Beginners help.

Did you clay the paint first ? Sounds like you have some overspray on the rough panels? Also watch some of mikes videos with the porter cable.


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:iagree:

Also #2 might not be aggressive enough. But if it removes what you want and leaves the finish you are looking for, then continue. If not you could pick up some Ultimate Compound locally.

But as mentioned above, try claying first.

Where do you live? Autozone/Advance and Walmart carry Mothers clay kit and Meguiars Ultimate Compound. Try them.

This link will take you to some fabulous articles written by Mike Phillips.

Articles by Mike Phillips

Basic steps in order are:

• Wash
• Clay
• Paint Correction & Polish
• Seal
• Wax

Here's more great information by Mike Phillips that will help you.

• Sectional Pass With a DA Polisher
• Removing Swirls
• DA Trouble Shooting Guide
• Waxing With a DA Polisher
• How to prime a foam pad when using a DA Polisher
• DA Polisher Articles - Help for Newbies to Machine Polishing
• How to MAXIMIZE your DA Polisher

What you might be feeling is overspray.

Wash
Clay
Meguiar's Ultimate Compound - Orange Pad, White Pad

Meguiar's Ultimate Polish - White Pad, Gray Pad

Concentrate your efforts on a small area, let's say 2' X 2'.

Perform 2 or 3 sectional passes, stop and clean the area to gauge your progress. Apply enough pressure but be sure that the backup plate continues to rotate as proceed.

Your arm speed should be about 1/2 - 1" per second. This is not meant to be a measured speed but rather a cautionary note that you must give the pad and product time to work.

If you see an improvement then it's time to repeat the process but this time with the fine polish and corresponding pad.

It appears that you have everything you need. Did you spend some time reading some of Mikes articles? There is a wealth of knowledge there to ensure you get started in the right direction.

It sounds like you're not giving the product and pad enough time to work....Some clear coats are very hard and take time to show improvement.

• What size pads are you using?
• Did you prime the pad properly?
• Did you add 3 or 4 nickle sized globs of product to work with?
• What speed setting are you using?
• Are you moving too fast?

You have the right equipment and good products.
I agree with BobbyG, spend some time looking at Mike's video's on the forum, these are excellent and cover all aspects you will need.
Also you can post pictures of your car, many folks here on the can provide you additional answers.

You need to put a real rotary in your hand so that we dont see you at Easter. Sorry....I dont mean to be a smart a--. But I have said it over a million times paint correction is SLOW with a DA. Me being thick about instant gratification, I have to see progress or the tool goes against the cement wall. I SHOULD buy a DA, but cant see the need. I must be stubborn. Mike Phillips has some wonderful documentation on paint correction and all the HOW TOs. I guess you need to start reading! Good luck! Its like taking candy from a baby if your good at it.

needwetpaint said:

I'm using 6.5 lake country pads. For priming I just mist the with mothers detail spray. I usually apply the product to the center of the pads. The speed i use is 5.5 or 6. The movement may be a concern though. I usually finish the area rather quickly. How many passes do u suggest?

Click to expand...

Product should be applied about 3/4" from the outer edge of the pad.

While 6 1/2" pads will work, they take longer because of the additional surface area.

The 6 1/2" diameter pads a Porter Cable 7424 in my opinion pushes the limit of the machine and this could be part of the problem.

I have the same machine and found a world of difference when I decided to try Lake Country 5 1/2 inch diameter pads.

The Porter Cable 7424 style dual action polisher should come standard with 5 1/2 inch pads and corresponding backing plate.

Pads & Friction

The size or surface area does not directly affect the frictional force between two surfaces until downward force or pressure is applied. Reducing the pad size will only improve the mechanical efficiency of the machine.

The motor of your polisher produces some amount of power. The larger the pad surface area the harder the motor must work. Now, most will say "it's only 1 extra inch", but when it comes to surface area and friction your really talking about an additional 10 square inches. Now take a look at the difference between the 5 1/2", 6 1/2" and 7" pad...........Size does matter!

Surface Area - 5 1/2 pad = 23.75 in²

Surface Area - 6 1/2 pad = 33.18 in²

Surface Area - 7 pad = 38.484 in²

There is a direct relationship between the pad surface area and the polishers ability to transfer adequate power to the pad improving it's overall performance.

Unfortunately, detail spray is thin and is quickly absorbed. Inadequate pad priming will allow the few dots of compound or polish to be absorbed into the foam rather that perform as intended abrading the finish in order to remove surface defects.

How to prime a foam pad when using a DA Polisher

I see a lot of fundamental technique issues here as well as some component selection. Again, I suggest doing some reading in order to obtain some basic understanding and getting it right.

I agree with BobbyG. The 5.5 LC pads will make a difference. @paintxpert please understand not everyone can afford a rotary of high quality. You could go out and get a low end rotary and still not perform as well as a DA. The PC is a very good machine that is performingthat as designed for use by anyone who picks up the tool. Unfortunately paint correction is a slow process with a DA but would be a slower process to a person who has no experience with a rotary.

May I suggest while first doing a test spot tape off a box and take a ruler with a marker and put hash marks every inch in an across and down part of the tape. As you are doing your test spot this is also a good time to work on your technique. Correction speed with a DA is approximately 1" per 1 second. If you are working a 2' x 2' section it should take you approximately 2 minutes per section pass. So if you are doing 6 passes which would equal 12 minutes on areas that need paint correction. This is assuming that you are using a Porter Cable with 5.5" pads.

Agree with BobbyG and Eandras, the PC works great with 5.5 inch pads, 6.5 just "bogs it down". :buffing:
Nice pic of your ride.
Looking forwrd to seeing the finished detail :xyxthumbs:

You can try locally, do you have any detail supplier stores in your phone book? Meguiars sells some in addition to LC. There is literally a metric ton of information on pads, motion of your arms, Youtube videos galore. Read everything on the How To sections and elsewhere, its where I started and found it invaluable. Pretty much every single question has been answered there.