Amatuer using the Wolfgang/Porter Cable Swirl Free Kit. Nervous!

[RoushFiveOh]

I just purchased the Wolfgang/Porter Cable Swirl Free Kit 3.0 that I'm planning to use on a 2012 black Roush Mustang. After two winters, 2 years of daily use, and 2 years worth of car washes, the paint is swirled, and scratched pretty decently.

This is my first time detailing at this caliber, i.e using a machine polish, swirl remover, etc. and after watching all the videos, and reading all the threads, I have a few questions before I actually start to work on my vehicle. By the way, I'm very very nervous on working on it since I don't want to do more damage than good.

1) Should I be concerned about burning/eating through my clearcoat/paint while using the Porter Cable? I've seen some threads where the owner claims that they've burned through the clearcoat.

2) For the swirl remover step, I was planning on using the orange pad that comes with the kit. Will that pad be to abrasive on the paint?

3) When doing my test spot, after I apply the swirl remover via porter cable and complete the 6 section passes, if the paint still has swirls/scratches, how should I proceed after that. Should I continue with more section passes, change pads, use more product?

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[top189h]

Tape off any edges you're nervous about (ie bood to fender gaps, door to fender gaps etc.). Keep the da moving, not too quickly but don't stop for too long, and keep your pad clean. If you're nervous about a deep scratch, just leave it be. The orange pad will most likely be fine just do a test spot like you've said. Most importantly, always inspect your work before you move on and take your time and enjoy it.

 

[goodall]

I just did this for the first time as well two days ago on my black BMW 335i. You're not going to burn through the paint with the Porter. It was a lot of work but the car turned out great. Just watch the Mike Phillips video that comes with the Porter. He is very clear about how to do it. It's not complicated but it takes a lot of time to do it right. I also clayed first so for me this was an all day job.

 

[RoushFiveOh]

Tape off any edges you're nervous about (ie bood to fender gaps, door to fender gaps etc.). Keep the da moving, not too quickly but don't stop for too long, and keep your pad clean. If you're nervous about a deep scratch, just leave it be. The orange pad will most likely be fine just do a test spot like you've said. Most importantly, always inspect your work before you move on and take your time and enjoy it.

Will do, thanks for the tape off tip!

 

[RoushFiveOh]

I just did this for the first time as well two days ago on my black BMW 335i. You're not going to burn through the paint with the Porter. It was a lot of work but the car turned out great. Just watch the Mike Phillips video that comes with the Porter. He is very clear about how to do it. It's not complicated but it takes a lot of time to do it right. I also clayed first so for me this was an all day job.

Congrats man, I'm glad your car came out great.

 

[refreshauto]

Where are you located, maybe a local guy with more knowledge can help you out.

Did you order more pads than what came with the kit. You will need to change them out every so often and clean them as you go

Sent from my SPH-D710 using AG Online

 

[EVOlved]

Where are you located, maybe a local guy with more knowledge can help you out.

Did you order more pads than what came with the kit. You will need to change them out every so often and clean them as you go

Sent from my SPH-D710 using AG Online

:iagree: you will definitely need more than one or two of the same pads to do a complete vehicle. A lot of us are glad to help so like refresh stated if you let us know where you are you may be in luck.

 

[RoushFiveOh]

Where are you located, maybe a local guy with more knowledge can help you out.

Did you order more pads than what came with the kit. You will need to change them out every so often and clean them as you go

Sent from my SPH-D710 using AG Online

:iagree: you will definitely need more than one or two of the same pads to do a complete vehicle. A lot of us are glad to help so like refresh stated if you let us know where you are you may be in luck.

I actually did not order additional pads besides the three pads that come with the kit. I was under the assumption that if I just continued cleaning them using one of the method's outlined here that I'd be ok.

I'm located in New Jersey! Thanks guys.

 

[Jaretr1]

You will probably be ok with the pads you have. Its nice to have more pads, but not totally necessary. Yes, you do want to keep cleaning the pad on the fly so product does not build up.

The kit does not come with clay and you do want to clay or decontaminate the paint before you start polishing.

Watch the videos online. Keep the polisher moving, but slowly with constant pressure. It is difficult to burn through the clear coat with a da polisher. Do some test spots to make sure you get your technique down before you do the entire car.

Wolfgang products are fairly easy to use, and give great results. You should be able to amaze yourself once you are done.

 

[RoushFiveOh]

You will probably be ok with the pads you have. Its nice to have more pads, but not totally necessary. Yes, you do want to keep cleaning the pad on the fly so product does not build up.

The kit does not come with clay and you do want to clay or decontaminate the paint before you start polishing.

Watch the videos online. Keep the polisher moving, but slowly with constant pressure. It is difficult to burn through the clear coat with a da polisher. Do some test spots to make sure you get your technique down before you do the entire car.

