After you get the Menzerna 85RD here's what you want to do...
Test Spot
Seriously. Dial in a process that makes one small area look GREAT and after you've proven the process then duplicate it over the rest of the car.
First, get some painter's tape and place a strip of tape down a large flat panel, like the hood or a door, or for those of you reading this with a car you can also use a trunk lid or even a roof.
Horizontal surfaces you can look down on work best because you more easily place focused bright light on the panel to see what's taking place to the paint when you inspect your results.
By using some painter's tape to create a before and after section, it will be a lot easier to see if you're getting better results and even if you're getting bad results as you'll have a very distinct demarcation line between the two section.
After you apply a strip of tape to create a before and after section, now take your Griot's Garage Random Orbital Polisher with a clean foam polishing pad, (not finishing pad yet), and then shake up the Menzerna PO 85RD and apply an X pattern of product to the face of your pad or a circle pattern of product to the face of your pad.
Circle Pattern of Menzerna PO 85RD on the face of a CCS White Foam Polishing pad on the Griot's Garage ROP
X Pattern of Menzerna PO 85RD on the face of a CCS White Foam Polishing pad on the Griot's Garage ROP
Set the speed setting on the 5.0 Speed Setting and work a section about 20" squarish or so for 4 to 6 section passes. Turn the polisher off and then remove any polish residue using a clean, soft microfiber polishing cloth and then inspect the results.
Carefully remove the painter's tape and compare the difference between before and after results. If you have a Brinkman Swirl Finder Light use this to light up the panel.
The paint should be more clear. At this point what you want is a clear, defect free surface. Defects include any kind of swirls, scratches, toweling marks, haze or micro-marring. If you remove all surface defects you will have a completely flat but defect free surface. It should be crystal clear so you an easily see the color coat under the clear. The goal is a clear, smooth, defect free surface.
If you're seeing great results, then as an option you can chemically strip the after side and re-inspect. You can use Isopropyl Alcohol or Mineral Spirits or even an APC. Mineral Spirits will tend to leave a streak free finish making it easier for your to see the results. IPA and APC will tend to leave a hazy streaking finish which can cloud the paint and distract your eyes from focusing on the results. If this happens you can re-wipe the area with just about any spray detailer to remove the haze or smears.
If you're not getting these kinds of results then post back here what you're seeing.
Also, take a moment to read through this,
Tips and Techniques for using the PC 7424XP Dual Action Polisher to remove Below Surface Defects
It covers all the basics of using a dual action polisher to remove defects and goes into details like what a section pass is.
The definition of a pass
There are two definitions of the word pass as it relates to machine polishing with any type of machine.
Single Pass
A single pass is just that. It's when you move the polisher from one side of the section you're buffing to the other side of the section you're buffing. That's a single pass.
Section Pass
A section pass is when you move the polisher back and forth, or front to back with enough single overlapping passes to cover the entire section
one time. That's a section pass.
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