buffing my 04 mustang gt black

harleymike

harleymike

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I have a black mustang gt.
Was full of swirls and scratches. Not to mention other issues
Baought a PC 7424 and using 104 AND 204 MEGUIARS.
Going very well, taking out all the swirls. Then today I picked up a dual 500w halogen light stand and shined it down the car, looked good no swirls marks. But then i held it straight at the paint, and wow does it show all the imperfections and my missed or poorly buffed spots. Cant see them in the natural light but under these halogen lights holy crap. Also, ever noticed that plastic black parts look different than metal parts under halogen light. The black plastic parts on my car are a dark grey under halogen lighting. Wish I had never looked at the car with this light now. lOL. Now I'm thinking of going over the whole car again. Like I said in direct sunlight it looks fine, way better. But not perfect, its 10 year old paint that was never taken care of. Any thoughts.
Mike
 
Well I would leave it as is for now to preserve the skin (clear coat) for the unexpected or when you put him/her away as a garage king/queen and it meguiars m105 and m205 my friend
 
I suggest doing a Test Spot with different combinations to see if you can improve the results

What pad were you using with the M105?

What pad, machine speed and downward pressure were you using with the M205?
 
orange pad with 105 and white with the 205
Not a lot of downward pressure.
Looks way better under the sun, and awesome in the shade. All swirl marks are gone.
just when I shine those two 500w halogens directly at it, I was surprised by how it looks.
I shouldn't expect so much from 10year old paint I guess. I am also very anal about my toys. So my ok condition is probably most others perfect. LOL
 
It looks fine under sunlight, looks fine with the 2x500w halogen lights shinging down the side of the car.
But if I put halogen or led light straight at the car it appears grey maybe a little cloudy. I was surprised that it didnt appear black.
But like i said, under normal conditions, it looks very shiny and the swirl marks are gone.
Seems strange to me
Mike
I will try a spot with the 205 and black pad tonight.
thanks
 
harleymike said:
I have a black mustang gt.
Click to expand...

Just for you....

"Black is not a color, it's a full time job"



harleymike said:
Now I'm thinking of going over the whole car again. Like I said in direct sunlight it looks fine, way better.

But not perfect, its 10 year old paint that was never taken care of. Any thoughts.
Mike
Click to expand...


For the deeper defects hit them with the M105 again but perhaps take a read-through this article I wrote years ago and make sure you're using the right technique and not making any of the common mistakes.

DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide


Then get a different Fine Cut Polish besides the M205 and give it a try for the final machine step. Nothing wrong with M205 in fact when it was a beta product I buffed out the Batmobile with it right after the chemist that made it handed me a fresh Lab Sample right out of the lab, hand crafted.

RotaryBufferBatmobile01.jpg


RotaryBufferBatmobile02.jpg




It's just sometimes some paints like a different finishing polish than the M205. This is why it's a good idea to have a few different products in your arsenal to choose from.

Look at

Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish
Sonax Nano Polish
Optimum Finish Polish
Menzerna SF 4000
Wolfgang Finishing Glaze
Blackfire SRC Polish


All of these with a dual action polisher and either a foam polishing pad or a foam finishing pad finish out consistently well on a wide spectrum of clearcoat paint system.


:)
 
Mike, how did it look in direct sun light before you polished vs. after you polished? If you saw imperfections in direct sun before and they are now gone when viewed in those same sun conditions very good! You have made a substantial improvement. I can fully understand that when viewed under more intense halogen lighting you are still wanting better but consider the fact it looks perfect to 99% of the planet's population!

Don't get me wrong...i am here along with everyone else to get even better results and certainly admire your desire for the same. Just saying to acknowledge what you have achieved so far and keep plugging!

Now...provided what you are seeing under halogen is swirling, light scratches that were left uncorrected, hit it again. If what you are seeing is the after marks of 105, that's different.

My recommendation is to now tape off a section and hit it again with the same process as before as a test panel but now with the halogen lights to determine your results. I have never been let down by M105/M205 however have encountered some very hard Ford paint in my time and have done 2 x M105 on the same section to fully remove imperfections. With that said, i have never gone from 105 to LSP. Ever. There is always the need to clean it up more and refine what i can after 105. I also like the idea of trying a black (grey?) LC pad with 205 to jewel it up a bit. And as Mike suggested, maybe the 205 results is what you are seeing as well. I like his idea of trying different "finish" polishes for certain conditions. I have several for exactly that purpose. A test panel ALWAYS tells me what works best. And NEVER proceed around the entire vehicle without a good, deductive test panel. I use several "test" panels on some vehicles. Narrow down and determine what looks best to YOU...then do the entire car!

Again, be happy with what you have done to this point but having found a more critical light source, continue to correct under that new light source.
 
Puckman said:
Mike, how did it look in direct sun light before you polished vs. after you polished? If you saw imperfections in direct sun before and they are now gone when viewed in those same sun conditions very good! You have made a substantial improvement. I can fully understand that when viewed under more intense halogen lighting you are still wanting better but consider the fact it looks perfect to 99% of the planet's population!

