Help with finishing Polish!!

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mcpp66

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First, let me say that I don't have a good camera so I didn't get pictures that would be good enough to post. I hope I can explain my situation well enough. I used a PC 7424XP with white Lake Country 5.5" pads. I polished my hood with ScratchX2.0 first to work out the defects, then I used 85rd to refine the results of the ScratchX 2.0. After I wiped the polish off the finish looked absolutely perfect. But, when I did an IPA wipe down the truth was revealed (unfortunately). It looks like the 85rd left very fine little micro-marring. Is this to be expected or should I expect better results? Did I do something wrong or did I skip a step? Will using 85rd with a gray Lake Country pad remove that last little bit of micro-marring? Should I finish at a slower speed?

After I finished for the evening, I sprayed some Meg's UQD followed by Meg's UQW and you couldn't see any of the micro-marring left behind. Obviously I don't want to rely on waxes and QDs to have a nice finish, I want no visible marring even after an IPA wipe down? Is that realistic or am I expecting too much?
 
mcpp66 said:
First, let me say that I don't have a good camera so I didn't get pictures that would be good enough to post. I hope I can explain my situation well enough. I used a PC 7424XP with white Lake Country 5.5" pads. I polished my hood with ScratchX2.0 first to work out the defects, then I used 85rd to refine the results of the ScratchX 2.0. After I wiped the polish off the finish looked absolutely perfect. But, when I did an IPA wipe down the truth was revealed (unfortunately). It looks like the 85rd left very fine little micro-marring. Is this to be expected or should I expect better results? Did I do something wrong or did I skip a step? Will using 85rd with a gray Lake Country pad remove that last little bit of micro-marring? Should I finish at a slower speed?

After I finished for the evening, I sprayed some Meg's UQD followed by Meg's UQW and you couldn't see any of the micro-marring left behind. Obviously I don't want to rely on waxes and QDs to have a nice finish, I want no visible marring even after an IPA wipe down? Is that realistic or am I expecting too much?
Click to expand...
I had the SAME exact problem a month or two ago with polish induced marring!!! Thought I was doing good, but after an IPA wipedown!! :eek: Did you do an IPA wipedown after ScratchX 2.0? Did you work the 85rd long enough? What speed were you using with 85rd? QD's will cover up micro marring. I thought I would never get it, but I did. You'll get it with a little experimenting.
 
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I don't really know ho long to work 85rd, is there an easy way to tell? I usually do 4-6 section passes. I apply some pressure (certainly not an inappropriate amount) on the first two passes then I ease off from there. My speed was set at 5, I thought the faster the better when trying to refine a more abrasive compound. Should I be using white Lake Country pads at this point or a gray one?
 
mcpp66 said:
I don't really know ho long to work 85rd, is there an easy way to tell? I usually do 4-6 section passes. I apply some pressure (certainly not an inappropriate amount) on the first two passes then I ease off from there. My speed was set at 5, I thought the faster the better when trying to refine a more abrasive compound. Should I be using white Lake Country pads at this point or a gray one?
Click to expand...
4-6 section passes should be sufficient. Make sure you're not dry buffing. The polish should still be somewhat moist when you finish buffing the section. There's not really an easy way to tell, you just get the hang of it with practice. I'm still learning myself. Try a gray pad on speed 4. Just a bit of pressure to keep the pad flat. I'm sure others will chime in! :xyxthumbs: Did you get a lot of marring from ScratchX 2.0 and the white pad?
 
Great thread! This will help me out. I've finished compounding with M105 on a Soft Buff 2.0 polishing, but I've got some light marring/hazing/hologramming/whatever you want to call it that I'm having a hard time getting rid of. I've tried M205 on a finishing pad, M205 on a polishing pad, and Optimum Finish on a finishing pad. Clears it up a little bit, but not much. Got some PO85rd and gray and blue CCS pads arriving tomorrow, hopefully those will do the trick. :xyxthumbs: Grrrrrrrrrr. The things I do for my ride. :detailer:
 
85rd does finish much nicer than 205 does. What I'm wondering though is if I should have used 205 in between the ScratchX 2.0 and 85rd. The test spot I did in following the scratchX with 85rd looked good so I just thought I'd cut out a step and save time. Perhaps the hazing left by ScratchX 2.0 is too much for 85rd? Like I said, it looked perfect prior to the IPA wipedown. I too am hoping that 85rd on a softer gray pad with a slower speed will clean up what's been left behind.
 
mcpp66 said:
First, let me say that I don't have a good camera so I didn't get pictures that would be good enough to post. I hope I can explain my situation well enough. I used a PC 7424XP with white Lake Country 5.5" pads. I polished my hood with ScratchX2.0 first to work out the defects, then I used 85rd to refine the results of the ScratchX 2.0. After I wiped the polish off the finish looked absolutely perfect. But, when I did an IPA wipe down the truth was revealed (unfortunately). It looks like the 85rd left very fine little micro-marring. Is this to be expected or should I expect better results? Did I do something wrong or did I skip a step? Will using 85rd with a gray Lake Country pad remove that last little bit of micro-marring? Should I finish at a slower speed?