Wolfgang products are fairly easy to use, and give great results. You should be able to amaze yourself once you are done.

I'll try and stick to using just one of each pad if I can, I'll let you guys know how it works out.

Thanks for the good advice. I'll keep watching the video's to get the technique down.

 

[Kamakaz1961]

The PC 7424 XP IMO is fool proof. You should not or you can't burn the paint. Put a stripe on the backing plate to make sure the backing plate is spinning.

Clay bar the entire car after you have washed it. This is a must before you even begin to do paint correction.

Use the Orange Pad with Wolfgang's Swirl Remover 3.0 The speed setting should be at 5

Use the White Pad with Wolfgang's Glaze 3.0 to bring out the shine. The speed setting should be at around 4

Use the Blue Pad for the Wolfgang's Sealant and the speed setting should be around 3.

If you start getting compound dust from the Orange pad just spray the pad with a QD (1 shot should suffice).

MOST IMPORTANT: Patience Patience Patience. You will not finish the entire car in 8 hours IMO. It will be longer and Just remember Patience!!!

Mike Phillips has a how-to-with the PC and it is extremely helpful.

I hope this helps and your ride is going to look sweet after you have done this process. You will NEVER take your car to a car wash again...PERIOD.

 

[bmonster]

Tape off any edges you're nervous about (ie bood to fender gaps, door to fender gaps etc.). Keep the da moving, not too quickly but don't stop for too long, and keep your pad clean. If you're nervous about a deep scratch, just leave it be. The orange pad will most likely be fine just do a test spot like you've said. Most importantly, always inspect your work before you move on and take your time and enjoy it.

definatly use the orange pad that will be just enough cutting to get the job done turn it up to 5-6 speed make sure you spray a little clay spray or even a detail spray just a little one half of spray put the wolfgang on the pad in a X PATERN DONT BE SHY YOU CAN THROW A THIRD LINE on the X patern place the pad on the car be sure to keep the pad moving a figure 8 patern will work on a large area or if its small a up down side to side for approk 1 minute just enough pressure to let the pad keeps moving be sure when you remove the swirl removeruse a thick quality micro fiber towel other wise you will put new swirls in the finish then hit it with the polish always tape off the area if it gone great if it only got alittle lighter do it a second time for 30 seconds longer than the first time that should do the trick if not you need a more aggressive polish menzer is what I would use no worries its not that hard to do

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

1) Should I be concerned about burning/eating through my clearcoat/paint while using the Porter Cable? I've seen some threads where the owner claims that they've burned through the clearcoat.

Burning through the clearcoat on a new car with a Porter Cable 7424XP and I'm going to guess the 6.5" pads would be the least of my worries. Even with the 5.5" pads it would be the least of my worries.

If you want to be uber careful, then simply avoid buffing on any edges or raised body lines which is a good best practice anyways.

2) For the swirl remover step, I was planning on using the orange pad that comes with the kit. Will that pad be to abrasive on the paint?

No. You need a pad with some bite to it to work with the abrasives to remove some paint as that's how you remove swirls and scratches you remove paint and level the surface.

3) When doing my test spot, after I apply the swirl remover via porter cable and complete the 6 section passes, if the paint still has swirls/scratches, how should I proceed after that.

Try doing 8 section passes and make sure you are moving the polisher very slowly over the paint. Have the PC on the 6 speed setting and make sure you mark your backing plate so your eyes can tell and monitor pad rotation.

The pad MUST rotate in order to remove swirls and scratches. If it's just vibrating or jiggling then you are not doing anything.

Read this, look at the pictures and watch the video...

Video: Mark your backing plate to make it easy to see pad rotation

Should I continue with more section passes, change pads, use more product?

I'd read through this... I always recommend people to read this FIRST so they won't have to troubleshoot.

DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide


Don't worry... if Tyler can do it... you an too....

:xyxthumbs:

 

[RoushFiveOh]

Burning through the clearcoat on a new car with a Porter Cable 7424XP and I'm going to guess the 6.5" pads would be the least of my worries. Even with the 5.5" pads it would be the least of my worries.

If you want to be uber careful, then simply avoid buffing on any edges or raised body lines which is a good best practice anyways.




No. You need a pad with some bite to it to work with the abrasives to remove some paint as that's how you remove swirls and scratches you remove paint and level the surface.





Try doing 8 section passes and make sure you are moving the polisher very slowly over the paint. Have the PC on the 6 speed setting and make sure you mark your backing plate so your eyes can tell and monitor pad rotation.

The pad MUST rotate in order to remove swirls and scratches. If it's just vibrating or jiggling then you are not doing anything.

Read this, look at the pictures and watch the video...

