What is it that I'm doing wrong

Hi all.

Please :help:

I've trying to sort the paintwork on my 2001 Alfa Romeo Selespeed.
I'm new to detailing so here is what I've got and done so far.

I washed the car with the Meguiars car wash and micro fiber mit. Then I rinsed it off and dried it with the Meguiars water magnet towel. I followed that with a clay bar, fine grade from AutoGlym. After witch I rinsed and tried the car again. The car stood over night in the gararge.
Now I've been working it with the Meguiars Swirl X.

Goodies used:
This is the result.










I will still polish and wax the car.
So now I must ask, what is it that I'm doing wrong? The Jetta is the same.

 

Did you work the swirl x manual?

 

Yes. It's all by hand for me.

 

you need to step up to a Porter cable at the least, some cutting pads and decent polishes if you want GREAT results.

You've got some deeper RIDS and some light marring.... I would say go with Meg's 105/205 combo.

Maybe Orange CCS pads, White and then black

 

Ah :sorry: I'm a noob.

Can you please explain the following: :shead:

Porter cable?
RIDS?

Orange CCS pads, White and black?

 

See the haze extending from the sides of the light in the after pictures? That's micro-marring, it's going to look fine in the garage but once the sun hits it, it's gonna look worse than before. You need to either work the polish for longer, decreasing pressure slowly as you go, or get a finer polish and follow it up. Also, not too sure what you use for hand polishing, but it could be the pad marring the paint as well.

EDIT: Also, that microfiber could be doing it too. Invest in better microfibers, the lower quality ones can and will marr your paint. I keep that kind for wheels, exhaust, dashboard, all the crap jobs.

 

I've been using the Meg's aplicator sponge. I can try to reduce the pressure as I go over it. I didn't take a before shot but the micro-marring is very much reduced from before, but not gone as you can see.

For a finer polish what should I use?

 

A porter cable (PC7424) is like the starting machine. It is a random orbital polisher that will help you work you polishes. I believe Phil @ Detailer's Domain sells em' for a good price. They have 1-6 speeds to work your polishes at, I usually spread my polish of choice at speed 3, and work it at speed 6. As you get better with the PC you can move on up to like a Flex or Metabo etc, which I still haven't because I feel like I want to learn where I need to improve before moving onto a more dangerous machine .

RIDS I believe stands for random deep scratches...I'm not sure what the I is to be perfectly honest lol.

CCS is a brand of pad. I have not used them before, so I'm not sure how the colors work on them. I use LC (Lake Country) pads. For LC atleast, orange is a light cutting pad, white being an even lighter cut - I use it in combination with M205 on my PC, and then black being like a finishing pad for glazes and such. That's what I use them for anyways.

Edit: For a 'finer' polish with less cut I like to use either M205 or 1Z's High Gloss Polish I believe it's called. However before I started with the M105 M205 combo I used SIP with good results on my PC.

 

Hey there dude,

Porter Cable = DA or Dual Action polishing machine. This is similar to an orbital type polisher (think Shield Orbital on steroids) and is designed specifically for polishing paintwork safely.

RIDS or RDS = Random Deep Scratches. These are the deeper scratches as can be seen in your last few pics. Without a machine they will take alot of effort to remove and even with a machine cannot always be completely polished out.


If the budget permits I would invest in an entry level DA polisher (Meguiars G220 or Shield DAS6) and some polishing pads.

As far as polishes go there are a few available locally. Of the lot I would recommend the Menzerna range. They are easy to work with and deliver exceptional results in my opinion.

If the budget does not permit an entry level setup (approx R2500 for a kit with DA machine, pads, polish and a god microfiber towel) then you can simply try polishing by hand some more with different products :thumb:


I will drop you a pm with some more local specific info (I am not sure if the mods will appreciate me posting some local links here in the open)

 

So true , I have a bunch of RIDS on problem areas like the trunk and hood from the previous owner on my 'new' car and they are definitely frustrating since I can't (safely) get them out. :hmph:

 

Lol, I've got one of those shield jobies. Will that help? I was told that they are the worst thing.

Oh that's great. The whole car looks like that. It looks like the previous owner parked it in a bush every night.

I've got some stuff. But R2500 isn't in the picture. You may notice that the car is covered. that's because it's laid up with out a motor. I'm saving up for the parts I need for it. R12000 in parts still needed. Any way, I've got 2 meg's microfiber towels, some good drying towels and a bunch of the meg's pads.

I've not heard of the Menzerna range. Where would I get it from?

I haven't polished the car yet in the pics. I've just worked it with the swirl X. Will using the polish and wax take more out still?

 

You can get the Menzerna products with one of the local supporters here for example (Detailers Domian).

oh one more thing, do not worry if you do not understand all detail language eventually you will get the hang off it.


Also be careful because once you start this profession can become very addictive. Good luck

 

:headbang: