Hi there i havnt been on here for a while but ive been doing these things for about 7 years now so let me help!
1)Most people are happy with cleaning there cars the way they do, and really do believe there very clean.The problem is when it comes to direct sunlights, is your left with paint defects in your paint.The main defects are:
-Swirls
-rds (random deep scratches)
-Pigtails
-Holograms
-Sand marks
When it comes to taking these out of the paint, you will 100% need a machine polisher.For people who are just starting out and are interested in machine polishing there car, i honestly suggest you do not buy yourself a rotary machine polisher.They are the best and i use them, but for people who have never used a machine polisher this will not be for you to start with.This is because a rotary just rotates, with no clutch.Which means at stand still if yu grab the edge of the backing plate it wil only spin round with the hefty force of your hand.This means that once it connects with your paint its spins fast and very hard.Due to having no clutch it will not ocillate and the more you push on it the worse it gets.This means you are more then certain to get what they call a strike through.This is where you have polished thorugh the clearcoat and are now down to the paint, and the only way you can fix this is by respraying.If you fancy taking the gamble and go straight into using a rotary then i strongly suggest you gets some scrap panels to practice on and buy a PTG.this will measure the depth of your paint and clear coat.Though they dont tell you the sepertae depth of clear coat you can work it out from the overall measurement.Without a ptg and using a rotary for the first time with end in tears for sure and an exspensive re-spray-YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!LOL!
But there is alternative for the people interested and strting out.Get yourself a dual action polisher otherwised called a portar cable.This ocillates as well as rotate.What this means is that when you are paint correcting and you place alot of pressure on the pc, it wont eat the paint with aload of torque like a rotary.This is when the clutch will keep in stoping it spining as hard from the pressure your apllying.This will result in NO strikethrough if you make a **** up!lol If you buy a pc of todays standard they have come along way, and can easily achive near to as good finish as a rotary, it just means it will take longer with the pc.To be fair though its much better to take longer then destroy the paintwork on the car.In my opinion the dual action polisher's (portar cable) to buy are:
1)mrk 2 meguiars g220
2)DAS-6
These are fantastic, as there really good build quality, and are variable speed, which you HAVE TO HAVE!withought variable speed you will not be able to work compounds and polishes proply into your paint.This is the same for a rotary.Make sure it has variable speed because it is garenteed to end in tears.
As for pads i personally wouldnt go for megs as there very hit or miss. From what i use i stick to these brands:
-Chemical guys hex-logic pads
-3M Pads
-Lake Country Pads
These are of amazing quality and 2 of these brands are no using the hexagonal technoligy in there pads that make life really easy.As far as quality goes the last forever as long as you wash them out everytime uyou use them.Once you have the right tool and pads you'll need the polishes and compounds from agressive compounds to finishing polishes.the brands that work are:
-Chemical guys paint correction 1,2,3
-Meguiars
-Menzerna
The 2 m's are wide used in the pro world of correction and are garenteed to work.When you have your selection, its time to correct!
Someone here said is it worth taping up, and yes it is.When you kick of your pc or rotary its more then likely you will get polish splash.This will cling to plastic and glass trim and is a mission to get off,so make sure you mask up lights, glass, badgeses, exterior trim and door gaps.This way you wont have to spend hours cleaning all the rock hard polish off of them.
When starting you will need to assess how bad the defects are in your paint.To start with you want to start with the least agressive pad and polish.Work no more then 18 inches squared.This way you will work the polish proply.
The way to do this i would say is put 4 small blobs onto your pad.Then in the 18 inches squared areapush the pad dont (without it on) all over so that theres polish blobs over the area evenly.Then at speed 2 (6 speed varable) work the polish across the space your working in, in 2 passes so that the area is now covered in a layer of polish.Then step the pc up to 4-5 wth a increased amount of pressure over the head and move the pc 1-2 inches per second.Stay with this with slow passes like said, as its vital not to go fast.Continue until the polish goes to a clear liquid look.This means that the polish has properly broken down.Without it looking like this it will not have worked properly, and your results will not be very good.Once it has gona like a thick layer of water the polish has done all it can to its optimum level, and has been completed.This process needs to be done on all panels to get the best out of your work.Things to remmber:
-decent PC Makes the difference
-Quality pads will make it easier, and better quality of work.You will need a selection from agressive cutting pad to soft finishing polishing pad.