Don't get me wrong...i am here along with everyone else to get even better results and certainly admire your desire for the same. Just saying to acknowledge what you have achieved so far and keep plugging!

Now...provided what you are seeing under halogen is swirling, light scratches that were left uncorrected, hit it again. If what you are seeing is the after marks of 105, that's different.

My recommendation is to now tape off a section and hit it again with the same process as before as a test panel but now with the halogen lights to determine your results. I have never been let down by M105/M205 however have encountered some very hard Ford paint in my time and have done 2 x M105 on the same section to fully remove imperfections. With that said, i have never gone from 105 to LSP. Ever. There is always the need to clean it up more and refine what i can after 105. I also like the idea of trying a black (grey?) LC pad with 205 to jewel it up a bit. And as Mike suggested, maybe the 205 results is what you are seeing as well. I like his idea of trying different "finish" polishes for certain conditions. I have several for exactly that purpose. A test panel ALWAYS tells me what works best. And NEVER proceed around the entire vehicle without a good, deductive test panel. I use several "test" panels on some vehicles. Narrow down and determine what looks best to YOU...then do the entire car!

Again, be happy with what you have done to this point but having found a more critical light source, continue to correct under that new light source.
Click to expand...

Excellent response and thank you
It looks great under sun light now. No more swirls or scraches when the sun hits it.
There are some scratches that are just too deep to get out. Being a 10 year old paint I am happy with it. But I am also kinda picky.
I'm to go over it with a black pad and M205. I already put the sealer and two coats of wax on my hood and trunk lid. So I will have to leave them alone now.
Thanks for the help. I will let you know how I make out.
Mike
 
Ahhh, ok...sounds like you have the inevitable RIDS from 10 years of life. I have some too on my 07 black car. Be careful and don't chase anything that might be too deep to correct. Either live with them or try a touch up paint repair if possible. If you have any pictures to share with us we might have some more suggestions but in the meantime, be proud, my friend, extremely proud!!!
 
Just went over both sides of the car with 205 and black pad, came out even better. Very happy now that i have done this and had another look. 90% of all scratches are gone. Thanks for the help. Now to seal with meguairs 21 and a couple coats of wax. Then i'm never doing this again. LOL>
Hopefully should be easier next time now that i have it as good as it will get.
Thank again for the help
mike
OH, I'm in courtright ontario canada
 
My neighbor has a dark blue 04, and I encountered similar issues. I worked on it earlier this summer with a variety of things, and had all sorts of mixed results. He actually let's me use it as a test car, and thus he cuts the grass for me.

Well, turns out that his daughter wants her car back while she's stationed in VA. (Navy), so I wanted to get the summer wear off the car. I used Ultimate Polish on a green Lake Country CCS pad, and cleaned up all the swirls (had been through a car wash), and gave a nice gloss to the finish. Granted, I didn't do a wipe down to remove the glazing oils, but I watched the defects wear away as I polished the surface. It looks pretty good right now. There are all sorts of issues with the finish. She beat up the car pretty good. When I tackled it in June, she had rode on a worn front drivers side brake pad, and the entire left side was coated with thick brake dust residue. I used almost an entire bottle of ironX to remove it! And there is still some on the wheel...

Did you find that you missed some spots? I had a hard time navigating the intricate areas in the front, between the wheel and turn singal/headlight. That is why I prefer the softer pads with cut, like Lake Country's Pink and Green CCS , or Hex Logic's Green and Blue pads so much. They contour very easily, do a great job cleaning up the paint. I find the Orange and White pads too stiff for my approach. If I need more correction power, I'll just switch to Rupes Microfiber pads.

I did some panels on this car with Ultimate Polish and a Yellow Rupes MF disc, and WOW! That was a very potent combo! I did that a week ago or something like that. Obviously, I didn't need to go over those sections with the UP/Green CCS.
 
Ya, I found some spots that were slightly missed, but after going over it a second time it looks way better.
I have tons of tiny tiny chips in the hood and trunk lid. You can feel them with your finger nail. Not sure what they are from. Can't get them out. Strange. But over all I'm very happy wiht it now.
 
I had the same experience the first time I used 105/205 on my black Nissan 350Z. It's my belief that the paint on my car is rather finicky, I don't know how better to explain it. Just like you though, when I hit the paint with the halogen light, I was disgusted and really let down. For me, I think it came down to the fact that it was my first time, and even though I had "read myself to death," I still didn't know exactly what I was doing.

I've since never used halogens again (this was five years ago at my parent's house), but I do use a Brinkmann now, which shows every single tiny thing as well.

My car is solid black, no flake. When you hit it with a discerning light, the paint will look very gray, almost whiteish, and tbh it doesn't really look that great even if there are no scratches. It also shows every tiny bit of dust, residue, lint, etc.

All I can say is, over time you will get better at this. Work on your technique. Slow, overlapping passes; and keep that pad clean.. I usually use the brush on it after every section pass. It's quick and easy. I also like to change out pads often… the cleaner the pad the better your results will be.

GL man.
 
Almost done the mustang. Just have to put the sealer on and wax.
I must admit, looks frigging awesome now. I will post pics.
Thanks to everyone for the help and autogeek for the supplies
Mike
 
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