Luckily I chose an out-of-view spot to try compounding with my dual action polisher... the hood Hey if you're gonna go for it, why not jump in head first?

I followed the procedure in the book: 2ft square area, apply compounding polish to surface in two 8in strips, mist compounding pad, select 3.5-4 speed, polish in figure 8's on both planes with very light pressure and until polish starts to dry, 50/50 alcohol mix, and wipe with microfiber towel.

I can definitely see an immediate improvement in gloss after two applications. I have less water spots, car-wash hairline scratches diminished, but I have some questions before I continue.

The surface still had some deeper clearcoat scratches in it, along with some tough water spots. In addition I had some swirl marks from the 2nd compounding step. (I polished a little bit longer this time since I thought the first time wasn't dry enough.) I'm curious what recommendations I can try on the next step? The swirl marks were from the pad, so did I get the surface too hot? So next time I should stop earlier? How many compounding steps would be "enough"? I'm thinking I could get by with at least 2 more since the vette clearcoat is tough, but someone please re-assure me This is the first time the car has ever been compounded.

I can't wait to do the rest of the car now that I see how much deeper the clearcoat looks after getting rid of the haze and hairline scratches!

Thanks

 

What polishes/pads are you using....

 

Whoops, that would have been nice to know!

I'm using Menernza intensive polish, a porter cable DA, a 5" flexible backing plate, and an "orange" 6.5" pad from proper auto care.

When I just went into the garage to double-check what equipment I was using, the test spot is drastically glossier than the rest of the car. The contrast was much more profound than I originally thought. My paint really needed this!

 

with that combination I think you could polish for 24 hours continuously and still not remove any measurable amount of clearcoat. You should not be concerned about heat building up with a DA polisher (it cannot), and you should not be worried about being too aggressive with an orange pad and MIP.

I think you'll find much better results if you raise your speed to 5.5 or 6. If you have any deep scratching, don't be surprised if it takes 4 or 5 passes to really remove those scratches. You can spend two hours just to get a VEtte hood or trunk done (I have).

You should not see any hazing unless you do one of two things:

1. you quit on the polish too early - before it has a chance to really break down fully.
2. you polish long after the polish has dried - polishing with a dry pad.

My advice : keep doing what you're doing. Work only on that small test area so you can continue to compare it with the parts you have NOT polished. POlish at speed 5.5 - 6, and turn off the machine and re-inspect when the polish flashes to clear - not before and not after.

Sounds like you're already on the right track

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ghlight=review
PC 7424 review/long

This is what I did several months ago. It's a lot of work with a PC on a vette, but well worth it for us guys that do not have/know how to use a rotary.
I just did a lightning quick coat of Z5P last night followed by ZCS, and my car looks fantastic.
Unless you drop the PC on your car, you should be ok.
Good luck.

 

I like to apply the polish to the pad. I also use back/forth and side to side motions. Whatever you are most comfortable with. Also don't be afraid to apply some pressure to the head of the PC. Go very slow 1" pre second passes.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by this last sentence?

 

He means the speed of movement as the machine passes over the paint. 1-2" per second is a very slow rate of movement, rather than a much quicker 10-12" per second one might otherwise be tempted to do to speed up the job.

 

Well I need to slow it down some because I'm doing 12"/sec/pass at the slowest.

 

Whoa, definitely slow down. You're speed polishing!

 

Yeah the PC requires time over area to break down the polishes, 1" inch per second of armspeed is a good rule of thumb, maybe 3" per second for applying waxes/sealants.

Apply a little pressure to the head of the PC (not so much that it stops rotating, but enough to slow the head down a little). The PC is not a rotary and should not be used as such.

 

Hey guys, I got back at this today and I compounded about 1/4 of the hood. I must have made about 10 or so passes before I started having diminishing returns. The improvements are the surface scratches are gone, only ones that look like cracks remain. Also there was an 80-85% reduction in hard water stains.

I'm going to run out of Mernez Intensive Polish before I get finished with the car, so I need to order some more today. Should I order some that cuts more than what I have?

Also, can anything be done about the other remaining water stains? I'm a perfectionist and wanted the paint to be perfect, but as it stands now it's a little bit less than perfect.

 

Make sure you tape a seam so you have something to compare against and you can make sure that you returned all of the gloss. The looks can be misleading until you compare to a virgin spot. It is also a very time consuming removing the micro marring that an orange pad creates with a ROB. I usually do not like to use that aggressive of a pd with a ROB unless I am just doing a small area. If it requires more than a white pad I will go right to a rotary. I realize everybody does not have this luxury but just wanted to warn you as I have fixed this micro marring on black cars more than once. Most people think they look great and at dusk they do but when in ful sun you wil see the micro marring that the cutting pad will leave.

You may want to try SIP if ordering more compound. I also like 3M 06062 or 05093 for a more aggressive polish. For finishing I always use ZPC or PO106ff.

 

You think you have gloss using the orange pad and Menz IP, try following up with a white pad and the menz PO106FF, I use to love the Menz FP, but the PO106FF really gives it gloss, I very rarely use the FP anymore

 

I have florescent garage lighting and a portable florescent and I can't see any marks. Would I be able to notice them with this lighting? I'm using a dual action polisher, so I'm not sure what a ROB is?

I'm definitely going to order super intensive polish! Thanks for the tip.

 

Hey guys, why wouldn't I try Powergloss? It has more cutting power than IP or SIP. I don't want to have to make 10 passes to cut the hard water stains out... it would be great if I could do it in less passes. Would this do it for me?

 

I've used it before with good results, just be sure to work it long enough, other wise I've found it to leave it hazy, then I've followed up with either IP then FP or the ceramiclear, or just the ceramiclear, but work that good as well.

here are a few pics doing it this way

The whole car was just about this bad.....

 

Wow nice job on that old paint!

I can't just substitute the IP with PowerGloss and go straight to FP? If I went with PowerGloss, I'd still have to use IP then FP?

 

Go a head and and try going right to FP, if your not happy with the results do the IP then FP, I just did a Pantera, did PG then went right to the ceramiclear, here are a couple of pics of that

 

Again fantastic work! I'll definitely get some PowerGloss. Should I stick with the orange pad on my DA polisher? Or get something with more cut?

I just went to the garage and those water spots are worse than I thought. If I had to do at 10+ steps of JUST CUTTING all over the car I think I'd go crazy!