Uber Compound + MF cutting = bad micro marring?

[parttimer]

Finishing up on a Kia Sorrento in black, pictures will come when its all done but I wanted to get this out there and see if I was doing something wrong. Car was BEAT, they only use automatic "touchless" washes and wow, swirl/scratch city. I used my Rupes 21 with Meguiars cutting MF pads. I used this combo on the Durango and Charger I did last week with great results. Now this Kia was somthing else. I used 4 sections passes of heavy pressure and two with light pressure. The end result was a white hazy finish. Now I was able to correct it with finishing glaze to a brillant black mirror finish but I am wondering if I did something wrong? I did each section and blew out my pad with my air compressor between each section. I primed with 4 drops about nickle in size. After each blow out I would wipe the panel down then add 2 dime sized drops. I also noticed heavy dusting, not as bad as M105 though. I had washed the pads the night before and let sit out in the sun to dry. They felt dry before I started. The only thing I can come up with is I was getting water mist from the compressor, I am going to look into a water trap for it. But is Kia paint super soft and that is how I ended up with the marring? Here are a few pics, I don't have any of the marring on my phone but do at home.

 

[Evan.J]

Did you try it with a foam polishing pad and see what results you would get?

Any mircomarring can be corrected with a finishing polish.

 

[VP Mark]

Kia paint is pretty soft. If you would have started with orange foam you might have got the same correction without the marring.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online

 

[parttimer]

Its the first time I have had the marring issue so I was wondering if it was technique or paint. Just stunk I had to finish it out, was hoping the Uber would have been good. Thanks for the input.

 

[SonOfOC]

Always a good idea to do a test spot. I have changed my polish and pad selection many times after what a test spot revealed. It will save a lot time in the long run.

 

[traveljunkie523]

My wife had a 2010 Kia Forte Koup and now has a 2014 Kia Sorento. The paint is very soft and one of the few complaints I have about Kia's.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I used my Rupes 21 with Meguiars cutting MF pads.

Paint systems vary from car manufacturer to car manufacturer.

They also vary from model year to model year as paint technology is always changing just like everything else in this world.

Always do a test spot before buffing out an entire car. I do this EVERY time I work on a car that I've never worked on before. I did one to this Porsche and the results proved my choice of pads, products and tools worked flawlessly in the test spot and then over the entire car.

I used Uber Compound but used foam pads instead of fiber pads.

Lady in Red - 1986 Porsche - 4-Step Process

This shot was taken after the Uber Compound and this re-paint on this Porsche is on the soft side.

Remember... while microfiber pads are the greatest things since sliced bread they tend to leave micro-marring on soft paint.

The reason why is because each individual fiber that makes up a pad is a form of gentle abrasive, that's why they cut better than foam, but for the same reason they can cut better than foam this works against them as they won't always finish out like foam over a wide spectrum of paint systems.

So test first and be ready to make changes to your approach.

 

[casvg5]

Paint systems vary from car manufacturer to car manufacturer.

They also vary from model year to model year as paint technology is always changing just like everything else in this world.

Always do a test spot before buffing out an entire car. I do this EVERY time I work on a car that I've never worked on before. I did one to this Porsche and the results proved my choice of pads, products and tools worked flawlessly in the test spot and then over the entire car.

I used Uber Compound but used foam pads instead of fiber pads.

Lady in Red - 1986 Porsche - 4-Step Process

This shot was taken after the Uber Compound and this re-paint on this Porsche is on the soft side.

Remember... while microfiber pads are the greatest things since sliced bread they tend to leave micro-marring on soft paint.

The reason why is because each individual fiber that makes up a pad is a form of gentle abrasive, that's why they cut better than foam, but for the same reason they can cut better than foam this works against them as they won't always finish out like foam over a wide spectrum of paint systems.

So test first and be ready to make changes to your approach.

Ok, so I have been noticing I have been able to finish out with M105, as well as I can finish out with a polish on some cars. I feel so bad giving a car back having the last thing I touched it with being a compound and a cutting pad. On two recent GM vehicles I used an orange pad, rupes 15 and M105. The M105 finished glass smooth. I thought maybe I was tricking myself, so I decided to put down a 50/50 on my corrected surface and grab a polish and a polishing pad. There was literally no difference between the compound/orange pad, and my finishing polish/white pad. Is this normal? Again...I gave two cars back to owner recently only having compounded them and they looked magnificent. But I sure am perplexed. Goes against everything ive always thought. I hope mike can answer this

 

[WillWashesCars]

Sometimes you can achieve a decent finish with microfiber on harder clears. I still always follow up with a final polish on a foam pad but that is not to say you have to on some cars.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I used this combo on the Durango and Charger I did last week with great results. Now this Kia was somthing else.

Different paint systems....


Paints are different, they even change at the same manufacturer as new formulas are introduced.


What works on one car doesn't automatically mean it will work on others cars due to different paints systems.

At least that's my guess....


You should always be able to clean up any marring from fiber pad by re-polishing with a foam pad.

Foam pads will always finish more consistently on a wider spectrum of paint systems than fiber pads all other factors being equal.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Ok, so I have been noticing I have been able to finish out with M105, as well as I can finish out with a polish on some cars.

Amazing abrasive technology....

When M105 was first introduced I was sanding down a bright yellow Mustang made to look like Bumblebee from the Transformers movie.

I sanded the hood then cut it with M105 and a wool pad on a rotary buffer. When I was done it looked flawless.

I knew it could look better so I machine polished it with Meguiar's #9 Hi Tech Swirl Remover, (I think), because M205 had not been introduced yet and it actually dulled the paint down.

So I re-polished using the M105 and a foam polishing pad on a DA, slapped some wax on it then stuck a fork in it and called done.


Here's before....

The owner is welcome to bring this Mustang back to Meguiar's to any of our Thursday night "Open Garage" classes where we'll help him to remove the sanding marks and swirls to achieve a true show car finish.


Here's the only other shots I was able to post... you can see the DA Polisher on the hood and the edges taped off...

Sometimes you just have to go with it...

 

[Cammyfive]

That's odd, OP. I'm far from a seasoned expert but I just used Wolfgang Uber Compound on an Orange MF on both a Flex 3401 and Cyclo Pro 5 just today with great results. In fact, if was pretty close to LSP ready, much more so than any previous compound I had used up until this point.

 

[allenk4]

Sounds to me like the pad wasn't full "Seasoned" or primed.

Apparently, microfiber discs require a full prime. Every fiber must be fully coated with compound/polish and then a few drops of "working" product is added.

Larry Kosilla, Jason Rose & Kevin Brown goes into some detail about this in one of the AMMO NYC videos on wet sanding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgCmrGMhvss

Mike Stoops at Meguiar's walked us thru it last Thursday at the Open Garage Event.