Help- Can't remove defects from 20 y/o Mercedes paint

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TheDetailGeeks

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Hey everyone,

I'm trying to correct a 1995 Mercedes C280.

I started with a 7424XP, a Cobra cross groove foam cutting pad, and M105, and the result after 6 passes was barely (and I mean barely) noticeable.

I then switched to a Meguiar's microfber cutting pad, and the rate of correction was doubled. However, this isn't saying much, as the foam pad pretty much did nothing to begin with.

after 12 section passes with the microfiber pad, the paint looks glossy, but when you get close to the car, there are still hundreds of scratches.

I can't tell if they are under the clear, on top of the clear, or some other weird phenomena. I can't feel them with my fingernail.

This is really driving me crazy.

Can anyone offer some guidance on what to do next? I'm at the point where I'm considering buying a rotary just for this job.


Here's what I'm working with:

20140730_132840.jpg


20140730_132805.jpg


20140730_132755.jpg


20140730_132814.jpg



50/50 of 12 section passes with MF cutting pad:

20140730_164914.jpg



And here's the killer. These scratches are all over the body of the vehicle, even after 12 passes with the MF cutting pad:
20140730_163239.jpg


Feed back please
 
Unfortunately this job will take a a lot of time.

So some of those scratches in the last photo will never come out
 
With a PC you have your work cut out for you. Any chance you have some WG Uber 3.0 or FG400 on hand?
If you don't invest in some.
Ncs is right some of them will never come out. You should be happy with 70%- 80% correction on that paint. This is where you cut until the scratches just don't go away put a glaze on it and call it a day.
It's an old car you don't know how much paint is left on it, repaints and the such. He could have gone to a really bad auto body shop and the hacked his car up and he was never the wiser.
If your not in a crunch get some FG400 or WG Uber and use some MF cutting discs. They will cut faster then the Meg's and finish down near LSP ready. And you can control the cut by switching up pads.
 
With the PC make sure you are on speed 6 slow arm movement and enough pressure, but not so much that the pad stops spinning

Sent from my SPH-D710 using AG Online
 
inDetail said:
With a PC you have your work cut out for you. Any chance you have some WG Uber 3.0 or FG400 on hand?
If you don't invest in some.
Ncs is right some of them will never come out. You should be happy with 70%- 80% correction on that paint. This is where you cut until the scratches just don't go away put a glaze on it and call it a day.
It's an old car you don't know how much paint is left on it, repaints and the such. He could have gone to a really bad auto body shop and the hacked his car up and he was never the wiser.
If your not in a crunch get some FG400 or WG Uber and use some MF cutting discs. They will cut faster then the Meg's and finish down near LSP ready. And you can control the cut by switching up pads.
Click to expand...

Thanks inDetail.

The Autogeek warehouse is just a 15 minute drive from my front door so I can pick up those products in a hurry :)

It's actually all factory paint.

Should I invest in a rotary, or will the WG Uber + MF cutting pad do the job equally well?
 
refreshauto said:
With the PC make sure you are on speed 6 slow arm movement and enough pressure, but not so much that the pad stops spinning

Sent from my SPH-D710 using AG Online
Click to expand...

That's exactly the method I used.

I try to do things right the first time, but this time, what I thought was the right thing, wasn't!
 
I normally wouldn't care so much, but it's my dad's vehicle, and I'm doing this for him.
 
If you have experience with a rotary I would go that way. A rotary and wool pad would save you a Lot of time.
 
Maybe drive the car up to Autogeek HQ and ask Mike for his advice to set you on a good path.
 
I couldn't imagine having an amazing resource like that so close. I'd probably end up wearing Mike out with questions if I lived that close. He'd likely have to ban me from AG HQ for life. :)
 
TheDetailGeeks said:
That's not a bad idea.

I'll see if he's available some time in the next few days to have a look.
Click to expand...


Look at the bottom of the forum homepage...

That's where I post the next Thursday night project and you're welcome to bring your car then and I'd be happy to take a look at it for you.

Look for something that looks like this and you'll see a link you can click on to "sign-up".

watermark.php




That's how we roll around here....


:dblthumb2:
 
From the looks of the condition of the paint and the improvement you made....

50/50 of 12 section passes with MF cutting pad:

wol_error.gif
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3.
20140730_164914.jpg





It's time to simply break out the Flex PE14 with a wool pad and get this project over with...



:)
 
When I see paint in this condition I ask myself and the owner...

How did this happen?


Then before working on the car I ask myself and the owner,


What's changed?


That is.. if I fix the problem, what's changed that tells me this simply won't happen again?

If the answer to what's changed is nothing I won't buff out the car as it will just be a waste of time.


:xyxthumbs:
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Look at the bottom of the forum homepage...

That's where I post the next Thursday night project and you're welcome to bring your car then and I'd be happy to take a look at it for you.
Click to expand...

Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
It's time to simply break out the Flex PE14 with a wool pad and get this project over with...

:)
Click to expand...

Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
What's changed?


That is.. if I fix the problem, what's changed that tells me this simply won't happen again?
Click to expand...


Thanks Mike.

My dad purchased the vehicle with the paint in that condition.

This project has sentimental value for me. The car is in my possession now, as my dad doesn't drive any more.

Driving was one of his favorite things, so I'm restoring all of his vehicles to showroom condition in case his condition ever improves and he can get back behind the wheel.

I'll try to make it out to Stuart next Thursday.
 
aim4squirrels said:
I couldn't imagine having an amazing resource like that so close. I'd probably end up wearing Mike out with questions if I lived that close. He'd likely have to ban me from AG HQ for life. :)
Click to expand...

Yes, when I found out they were so close, I did a little jig for joy.

I was driving north on I-95 a few years ago and I saw the Autogeek sign on their building, had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't imagining things, haha.

The guys there are super friendly and very helpful.

When I order stuff, I normally call in my order in the morning, and pick up in the afternoon.

I'm pretty lucky :)
 
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