afraid to do anything with a machine so I wax by hand.

It looks great when it is fresh washed and dried I dont notice these swirls... from a distance you dont notice them either but within 2 feet staring directly down at the hood you can see them.



My question is

1. IS this normal ?

2. How do I fix it ?

3. Should I get Black Fire ? and use that as I want a liquid mirror like finish I hear a lot of people talk about this.

4. Do I need to clay the car and how do I do it without ruining the car ? An Old Timer mentioned using "NU Finish" on the car...and was totally against claying a new car he said I would ruin my clearcoat ??

[thebouncer]

Re: Completely Confused

I spent 10 hours buffing the car and I still cannot get out all of the fine scratches

1. I started out with Meguiars Ultimate and worked it over and over again with a lot of pressure at 5 - 6k RPM using the up down and left to right passes over a 2x2 area over and over again... many areas were done 4 or 5 times over.

2. I then used the ultimate polish and went over the entire car again

3. I then used Vitreo and went over the entire car

Most of the fine scratches are gone but a bunch still remain, the car is so slick now the car cover slides right off. I guess I need something a bit more aggresive then the ultimate compound, anyone have any suggestions for something with a little more bite that wont kill the clear coat ?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Completely Confused

If you really need to step up the aggressiveness you might want to look into the DA Microfiber Correction System

[thebouncer]

Re: Completely Confused

What about using M105 and M205 or are those way too aggresive for a clear coat vehicle ?

[Ryan Dodd]

Re: Completely Confused

What would be your recommendations for a good D/A Buffer ? and wheres the best place to buy online ?

What pads should I use and where should I get them from ? I keep hearing about Lake Country ??

Meguiars has a DA. http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4821 that is where you can find it. Also, meguiars has some pads, but I would ask others on where to get the pads. I don't have a DA, so I wouldn't know. I also think that Ultimate compound, as others have mentioned, shouldn't be the go-to product on a new car. I think SwirlX should be good enough to remove swirls, and ScratchX 2.0 would be good enough to remove scratches. If they don't work, you can always step up to UC.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Completely Confused

What about using M105 and M205 or are those way too aggresive for a clear coat vehicle ?

No, not at all. In fact, M105 was designed for use on modern clear coat finishes. But it was really designed to be a very aggressive compound that is commonly used to remove sanding marks from fresh paint; it is the most aggressive compound we make. As such, it's most likely overkill for you needs. M205, on the other hand, is a fantastic final finishing polish that can be used after any correction step (M105 all the way down to SwirlX) to really enhance the clarity and gloss of the finish. Since it's not a wax you still need to wax after using it, but it can do wonders as a finishing polish.