Small Before/After with Porter Cable

[Zentenk]

This is just a small chunk of the car I am working on. I hope to have the whole thing done for a car show on Sat. I tested the PC out on my truck and it did pretty damn good job. My Viper isn't too bad, big spider webs but then I get some haze (didn't happen on my truck). It's basically gone when I use a glaze and then wax. You will see in the pics. vvvv

After a good wash and clay.

After PoorBoys SSR2.5 on PC spd 5.

Notice how hazy/marred it is? Did I take too long or something? Should I get lower SSR?

End Result

After Red Moose Machine Glaze and Vanilla Moose Hand Glaze then Nattys Red Paste Wax. I applied all by hand... except the Machine glaze, I don't think it works that well... the Vanilla Moose looked bit better.

Anyone use these products that can help me get best results? Any recomendations?

 

[AnaheimE]

What kind of pad were you using?

 

[96stanggt]

Did you go right from SSR2.5 to the glaze and wax? You did use a less abrasive polish after 2.5? What pads were you using?

 

[gt03mustang]

There are a few reasons SSR2.5 could of left the hazing it did.

1. You did not buff it long enough and the polish did not break down properly.

2. You buffed too long and marred the paint.

3. The combination of 2.5 and the pad you used is just an aggressive combo and you need to follow it up with a finishing polish (SSR1), and a finishing pad.

How long were you actually buffing that section for? It takes a LONG time for the PC to properly break down polishes. People typically do not work the polish long enough which results in micro marring and or filling of imperfections.

You can reduce the marring you get by improving your technique with SSR2.5 and whatever pad you used. However, I highly suggest you follow it up with a lighter polish/ pad to remove any marring and increase the level of gloss.

Remember, polishes are broken into categories. Compounds, moderate cutting polishes, and finishing polishes. They all serve a specific purpose.

Compounds are heavy cutting and are designed to remove severe imperfections. After using a compound, you will typically be left with compounding marks and hazy paint, but the original imperfections should be removed. You need to follow up with a moderate cutting polish to remove the compounding marks and haziness.

Moderate cutting polishes are designed to remove moderate imperfections and marks left behind from compounding. After using a moderate cutting polish, you should be left with a glossy surface free from any buffer marks. This includes micro marring, holograms, etc.

The job of the finishing polish is to burnish or jewel the surface in order to produce maximum gloss, NOT to necessarily remove imperfections. In fact, I do not move to my finishing polish until the surface is free from all imperfections, especially buffer marks. It is important to use finishing polishes with finishing pads to produce maximum gloss AND not leave any buffer marks behind.

In general, each type of polish should be used with a certain type of pad. However, compounds and moderate cutting polishes can be used with a variety of pads. BUT IMO, finishing polishes should always be used with finishing pads.

When you have properly polished a panel and used the proper products and techniques to jewel the surface and produce maximum gloss, you will see very little difference between the polished surface and where you applied your glaze, wax and or sealant. If you look at your 2nd and 3rd picture, there is a significant difference between the appearance of the paint. The haziness (micro marring) appears to be gone and the paint is glossy. However, the glazes and waxes you put on are just hiding all of the imperfections in your second picture, you did not actually remove them. If you wiped the area down with alcohol, than it would remove the glazes and waxes, thus removing the fillers, and revealing all of the micro marring and haziness again. SO, the only way to actually remove those imperfections is to properly polish the paint. The 3rd picture is actually a great example of how much those glazes and waxes FILL/ HIDE imperfections.

Think of it like this, as aggressiveness of the polish goes up, gloss goes down. As aggressiveness of the polish goes down, gloss goes up.

Everything I just discussed is also affected by the type of paint (hard vs. soft), your technique, machine being used, the type of polish being used and how the abrasives in it were designed- are the abrasives diminishing or non diminishing abrasives, etc., etc. I could go on forever.

 

[hand-to-ball]

Don't want to jack your thread but...

Good results, looks like you could use one more light pass...if you want to get rid of hazing, step down to a lighter polish - it won't take much to get rid of it. I actually don't worry at all with hazing after using 3M Fine Cut, because I know I'm stepping down after to Machine Glaze.

Here's my before/after with PC. The left side is how I got my Cobra, the right side was after ONE pass with a polishing pad and 3M Fine Cut. I taped a line in the middle to get a hard divide between the sides:

 

[danponjican]

Judging from the distinct abrasive marks in your "post SSR2.5" picture, I would say, you didn't break the polish down completely. SSR polishes use diminishing abrasives. So basically, they start out as larger abrasives and as they move around, they break down into finer abrasive particles which should leave you with a finer finish. Try working it longer next time and perhaps a bit more pressure. If it starts to dry out, spray a light mist of a QD and work it for another minute or so.

 

[ZD302GT]

how do you know if your paint is soft or hard? when my 93 is clean you can lightly swipe your finger over a spot and it will sctrach to where it is noticable. that might also be me sctraching the layer of glaze and wax on it too.

 

[gt03mustang]

how do you know if your paint is soft or hard? when my 93 is clean you can lightly swipe your finger over a spot and it will sctrach to where it is noticable. that might also be me sctraching the layer of glaze and wax on it too.

By comparing the paints on different cars and how the paint corrects. Of course it may be a little different for everyone. For example, vette clear is generally very hard along with benz. BMW jet black paint is very soft along with the new black Acura MDX's.

 

[mixxer]

I agree ,rookie mistake not letting polish flash. That why for beginners i always say to use optimum because most other polishes dust alot and rookies think they are done . optimum no dust and it has long working time so you cant over work and mar paint making it a great polish to learn on.

 

[Zentenk]

Yeah, I think I used way too much polish and it didn't break down in time. I used SSR 2.5 on the headlight lens and it did better than the stupid Lens Restore kit from Turtle Wax. I ordered some SSR 1 and hopefully it gets here soon. I just moved to the wheels and polished those up and will get onto the paint on Thursday. I don't really give a crap if I mess up the paint is pretty screwed up already... I want it repainted. I would like to have this scheme but change the red to Snake Skin Green.

Crappy Photoshop.

SSG

I was using the Orange pad from DAS for my swirls and I have Green, Blue and White pads.

 

[446runner]

/\/\ Thats gonna look cool as shit!