Video: Mark your backing plate to make it easy to see pad rotation








I'd read through this... I always recommend people to read this FIRST so they won't have to troubleshoot.

DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide


Don't worry... if Tyler can do it... you an too....

:xyxthumbs:

Thanks for all the info/help Mr. Phillips. I've actually read those articles a few times already but I'll brush up on it one more time.

Thanks again and I'll post pictures of the Stang when its done.

 

[noamd1109]

Thanks for all the info/help Mr. Phillips. I've actually read those articles a few times already but I'll brush up on it one more time.

Thanks again and I'll post pictures of the Stang when its done.

I just worked on my car for the first time and just wanted to add a few things that I learned.

A lot of what is in the videos seems logical, but won't make total sense until you start using it to see it all in action.

Be careful especially on how much product you are putting on the pad. I ended up just using the '3 dots' , which seemed like so little, but it was all I needed for each pass.

If you are getting any build up on the paint of product, stop and clean it off before proceeding. I was using a spray bottle of water and a microfiber towel and it seemed easy enough to remove... helped a lot until I got the hang of not having too much on the pad at times.

Cleaning the pads was really important. Once it was full of product and gunk (even after cleaning on the fly with a terrycloth towel every few passes) it wasn't doing a whole lot.

I ordered up some pad cleaner and put a couple of ounces in the washing machine with the pads each night and they came out nice and clean and working much better that way.

Maybe I still need some work on my skills, but with one orange pad I did the hood one night, washed it, and then did the roof the next night, washed it, then the trunk the next night.

I ordered 3 more orange pads and that helped with the rest of the car in being able to keep working.

I used a different pad for my heavy cutting compound than I did for the light compound, but not sure if that is necessary (seemed like a good idea to me).

Everyone on the forums has been great, and Mike's advice and videos were great examples.

The thing I didn't notice until after when I was working was how the product is essentially 'gone' it seems when all is balanced properly... not a lot of splatter or build up laying around on the surface. Comes out really clean like in his videos... that just took a bit to get the hang of for me.

Good luck.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I just worked on my car for the first time and just wanted to add a few things that I learned.

Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts...

A lot of what is in the videos seems logical, but won't make total sense until you start using it to see it all in action.

Agreed. First get head knowledge... and then hands-on practice and together it all comes together to gel and make sense. More practice and then you start to actually get pretty good at this stuff...

Be careful especially on how much product you are putting on the pad. I ended up just using the '3 dots' , which seemed like so little, but it was all I needed for each pass.

Definitely after your pad breaks in you need to use less product. When you first start out a clean dry pad, even when primed will need a little more product than after you've buffed a few sections.

Cleaning the pads was really important.

Probably one of the most important and overlooked things a person should do when buffing on scratch-sensitive clearcoat paints.

Anytime you use ANY product that has the ability to abrade the paint and this includes not only compounds and polishes but even cleaner/waxes, you're going to have two things build up on the face of your pad.

• Spent product
• Removed paint

And just like you wipe this residue mixture off the paint after buffing a section you need to wipe tis residue mixture off the face of your pad because it's on both places.

When trying to create beauty, (and that's what we're all doing), you don't want to continue to grind the old spent product and removed paint particles into a new section of paint along with your fresh product. This would be working backwards away from the goal.

Once it was full of product and gunk (even after cleaning on the fly with a terrycloth towel every few passes) it wasn't doing a whole lot.

Yep... that's called

Pad Saturation

When your buffing pad becomes wet with product or saturated with product the performance of both the pad and your chemical will fall off dramatically.

This means you're less effective when buffing and spending or wasting more time to do the job.


This is why I always say more pads are better and let your budget be your guide but it's faster to buff out any car when you have the ability and resources, (pads), to switch over to a clean, dry pad and your pads will last longer overall because they are not being punished or pushed to the limit each time you use them.

The thing I didn't notice until after when I was working was how the product is essentially 'gone' it seems when all is balanced properly... not a lot of splatter or build up laying around on the surface.

Comes out really clean like in his videos... that just took a bit to get the hang of for me.

Good luck.

Nice comments... Thank you for taking the time to chime in....

 

[RoushFiveOh]

Alright guys, here's a picture of my first test spot done using the kit. The final picture looks better in picture than in person, there's still some scratches, but overal what a difference it made!

 

[RobertJ34]

great job man! not so nervous anymore are you?

 

[RoushFiveOh]

great job man! not so nervous anymore are you?

Not at all, the process isnt to hard at all. The hardest thing really is trying to avoid all the raised edges since the 2010+ Mustang's seem to have a lot of body "lines".

 

[bmonster]

icture:

Alright guys, here's a picture of my first test spot done using the kit. The final picture looks better in picture than in person, there's still some scratches, but overal what a difference it made!