Help with torch red C5 corvette RIDS

D

dewoof01

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Hello,

Been lurking here for ages but first time I've needed to post. Wealth of knowledge here. So I have a 98' corvette I've had for about 1.5 years. I got a steal on the car and the paint is in good shape overall. However when I've been detailing I notice rids that aren't real deep as in I cannot feel them with my fingernail. Also a lot of minor marring in the clear on the power hood and front bumper. I compounded and olished last year using the following.

Porter cable DA

LC flat pads orange and white
3m perfect it compound
CG v36
Wolfgang hgps 3.0

Shine was great on the car and looked great but close up in the right lift these rids would show up. Now I'm super anal about the paint on all my cars. My vette is a garage queen and only sees about 1000 miles a year only in nice weather.

So I don't want to wet sand any of the rids but this year I was hoping to be more aggressive in my spring detail. I tried uber compound which I've had great luck with on my truck and suv and a LC yellow pad. After 2 attempts with uber of 6-8 section passes each the finish on the paint is flawless but these minor rids still appear untouched. I have experience with a rotary and I have a Makita rotary but I have no desire to go that route as the da is much safer. My question is should I step up to the meguiars da system or another? Or because f the hard clear do I just have to live with these rids.

50/50 shot of before and after with the uber compound. Did quick work of the swirls!
Left side bad swirls right side flawless
View attachment 55963

Now this area has been gone over 2 times with yellow pad and tubes compound. Still scratches and these cannot be felt with a fingernail at all.

View attachment 55964
 
Try the Megs D300 w/ microfiber cutting discs. Worked out some deep stuff on our black C5.
 
Thanks. Thinking the pad is the problem. Technique can't be any better and considering I have gone over this paint 5+ times total with just compound I can't see a few more passes making a difference. Any idea if Griot's boss pads would be better than the meguiars MF pads?
 
Sonax cutmax and some micropads would be my first try or 105 or even m100.They don't look that deep.
 
dewoof01 said:
Thanks.

Thinking the pad is the problem.

Technique can't be any better and considering I have gone over this paint 5+ times total with just compound I can't see a few more passes making a difference.
Click to expand...

Read through my DA Troubleshooting Guide. Check to see if you're making any of the more common mistakes. IF you are... making a SINGLE adjustment to your technique can make the difference between so-so results and Showcar results.


DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide




dewoof01 said:
Any idea if Griot's boss pads would be better than the meguiars MF pads?
Click to expand...


I'd say about the same as they are both basically "fiber" pads.

Remember, fibers are a form of abrasive, this is why you see guys use fiber pads for MORE AGGRESSIVE CUTTING ACTION. For the same reason they are a form of abrasives they can leave behind micro-marring. NO problem though, just do a follow-up polishing step with foam and a less aggressive polish and you can remove micro-marring.


:)
 
.


If you prefer to use foam, the gray pad in the LC ThinPro line is wicked sharp...


Lake Country ThinPro Foam Buffing Pads exclusively at Autogeek


Thin_Pro_pads_004.jpg




ThinPro pads are available in 5.5" diameter and 6.5" pads.


On Autogeek.com

Lake Country ThinPro Foam Pad System 5.5 inch

Lake Country ThinPro Foam Pad System 6.5 inch


:)
 
Thanks guys. I have a couple cutting pads for my rotary that I'll do a sample area with tonight to see. They aren't that deep but dang this clear coat must be hard. Mike thanks for the tips I've adjusted everything thing I can on different areas of the hood and I'm still having issues. I've wet sanded cars before so I know how careful to be and how thin clear is as I've burned through a spot before on a different car. It just feels like I'm getting no cut past just swirl removal on this car. With the meguiars MF pads do you need to use their compound for it. Or can you try whatever you like with it? I have 4 cutting compounds now I'd rather not buy another unless it works great with those pads.
 
dewoof01 said:
I have experience with a rotary and I have a Makita rotary but I have no desire to go that route as the da is much safer.
Click to expand...



dewoof01 said:
Thanks guys. I have a couple cutting pads for my rotary that I'll do a sample area with tonight to see.

They aren't that deep but dang this clear coat must be hard.
Click to expand...

I would say from experience the factory clear on most Corvettes IS on the hard side.

A word of caution...

When working on SMALL areas, like working out an isolcated scratch, BE VERY CAREFUL to not overhead the paint and twist it.

Rotary buffers can generate a lot of heat very fast especially on plastic body parts like Corvette bodies.

When buffing a large panel, while buffing one area the area you're not buffing is cooling down an visa-versa. But when buffing in a small area there is no cooling down time so if you're aware, you can heat that section of panel and paint up really fast.


See my article here,

Fight or Flight Method for Gaging Surface Temperature


dewoof01 said:
Mike thanks for the tips I've adjusted everything thing I can on different areas of the hood and I'm still having issues.

I've wet sanded cars before so I know how careful to be and how thin clear is as I've burned through a spot before on a different car.

It just feels like I'm getting no cut past just swirl removal on this car.
Click to expand...

That probably has to do with the hardness factor of the clear.


dewoof01 said:
With the meguiars MF pads do you need to use their compound for it. Or can you try whatever you like with it?

I have 4 cutting compounds now I'd rather not buy another unless it works great with those pads.
Click to expand...

You can always experiment.

A good general use compound that works by hand or with foam, wool and microfiber pads is Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.

Note if you look at the directions for use on the back of all 3M professional compounds and polishes each product is recommended for use at a specific RPM - RPM indicates rotary buffer.

