Cannot remove swirls/water marks/ scratches

RoyalBlUE08

RoyalBlUE08

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Ok so on a 2006 civic si with habanero red pearl paint.

I cant remove bareley ANYTHING!

What am i doing wrong? i know its not my technique because i watched numerous youtube vids and whatnot.

Water marks arent even being removed

Im using GG DA 6 inch with an Orange Lake country CCS 5.5 inch foam pad and meguiars #105 followed by Blue lake country CCS 5.5 inch pad with meguiars #205

Of course i washed and claybarred with meguiars ultimate wash and clayed with Griots clay bar with speed shine.

Help :(
 
Not to sound like an a**, but just watching videos doesn't neccesarily mean your technique is perfect. Again no offense intended but it will take practice to nail down the process especially since every car's paint reacts differently.

Maybe you just need more passes with 105, try following itup with 205 on white, then maybe a black/blue. Did you do a test spot? Mark the backing plate? What was your technique (speed, pressure, etc.)

Sent from my Samsung Epic
 
Agree, You can watch all the video you want. You wont learn untill you try, Every paint is diffrernt. What speed, how much pressure are you using.

If we all watched a video, instantley did everything correct. well lets just say the world would be alot diffrent
 
Closeup photos showing the surface defects would help allot.

Meguiar's M105 and M205 are staples of the detailing world are the baseline which many products are compared.

These are some of the basic questions I would ask that might help get to the root of the problem.

  • Did you prime the pad enough so the compound is working between the pad and paint and not being absorbed into the pad?
  • Is your polishing speed set between 5 and 6?
  • Are you working a 2' X 2' section
  • Is the downward pressure sufficient enough to allow the pad to rotate and correct the finish?
  • Are you performing 4 to 6 complete passes per section?
  • Are you moving the polisher to fast, not allowing it enough time to work?
There are many things that could be coming into play here but not seeing it or being there makes it difficult to diagnose and resolve.
 
I'd like to see the answers to Bobby's questions also. I use Meg 105/205 with no problems of removing marks.
 
I used it on speed 5 doing about 3-4 passes with moderate pressure and slow and steady movement( i have very steady hands).

Yes i primed the pad enough for it to be completely covered with product as mike stated in some videos followed with 3 pea sized dots of product

i will get close ups when i get my 5d mark ii out tomorrow if the weather is nice.

on a side not, i just recieved my megs da microfiber kit today and i used it on the drivers side door. man this stuff is awesome. all of the swirls were completely removed when using the megs system, but still no scratches were removed and very light water stains still exist. i will try again with #105 tomorrow. i removed swirls now but scratches will not remove and believe me, they are not deep scratches, i can glide my fingernail over it without it being stopped

at least swirls are gone!

ill try and get a video from my iphone really quick of how it worked
 
Well I would say use the microfiber pads, or try two times with the foam (one heavy set of passes and the next set of passes lighten up to moderate pressure)

Sent from my Samsung Epic
 
we use the griot and mf system everyday, 75% of the cars are hondas. speed 4.5 with d300, heavy pressure and slow the arm speed until the desired defect removal is achieved, sometimes you have to be real slow with arm speed but it is possible. clean the pad and do some slower speed less pressure passes to help finish out the d300.

good luck
 
here is with the d300 without d301

2gtxouf.png
 
RoyalBlUE08 said:
here is with the d300 without d301

2gtxouf.png
Click to expand...

From the pic I still see swirls. I would try following with a LC white or light green and M205. Use moderate passes for the first 4 then light for the last couple.

If you are trying to show below the light, it still looks like there is some hazing (could just be my phone screen protector needs replacing), which would also benefit from some follow up.

As for scratches and watermarks, don't forget that some are going to be deeper even if you can't feel them. They may require more passes, spot buffs, etc. One pass may not neccessarily get 100% and in the end some are too risky to remove for a daily driver.

Sent from my Samsung Epic
 
Last edited:
That is a nice looking 50/50 shot. It looks like all is working out well now. Someone above said "try using a rotary" DA polishers take a lot longer to get results than with a rotary. Perhaps you just expected to get faster results than are possible with a DA and foam pads. This thread (and that photo) are testaments as to how revolutionary the Meg's MF correcting system really are. That looks like beautiful paint. Keep up the good work. :xyxthumbs:

RoyalBlUE08 said:
here is with the d300 without d301

2gtxouf.png
Click to expand...
 
bottlefed02 said:
From the pic I still see swirls. I would try following with a LC white or light green and M205. Use moderate passes for the first 4 then light for the last couple.

If you are trying to show below the light, it still looks like there is some hazing (could just be my phone screen protector needs replacing), which would also benefit from some follow up.

As for scratches and watermarks, don't forget that some are going to be deeper even if you can't feel them. They may require more passes, spot buffs, etc. One pass may not neccessarily get 100% and in the end some are too risky to remove for a daily driver.

Sent from my Samsung Epic
Click to expand...



Disregard my hazing comment, on the comp it is much easier to see that those are reflections!
 
Thanks guys! Regarding the hazing you think you see, its just a reflection of me (iPhone 4 camera) lol there is no hazing it looks amazing! I'm getting the hang of it quickly!

Thanks again for everyone's help and suggestions! I will post some pics after I'm done with the car completely! Wait till you see how bad the interior is in my brothers car lol, hes a mess!
 
RoyalBlUE08 said:
Water marks arent even being removed
Click to expand...

If they are deep craters then it can be very challenging to carefully remove enough paint to remove them, plus risky.



RoyalBlUE08 said:
Im using GG DA 6 inch with an Orange Lake country CCS 5.5 inch foam pad and meguiars #105 followed by Blue lake country CCS 5.5 inch pad with meguiars #205
Click to expand...


One thing I do when I come across a paint system that I'm struggling to remove the defects out of is I experiment with tackling only a small section, about 16" squarish or so, basically the size of the average microfiber towel laid out.

By only working a small section you focus all the abrading ability to this area it's a really good way to trouble shoot because if you're using an aggressive compound and a cutting pad... something got to give and if the defects just are not coming out then,

  • The paint is really hard
  • The defects are really deep
  • You're not pushing down hard enough on the head of the polisher
  • You're not running the polisher on the 5-6 speed setting
  • You're moving the polisher too fast over the surface
Note I'm not saying you're doing any of the above, I'm just stating those would be my first guesses at technique problems for situations when the defects are simply not being removed.


Also, for situations like this it's very helpful to use a tape-line to make it really easy to judge if you're making progress or not...


Take a read through this, see if there's anything you're missing.


DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide




:)
 
While paints can definitely vary, I found the paint on my "06 Habi Si to be pretty easy to correct. The defects could just be too deep to safely remove though as Mike suggested. Good to hear the MF system is getting better results! :props:



I miss my Si! :(

si_1.jpg


si004.jpg
 
Wow rasky. I love the Si's. my brother has the same exact color as yours(when you used to have it) What car do you drive now? Im always on 8thcivic im Nyhustla914 lol.
I will post up pics i took with my canon 50D in a bit so you can see how nice it is again :)
 
RoyalBlUE08 said:
Wow rasky. I love the Si's. my brother has the same exact color as yours(when you used to have it) What car do you drive now? Im always on 8thcivic im Nyhustla914 lol.
I will post up pics i took with my canon 50D in a bit so you can see how nice it is again :)
Click to expand...

Thanks! Wish I had never sold it now. :(


I've had a '08 TSX now for the last 3+ years....it's nice but not as fun to drive as the Si was. I haven't been on the ocho in a while now....need to stop over there again soon. ;)

IMG_07121200x896.jpg
 
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