After I finished for the evening, I sprayed some Meg's UQD followed by Meg's UQW and you couldn't see any of the micro-marring left behind. Obviously I don't want to rely on waxes and QDs to have a nice finish, I want no visible marring even after an IPA wipe down? Is that realistic or am I expecting too much?
Click to expand...

What vehicle are you working on? To be hoenst, scratchX is going to yield subpar results. Step up to a better polish and use something like M105 or SIP on an orange pad. The rest of your questions are answered below



mcpp66 said:
85rd does finish much nicer than 205 does. What I'm wondering though is if I should have used 205 in between the ScratchX 2.0 and 85rd. The test spot I did in following the scratchX with 85rd looked good so I just thought I'd cut out a step and save time. Perhaps the hazing left by ScratchX 2.0 is too much for 85rd? Like I said, it looked perfect prior to the IPA wipedown. I too am hoping that 85rd on a softer gray pad with a slower speed will clean up what's been left behind.
Click to expand...


It's all about the oils. At least you did the IPA wipedown. The oils in most polishes (even M105/205) can fill in micromarring.

85RD doesn't have enough cut to remove any light swirls. It's only meant to bring luster out of the paint and remove very light micromarring.


Never skip steps. You'll never get the results you want.

Jewel the paint at speeds 5-6 on a DA with a gray pad. I do it at about 1400rpm on my rotary on most of the paints I've done which were on the hard side. Moderate pressure to begin with then finish up with the weight of the buffer making SLOW movements. Maybe 1-2" per second. 85RD has a long work time especially on a PC. Like 07 described it should be transparent, but still 'there'. You can just kind of tell when it's done.
 
zinc02gt said:
What vehicle are you working on? To be hoenst, scratchX is going to yield subpar results. Step up to a better polish and use something like M105 or SIP on an orange pad. The rest of your questions are answered below

It's all about the oils. At least you did the IPA wipedown. The oils in most polishes (even M105/205) can fill in micromarring.

85RD doesn't have enough cut to remove any light swirls. It's only meant to bring luster out of the paint and remove very light micromarring.


Never skip steps. You'll never get the results you want.

Jewel the paint at speeds 5-6 on a DA with a gray pad. I do it at about 1400rpm on my rotary on most of the paints I've done which were on the hard side. Moderate pressure to begin with then finish up with the weight of the buffer making SLOW movements. Maybe 1-2" per second. 85RD has a long work time especially on a PC. Like 07 described it should be transparent, but still 'there'. You can just kind of tell when it's done.
Click to expand...

Well, I didn't want to use anything like 105 on an orange pad because I don't think I need that level of aggressiveness. The ScratchX 2.0 actually removed the swirls/scratches, it's just that 85rd didn't remove all the marring left by ScratchX. Should I go over the area again with 205 on a white pad and then follow that up with 85rd or should I just try the 85rd on a gray pad? I'm working on a black Camaro. By the way, what's SIP?
 
The lovely GM clearcoat. SIP is Menzerna Super Intensive Polish.

How many IPA wipedowns did you do and did you use 91%?

Do about 2, 91% IPA wipedowns. Go over it with 205 one more time with a white pad. Do an IPA wipedown. If there are still swirls and you don't see much change, you'll have to go back to scratch x steps and then repeat all steps. If there are still swirls after that, get a better polish.
 
zinc02gt said:
The lovely GM clearcoat. SIP is Menzerna Super Intensive Polish.

How many IPA wipedowns did you do and did you use 91%?

Do about 2, 91% IPA wipedowns. Go over it with 205 one more time with a white pad. Do an IPA wipedown. If there are still swirls and you don't see much change, you'll have to go back to scratch x steps and then repeat all steps. If there are still swirls after that, get a better polish.
Click to expand...

I think the ScratchX 2.0 did its job, it's just that the Menzerna 85rd either left some of its own marring behind or it didn't entirely clean up the ScratchX 2.0-induced marring.
 
I'm certainly no profesional, so you probably want to wait for more advice. Just from reading what you describe, and not seeing any pictures, it sounds like the jump from scratch-x to 85rd was too big of a jump. I would imagine the scratches left after you worked the 85rd where left over scratches that the 85rd couldn't remove. Assuming proper polishing techniques were used, I can't imagine the 85rd removing the scratch-x marks, then creating some new ones...

I would:
m205 with a white pad
IPA
Menz 85rd with a gray pad
IPA

Then see what you're left with...

This is where the test spot is nice, because you don't need to experiment with different processes on the whole car; just to find out they don't yeald the results you want.
 
CTS-Veo said:
I'm certainly no profesional, so you probably want to wait for more advice. Just from reading what you describe, and not seeing any pictures, it sounds like the jump from scratch-x to 85rd was too big of a jump. I would imagine the scratches left after you worked the 85rd where left over scratches that the 85rd couldn't remove. Assuming proper polishing techniques were used, I can't imagine the 85rd removing the scratch-x marks, then creating some new ones...

I would:
m205 with a white pad
IPA
Menz 85rd with a gray pad
IPA

Then see what you're left with...

This is where the test spot is nice, because you don't need to experiment with different processes on the whole car; just to find out they don't yeald the results you want.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much my plan........except I'll start least aggressive and do a test spot with 85rd on a gray pad first. If that doesn't do the job, then I'll go to 205 on a white pad.
 
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