Hello all,
I'm new to the forum and just recently purchased the intermediate swirl removal kit:
XMT Porter Cable 7424 Intermediate Swirl Remover Kit, polishing kit, xmt polishes, detailing kit
I have a 2005 dodge srt-4 that I took very good care of until I moved away to attend college a couple years ago. When I moved, I no longer had access to the facilities to take proper care of my car. Prior to attending college, I washed, clayed, and waxed my car on a regular basis. However nowadays, my car's paint is filled with swirls, imperfections, etc.
Last Thursday, I watched the included DVD "Principles of Maching Polishing" and got started attempting to remove the swirls from the paint with the intermediate swirl removal kit. This was the first time I had ever attempted a paint correction like this and my swirl removal procedure followed the steps included on the webpage for the swirl removal kit and on the DVD.
1) I first did a test spot with XMT #2 swirl remover. This didn't look like it did the trick so I stepped it up to XMT #3. To my untrained eye, this looked like it was working.
2) Apply XMT #3 with an Orange Lake Country pad, making 4-6 overlapping passes to each section.
3) Apply XMT #1 with a White Lake Country pad, making 4-6 overlapping passes to each section.
I applied the XMT caranuba glaze to one section of the hood just to see the results and left it at that. When I finished with the swirl removal, it was 5:30 am and I decided to go to bed and check the final results later in the day when the sun came out. I had a bright halogen light, but I figured the sunlight would provide a much better look.
When I finally got to take a look at the paint in the sun, I was pretty disappointed. All of the random cobweb swirls had been completely removed, but were replaced by much finer, more concentrated, less noticable concentric swirls. I wasn't able to achieve the mirror-like finish that I wanted. I'm not sure where I went wrong, but I apparently didn't perform a step or two correctly.
I applied steady pressure, set the PC polisher to the 5 setting, kept the PC polisher straight and kept the PC polisher movement slow. Does anyone have any idea what I may have done wrong? Again, I performed a preliminary test spot, and to my untrained eye, it appeared the major swirls were removed.
As an aside, I noticed that the swirl remover was turning to a powdery substance, I guess this is called "flashing", before I was able to finish my 4-6 passes on several occasions. What is usually the cause of this? Perhaps a dirty pad with caked polish?
I have attached a picture that I took of the hood after polishing. The picture isn't the greatest and I can provide another if necessary.
Thanks for all the help
http://www.autogeek.net/xmtpocainswr.html
I'm new to the forum and just recently purchased the intermediate swirl removal kit:
XMT Porter Cable 7424 Intermediate Swirl Remover Kit, polishing kit, xmt polishes, detailing kit
I have a 2005 dodge srt-4 that I took very good care of until I moved away to attend college a couple years ago. When I moved, I no longer had access to the facilities to take proper care of my car. Prior to attending college, I washed, clayed, and waxed my car on a regular basis. However nowadays, my car's paint is filled with swirls, imperfections, etc.
Last Thursday, I watched the included DVD "Principles of Maching Polishing" and got started attempting to remove the swirls from the paint with the intermediate swirl removal kit. This was the first time I had ever attempted a paint correction like this and my swirl removal procedure followed the steps included on the webpage for the swirl removal kit and on the DVD.
1) I first did a test spot with XMT #2 swirl remover. This didn't look like it did the trick so I stepped it up to XMT #3. To my untrained eye, this looked like it was working.
2) Apply XMT #3 with an Orange Lake Country pad, making 4-6 overlapping passes to each section.
3) Apply XMT #1 with a White Lake Country pad, making 4-6 overlapping passes to each section.
I applied the XMT caranuba glaze to one section of the hood just to see the results and left it at that. When I finished with the swirl removal, it was 5:30 am and I decided to go to bed and check the final results later in the day when the sun came out. I had a bright halogen light, but I figured the sunlight would provide a much better look.
When I finally got to take a look at the paint in the sun, I was pretty disappointed. All of the random cobweb swirls had been completely removed, but were replaced by much finer, more concentrated, less noticable concentric swirls. I wasn't able to achieve the mirror-like finish that I wanted. I'm not sure where I went wrong, but I apparently didn't perform a step or two correctly.
I applied steady pressure, set the PC polisher to the 5 setting, kept the PC polisher straight and kept the PC polisher movement slow. Does anyone have any idea what I may have done wrong? Again, I performed a preliminary test spot, and to my untrained eye, it appeared the major swirls were removed.
As an aside, I noticed that the swirl remover was turning to a powdery substance, I guess this is called "flashing", before I was able to finish my 4-6 passes on several occasions. What is usually the cause of this? Perhaps a dirty pad with caked polish?
I have attached a picture that I took of the hood after polishing. The picture isn't the greatest and I can provide another if necessary.
Thanks for all the help
http://www.autogeek.net/xmtpocainswr.html