I've never seen 3M to bring out a product for orbital polishers.


:)
 
I personally prefer working on isolated defects by hand to keep the "repair" area as small as possible. Also, you need to have a pretty good feeling of whether or not the defect can be removed safely before attempting such, the level of correction desired and/or possible, and the risk you are willing to take. Many defects are better off left as is or only partially "repaired".
 
Meguiars MF cutting pad and any quality compound(M100, Griot's Fast Correct Cream, etc..)
 
I would agree that a given is that Corvette paint (if factory paint) is always super hard. Gotta really get aggressive to get out RIDS that remain even after what you think is aggressive compounding. My go-to in the past for this is a wool pad on a rotary with Meguiars M101. Only do one or two section passes with this as it is one of the most aggressive combinations you can get. Wipe off a bit and see how it looks. You can always continue compounding since the M101 has SMAT abrasives, just hit it with a spritz of water if the lubrication dries up. Don't be surprised to see heavy hazing and holograms after you do this, you will definitely need a second step with a DA after.

As Mike said, watch the heat on the fiberglass body panels, and unfortunately, you cannot use a paint thickness gauge on a Corvette so proceed with caution.
 
I would recommend honestly CarPro Essence. You basically should polish once a year or so anyway so why not just fill the swirls for one year instead, and let the fine abrasives do their thing. Try using a cutting pad with it, could save you a lot of clear coat.
 
WillSports3 said:
I would recommend honestly CarPro Essence. You basically should polish once a year or so anyway so why not just fill the swirls for one year instead, and let the fine abrasives do their thing. Try using a cutting pad with it, could save you a lot of clear coat.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I had heard of the product but never looked into it. I see you can apply cquartz over it but would WG high gloss paint sealant Bond over the top? I polish every spring before the driving season and apply paint sealant then top with pinnacle spray wax or CG v7 every other wash.

I've done rotary with wool pads before after I did a complete wet sand on my old car on the new paint. The cut was awesome but it scared me too much to risk when I don't know how much clear is on this car and where it could be thin.
 
Ok so I bought the carpro essence. Tried different processes for about and hour. Barely any difference as I suspected but an interesting product none the less.
Got a new bottle of m105 as my old one was a few years old. Typical 105, a little dusting, short work time, but better results than the uber compound. I could get 90%+ of the rids out but with 2-3 buffing cycles to achieve that. Plus I had to use an immense amount of product and clean the pad on the go after each section was done. I used my da on 6 and used A LOT of pressure being careful not to overheat the area. Just ordered boss fast correcting cream and boss MF pads. Hopefully I can achieve the same results with less passes. Pictures below of what 3 buffing cycles on the m105 achieved. Man this is some hard clear!
View attachment 56368
Rids after Uber compound
View attachment 56369
Rids gone after m105

As you can see the m105 left alot of marring but I could care less that's the easy thing to remove at this point. I guess I never believed clear could be this hard. Even with the m105 I feel like I'm barely touching the clear. I will post updates after I get the boss stuff on Wednesday.
 
dewoof01 said:
Ok so I bought the carpro essence. Tried different processes for about and hour. Barely any difference as I suspected but an interesting product none the less.
Got a new bottle of m105 as my old one was a few years old. Typical 105, a little dusting, short work time, but better results than the uber compound. I could get 90%+ of the rids out but with 2-3 buffing cycles to achieve that. Plus I had to use an immense amount of product and clean the pad on the go after each section was done. I used my da on 6 and used A LOT of pressure being careful not to overheat the area. Just ordered boss fast correcting cream and boss MF pads. Hopefully I can achieve the same results with less passes. Pictures below of what 3 buffing cycles on the m105 achieved. Man this is some hard clear!
View attachment 56368
Rids after Uber compound
View attachment 56369
Rids gone after m105

As you can see the m105 left alot of marring but I could care less that's the easy thing to remove at this point. I guess I never believed clear could be this hard. Even with the m105 I feel like I'm barely touching the clear. I will post updates after I get the boss stuff on Wednesday.
Click to expand...
Wow, big difference between M105 & Uber Compound. BOSS FCC may or may not correct as quickly as M105, but more user friendly. What pad were you using in your pictures? BTW, BOSS MF pads are not the best choice for using with a PC DA. The soft foam interface is not meant to be used with a lot of pressure. This is ideal for long throw polishers, but not an 8mm random orbital. The best choice would have been Meguiar's 5" MF cutting pad or LC MF cutting pad. B&S Uro-Fiber pads are good, too.

I have a '03 silver z06. If you're dealing with OEM paint, yes, it's on the harder side.
 
The pad was a yellow flat LC pad. The reason for the Griot's MF pads is because I plan on getting the whole system including the g15
 
dewoof01 said:
The pad was a yellow flat LC pad. The reason for the Griot's MF pads is because I plan on getting the whole system including the g15
Click to expand...
Even though you did a few separate passes, that's some good correction with a foam cutting pad and PC!
 
WRAPT C5Z06 said:
Even though you did a few separate passes, that's some good correction with a foam cutting pad and PC!
Click to expand...

Ya I was actually quite surprised. The Uber compound has been working awesome for me lately. I've been just compounding with orange pad and been able to seal or coat right after on daily drivers as it finishes so well and it has a ton of corrections . However on this Vette paint it had no cut at all. I would say it was acting like a swirl remover or fine polish. This m105 I can actually see it cutting when I go over scratches. Something the Uber compound did not do.
 
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