Clear Coat Scratches

[j8tg]

After using Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover and then Pinnacle Advanced Polish with a random orbital polisher I noticed many,(literally everywhere), scratches in rhe clear coat of an original paint 1986 930. They are invisible in direct sunlight and only show with a 400 watt overhead light fixture. Only a few catch a fingernail. Overall the paint presentation improved greatly but I'm sure I caused these scratches somehow. Pads,(red to polish and grey for finish) were new and clean.

I would appreciate some suggestions on how to get this finished up the right way.

Thanks

TG
Littleton, Co
1986 930

[GorillaFoot]

I assume your 930 has metallic paint, thus the clear coat. My understanding is non-metallic paint at that time was not clear coated.

What brand/model of R/O polisher and pads where you using? it's very unlikely that a good quality pad and polisher would LEAVE scratches. But a R/O that does not get enough rotation speed can leave scratches. I do nothing under 4500rpm. Surface pressure is also important. People tend to use too little pressure and/or low RPM and the finish suffers.

It is very possible that the towels you used to remove the residue left the scratches. I have replaced all bath towels with microfiber polishing and drying towels and have never left a scratch since.

Another problem that happens sometimes is using too much swirl remover, then lightly scratching the paint as you are removing the residue. The swirl remover needs to break down from larger grit to fine grit before removing and you should barely even see the stuff when you finally remove it. Combine this with low quality towels and you could leave some cosmetic scratches.

Another possibility is you did not have the right pad compound to get the deeper swirls out, so what you see is the remaining stuff. Removing swirls and deeper scratches typically requires a compounding pad, not polishing pads.

When I get really serious about getting the job done perfectly, I wet sand (AKA color sand). This is a very long process and I would be very careful if you actaully do have clear coat. Especially with the scratches that catch a finger nail! Might just want to leave that alone.

[j8tg]

Thanks for the response---

I used Lake pads with a Porter Cable 7424XP. The 930 is Guards Red so no clear coat?

Assuming that the claear coat issue does not effect your other thoughts while my rotation rpm was ok I tried to duplicate about a 10 lb pressure on the PC---should I use more?

I will go to micro fiber towels---I think you may have nailed the issue with that comment as I used cotton to remove the swirl polish---these scratches do not seem to have any organization and a hand towel would explain that.

TG

[GorillaFoot]

Unless the car has been repainted, guards red was not clear coated by the factory.

This actually makes your life much easier. Non-clear coat paint is a lot thicker than clear coat!
If your paint still has some orange peel (the paint surface is wavy, like an orange, not flat like a mirror), you can safely sand down deeper scratches to either minimize the scratch or eliminate it completely. I've also had some success in filling scratches and nicks with touch up paint, sanding flat and polishing. It's all in the prep...

There are different quality microfiber towels and ones with different intended uses. Invest in some good quality polish removal towels and some drying towels and you will save yourself a lot of time and aggravation in the long run! I buy my polishing towels from places like Autopia and Autogeek, but after trying a half dozen different top quality drying towels, I love the yellow ones I get from Target! Buy some microfiber towel cleaner as well. Regular detergent tends to degrade their performance.

Good luck!

[j8tg]

Paint is original.

I'll go after it again with your suggestions if it ever warms up around here. I think I would like your weather this time of year a little better.

Thanks again for the help.

TG
1986 930
Littleton, Co

[GorillaFoot]

Yes, Florida is nice this time of year! My wife and I took Out daughter for a walk last night, in shorts...

I like the Lake Country pads, but I generally stay away from the waffle-like pads, sticking with the flat faced pads. This is even more important with polishes and compounds that break down to finer grit as it works. The pits hold fresh liquid, so the grit takes forever to break down.

You use less and less pad pressure as you polish, but always have weight on the polisher, even when you shut it off. If you are seeing cloudy paint, it's from too little pressure. I never measured the amount of pressure I put on the polisher, but I probably start under 10 lbs and end up around 3-4. Depends on what I am looking at and working with....