Made my first attempt at paint correction... I have a lot to learn

[jdgamble]

So yesterday, my wife authorized several hours of detailing with my new TORQX DA. It was a lot of fun, but I did not accomplish my goal of removing all the swirls from my car. I only tackled a few areas of the car (hood, front fenders, rear fenders), and it definitely looks better, but not where I want it.

Here's what I did:

Wash
Clay
Chemical Guys VSS with Orange Pad
A little polishing with Meguair's ultimate polish on White Pad
Chemical guys Jetseal
Wax

In the compound step, I was very cautious... I moved too fast and didn't spend enough time on it. Thus the results. I still have some swirls and imperfections. The good news is that I am no longer afraid of the orange pad with compound. I didn't damage anything.

Also, I had a really hard time keeping the pad rotating. I marked the backing plate, and I feel like if I put any pressure on it, it would slow way down. My car has some contours that make it tricky, but how do I keep the thing moving?

So what's next? I have all this stuff on the paint (sealant, wax). How do I take my next pass? It doesn't need any clay now. Can I just wash next time and start compounding again?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

John

 

[TMQ]

Off to a good start.

May need to turn up the speed up a bit more to get pads to rotate.

Yes---You can try compound again w/o claying---just wash and go at it again. Ideally you would only need to compound once. Then year after year---just do a light polish to remove light swirls. Key here is that you follow proper washing steps for the rest of the year.

To save time just do one or the other---a sealant or a wax. You don't really need to do both.

You can alternate sealant and wax after each wash just to see how things work.

Mike's famous words---(He has many!)

1. Wet sanding---Removes lots of paint
2. Compounding---Removes lots of paint
3. Polishing---Removes little paint

Tom

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Also, I had a really hard time keeping the pad rotating. I marked the backing plate, and I feel like if I put any pressure on it, it would slow way down.

Hi John,

Did you turn the speed dial to the maximum speed?

If so then it's really a case of a tool on the weak side. Your best option if you want to keep using this tool is to get THIN foam pads like any of these,




5.5" SUPER THIN FOAM PAD OPTIONS for your Dual Action Polisher



Super thin 5.5" foam buffing pads

The primary benefit to super thin foam pads is that free spinning orbital polishers are able to rotate and oscillate these pads better than thick pads.


What does this mean to you?

You can compound and polish paint to perfection faster than ever before when using orbital polishers like the Porter Cable 7424XP or the Griot's Garage 6" DA polisher.



Currently Autogeek carries three brands of super thin foam pads,


From left to right

Lake Country 5.5" ThinPro foam pads

Griot's Garage BOSS 5.5" foam pads

Meguiar's 5.5" foam discs

Lake Country 5.5" ThinPro foam pads

Griot's Garage BOSS 5.5" foam pads

The Griot's BOSS foam pads are unique from the rest in that they have a hole in the center of the pad.

Meguiar's 5.5" foam discs

Thinner, smaller pads rotate and oscillate easier simply because they have less mass. Not only do they rotate better because they have less mass but since there is less mass pad saturation is not as influential of a factor as it is for thick pads on dual action polishers.




On Autogeek.com

It's a good idea to purchase a backing plate from the same company you purchase your pads so that way you know you're the velcro attachment system for the pads and the backing plate will match.


Lake Country

Lake Country ThinPro Foam Pad System 5.5 inch


Lake Country 5" Dual-Action Hook & Loop Flexible Backing Plate




Griot's

5.5 Inch BOSS Pads

6.5 Inch BOSS Pads

Griots Garage 5 Inch Vented Orbital Backing Plate




Meguiar's

Meguiars 5 Inch DA Foam Discs

Meguiars Soft Buff DBP5 DA Polisher 5 inch Backing Plate



Need a dual action polisher?

Below are the simple, safe and easy to learn how to use dual action polishers available at Autogeek.com

These tool all offer an 8mm orbit stroke length and work best with the thin pads and matching backing plates shared in this article. These tools all operate the same way just some of them use a longer body style for those that prefer a traditional shaped polisher.

Note: Some polishers are available with a heavy duty 25' electrical cord pre-wired into the tool. These are exclusive to Autogeek and when purchased through Autogeek you get the same factory warranty as the version with the stock electrical cord. The longer cord enables you to safe time because you don't have to mess around with extension cords coming un-plugged. The 25' cords also use the recommended heavy gauge wire to protect the tools electronics. Using an extension cord that uses light gauge wiring can damage your tool and void your warranty. Wiring in your own extended cord will void your warranty.



