Super soft paint - BC/CC Black

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Cool70cuda

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Could use some advice with this paint. I have a 1970 Plymouth that was repainted with U-Tech base coat/clear coat (Black). The paint is 11 years old but gets almost no exposure to elements other than the sun, as it's primary function is a show car.

It has what I would consider the softest paint I've ever seen. I can't wipe a quality microfiber towel across it without putting scratches in it. In the past I've used a rotary buffer with 3M white and black foam pads and 3M swirl remover followed by 3M final glaze, then paste wax. It doesn't last long and I'm back to scratches in no time.

I will take any advice on how/what to use to help remove the scratches/swirls and keep them off longer.

I have at my disposal: Rotary buffer, 3M wht/blk foam pads, Rupes BF 21 with all pads and compounds/polishes, Rupes mini with the same as above, HF DA with 6" LC orange/yellow/blue/wht and gold pads, Wolfgang compound, swirl remover, polishing glaze, sealant, all in one, 3D HD speed, and 3M swirl remover, final glaze.

Tried several test spots yesterday and non of them looked good (to me). This is my personal car and I'll spend 24 hours a day on it to get it perfect if I have to.

Thanks for any help
Bill

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Have you considered hand polishing? I'm an old guy that did a lot of custom/show painting in my earlier years and I always finished my best most expensive paint jobs by hand. To this day I probably do more hand polishing than most.
 
2black1s said:
Have you considered hand polishing? I'm an old guy that did a lot of custom/show painting in my earlier years and I always finished my best most expensive paint jobs by hand. To this day I probably do more hand polishing than most.
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Yeah, I've always finished this car off with hand application of final wax. I still get scratches/swirls.

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HyperPolish on a finishing pad. I recommend it on extremely soft black Porche paint that the individual like you had tried about everything it took finished out great. I would probably use the HF DA, it seems to me it didn't like the long throw.
I realize you don't have it, but it wouldn't be the first time it solved this kind of problem.
 
Scholls S30 is the about the best there is for soft paint. Polish only. If you're looking for a combo AIO that can then be topped off, I recently used and really like the Sonax Paint Cleaner. Finished out this Pure Black 911 excellently.

That said, I'd likely still do Scholls and a paint coating. A good coating will reduce to near eliminate any micro-marring from that point forward. Do two coats and use a handful of larger 40cm suede cloths to remove it. No lint, super soft and can be re-used. Just drop them into a bucket of 3D Towel clean once you use them and move onto a clean one.

Audi paint has similar properties. Hard to fully correct but easy to micro-marr. Mine is Brilliant Black aka pure black so I'm speaking from experience.
 
pdqgp said:
Scholls S30 is the about the best there is for soft paint. Polish only. If you're looking for a combo AIO that can then be topped off, I recently used and really like the Sonax Paint Cleaner. Finished out this Pure Black 911 excellently.

That said, I'd likely still do Scholls and a paint coating. A good coating will reduce to near eliminate any micro-marring from that point forward. Do two coats and use a handful of larger 40cm suede cloths to remove it. No lint, super soft and can be re-used. Just drop them into a bucket of 3D Towel clean once you use them and move onto a clean one.

Audi paint has similar properties. Hard to fully correct but easy to micro-marr. Mine is Brilliant Black aka pure black so I'm speaking from experience.
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pdqgp,
That Porsche looks amazing! Your before pics look just like my Cuda, looks good from 6' away and horrible up close.

What pad and polisher (DA or Rotary) combo did you use with the Sonax cleaner? And what pad and polisher combo would you use with the Scholl S30?

I would love to try a ceramic coating on this car if I could get it defect free but haven't achieved that yet, or applied any ceramic coatings yet.

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I worked on a number of soft finishes lately (aftermarket repaints and imports). What I experience is that soft clear coat sometimes likes a firm pad with low cut and a fine polish. A Lake Country Hybrid Force white pad and Meguiar's M205 is a great combination to cut with a Flex 3401. Consider a firm pad and a mild abrasive product.
 
You could try a MF pad or carpro gloss pad with essence and then go to UK or tiO2


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Cool70cuda said:
pdqgp,
That Porsche looks amazing! Your before pics look just like my Cuda, looks good from 6' away and horrible up close.

What pad and polisher (DA or Rotary) combo did you use with the Sonax cleaner? And what pad and polisher combo would you use with the Scholl S30?

I would love to try a ceramic coating on this car if I could get it defect free but haven't achieved that yet, or applied any ceramic coatings yet.

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Click to expand...

Thank you. On this one I used Green Hex Logic Pads with the Sonax. I really like them as they are IMO perfect for AIO products and just firm enough to cut yet not so firm that they would leave any marring here. My polisher system is a Flex 3401. Especially on 911's where curves are abundant.

With Scholls on something really soft, I'd use a white pad and I slow the buffer down to 4.5 to 5 in speed. Works great on both Subaru's and Honda's which tend to be soft.
 
Scholl S30+ is my go to on soft black paint. If the paint is as soft as you say, don't bother with the 3401, use a free spinning DA. Rupes yellow pad.


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I feel your pain here. I've e dealt with super soft paints and it's terrible. I would suggest doing a final polish with something like Optimum Poli seal or Blackfire Total polish and seal. Both these products remove super effortlessly and leave some protection behind. Prima Banana Gloss works really nice as a lsp and removes super easy also.
 
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