-This is the same with your compounds and polishes.
-When started, start with the lightest pad and the lightest polish, and work your way up to agressive pad and polish, until you find the right conbination that works for you and your paint.This way you will only use what is necessary and its only a last resort to use the most agressive pad with the most agressive polish or compound.
-Spread the polish at speed
-work the polish 1-2 inches per section with about 4-5 passes across thepanel your working at speed 4-5
-Let the polish work clear until it looks like thick water on the panel.This way all the micro abrassives have been worked and will leave the panel swirl free.
-You have now corrected this panel!
PTG?
This is what measure your paint in microns.Its less the likely you will strick through the clear coat with a pc, but a rotary is far less forgiving.This is why you need a ptg.Paint usaully consists of 2 to 3 layers:
-Base coat
-Colour coat
-Clear coat
You are always and only gona attack the clear coat and is all you will be interested in.Going further then this will be a strike thorugh and result in a re spray!Micros are micro millimetre and is what paint is measured in.Heres a quick guide of paint depth:
200 MICRONS +
This level of thickness can be expected on older cars that have been hand painted – the Ferrari F355 for example. It is also indicative of the possibility of the car having been painted at some point in its life. This is something important to note as non-OEM paint can respond very differently to factory paint in terms of hardness and polish behaviour – so if any regions appear quite thick, make a mental note of this for when you come to machine polishing them.
BETWEEN 100 AND 200 MICRONS
This is normal paint thickness. Reading in this range point to standard paint (generally speaking) and shows a healthy thickness that should present no problems when it comes to machine polishing.
BETWEEN 80 AND 100 MICRONS
For most cars with clear coats, readings in this range point to quite thin paint. Many newer cars give thinner paint readings, but reading in this region should raise caution. Think twice about using more aggressive polishes on thinner paints as significant amounts can be removed, resulting in strike through and the need for a respray. Paint of this level can still be machine polished – but greater care should be exercised in polish and pad choice.
LESS THAN 80 MICRONS
Now we are in the realm of very thin paint, especially if a clear coat is present. Care should be taken when choosing a polish for these thinner paints. A big consideration should be a filler heavy polish which can achieve correction by filling the marring rather than removing any further paint. Thin paint can be a result of aggressive machine polishing in the car’s past life.
LAYER THICKNESSES?
As said at the start of this section, it is the thickness of the top layer of paint which is of most interest for assessing the suitability of using machine polishes. But with a reading of only the total thickness, how can you know the thickness of this top layer? The answer is that, unless you buy a PTG that can measure the individual layers (expensive!), you cannot know to high accuracy – but you can give an educated guess.
- 50-25-25: Very generally speaking, on most cars the clear coat makes up 50% of the total thickness. This is a general approximation, and only a first very rough estimate.
- Inside of door: Measure in here. This will give you the thickness with much less clear coat sprayed and you can assume this to be the thickness with no clear coat to a pretty good approximation. The difference between readings inside the door and on the exterior paintwork gives the thickness of the clearcoat.
I really hope this helps, if you dont understand anything ive said that just drop me a pm, and i will gladly help, as i would hate to think you come off worse with your exspensive paint.
Also to the guy above you can not paint correct a car proply in 20 mins if the cars brand new from the factory it takes a min of 4 hours 1 stage correction, upto a lamborghini gallardo which has probly the hardest paint around, and takes up to 72 hours, with 2 to 3 stage correction.
Remember do it right, you'll do it once!
Best regards Michael