Porter Cable 7424XP - Standard cord

Porter Cable 7424XP - HD Cord - 25' Heavy Duty Cord already pre-wired

Griot's Garage 6" ROP - Standard cord

Griots Garage 6 Inch Heavy Duty Random Orbital Polisher - HD Cord - 25' Heavy Duty Cord already pre-wired

Meguiars MT300 Dual Action Polisher

Chemical Guys TORQ 10FX Random Orbital Polisher

Shurhold DA Polisher

I have one Torx polisher in the Autogeek Garage. It's in a box. I get it out when someone wants to see what it's like to buff with it. After they see - it goes back in the box. I tested it out once or twice for my own knowledge and at least once for a forum member to let them know of its limits. It's simply on the anemic side of polishers.

 

[fightnews]

So yesterday, my wife authorized several hours of detailing with my new TORQX DA. It was a lot of fun, but I did not accomplish my goal of removing all the swirls from my car. I only tackled a few areas of the car (hood, front fenders, rear fenders), and it definitely looks better, but not where I want it.

Here's what I did:

Wash
Clay
Chemical Guys VSS with Orange Pad
A little polishing with Meguair's ultimate polish on White Pad
Chemical guys Jetseal
Wax

In the compound step, I was very cautious... I moved too fast and didn't spend enough time on it. Thus the results. I still have some swirls and imperfections. The good news is that I am no longer afraid of the orange pad with compound. I didn't damage anything.

Also, I had a really hard time keeping the pad rotating. I marked the backing plate, and I feel like if I put any pressure on it, it would slow way down. My car has some contours that make it tricky, but how do I keep the thing moving?

So what's next? I have all this stuff on the paint (sealant, wax). How do I take my next pass? It doesn't need any clay now. Can I just wash next time and start compounding again?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

John

That's what I did in the beginning, just compound/polish the sealant off and start again

 

[jdgamble]

Thanks for the replies. Back at it soon.

Mike - Good info. Would you mind if I sent you a PM? I bought without doing much research. Even before I used it, I felt like maybe I made the wrong call.

Thanks.

John

 

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

John, don't beat yourself up, we all start somewhere.

Don't really know what the VSS product is or what it's supposed to do, but a lot of Chemical Guys products don't do what they are supposed to do and don't do what they show them doing in their fancy Youtube videos.

Unfortunately, you're going to have to go back and repeat your work pretty much from the start here. If there's still swirls and scratches you will need to go back to the compounding step. As far as the machine, make sure you're at the highest speed setting. When moving the machine over curves, it's really just a matter of playing with the geometry of the angles of how you hold the polisher to make sure the pad is still spinning. Trial and error, don't worry about damaging the paint while you're doing this, you can't with the safety features of a free spinning DA.

 

[ScottH]

So yesterday, my wife authorized several hours of detailing with my new TORQX DA. It was a lot of fun, but I did not accomplish my goal of removing all the swirls from my car. I only tackled a few areas of the car (hood, front fenders, rear fenders), and it definitely looks better, but not where I want it.

Here's what I did:

Wash
Clay
Chemical Guys VSS with Orange Pad
A little polishing with Meguair's ultimate polish on White Pad
Chemical guys Jetseal
Wax

In the compound step, I was very cautious... I moved too fast and didn't spend enough time on it. Thus the results. I still have some swirls and imperfections. The good news is that I am no longer afraid of the orange pad with compound. I didn't damage anything.

Also, I had a really hard time keeping the pad rotating. I marked the backing plate, and I feel like if I put any pressure on it, it would slow way down. My car has some contours that make it tricky, but how do I keep the thing moving?

So what's next? I have all this stuff on the paint (sealant, wax). How do I take my next pass? It doesn't need any clay now. Can I just wash next time and start compounding again?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

John

Hi John,

You made some progress even if it wasn't swirl removal - you gained some confidence and learned along the way. Mike recommended many good next steps - also make sure your extension cord wasn't too thin of a gauge. I've seen many tools starved of power by using cheap 18 and 16 gauge cords. Make sure yours was 14 or better. You don't want to starve your polisher of power.

ScottH