I bought a buffer today and some polishing compound. I tried it out on my hood and I dont see any difference. I can still see tiny scratches and swirl marks. When I did the sides of the truck I could still see water spots when I fininshed.

Am I doing something wrong?

 

You used compound? Not good for clearcoats. The water spots can be a ***** to get off if its from acid rain. Ive had ok results from using a liquid cleaner wax with a foam polishing pad on the buffer. It may take a few tries to get off the water spots. The foam polishing pad is worth it. Big time better results vs. the typical bonnet.

 

I bought a compund that said it was safe for clearcoats and it could be used with a buffer.

 

did u completly dry the truck? i only use mothers/megiuars stuff, i dont have any swirl marks, i also clay the truck when i wash it then hand dry it, polish and buff then hand wax. . . .i kno i go overboard

 

Yeah i've seen it before but I would never use it even though it says it's ok. Unless I needed it to remove orange peel in the paint. That $hit it pretty abrasive. Really you should get a foam polishing pad. Those work great and will remove swirls if you use the right polish/wax.
Check out http://levineautoparts.com/autobody.html They have lots of good products for detailing.

 

race glaze compound and use race glaze polish to remove any swirl marks.

 

this is what you need.

You NEED someone who is experienced with a buffer to teach you the tricks to using a buffer properly. There is actually alot of skill using a buffer properly. I for one, am not skilled at using a buffer. the swirl marks in both my trucks prove such.

 

ok so look man. i work at a street rod shop here in georgia, we build indoor show cars and well just about anything street rod. www.ttcustomsinc.com . i do all the buffing up here as well as fab and body work. if youve got bad acid rain, nothings gonna help it besides sanding and buffing. all sorts of polishes and junk can make it less noticable and even maybe get the light stuff out. and i dont know what makes people think compund is bad for clear. ITS NOT. dont go buy that turtle wax junk or anything. if youre gonna do it, do it right, go to your local auto paint store and get 3m stuff. so with that said here we go.

now this is just the way i do it, there are diffrent ways to everything keep in mind but we have won best paint at the Detroit Autorama the past 3 years up against foose and all.
if your just trying to get it looking better and not out. get some 3m perfectit III compound and buff with a wool pad or you can use a white foam waffle pad. (i prefer the wool). once you get all that done (which it may not do any good to the spots again without sanding). wipe if off and get a black foam waffle pad and use the same compound on it. (makes the big swirls from the wool pad lighter and doesnt cut the paint as much as a wool pad either). once you do that wipe that off and get another or wash out your black foam pad and get some 3m Foam pad polish and polish it, depending on the color that should make it look TONS better. and if its black i got to another step with 3ms ultrafina blue foam pad (super soft and gets rid of all swirls) and use 3ms ultrafina polish. now if you want to get into sanding and buffing theres a couple of more steps i take in buffing to get a show car finish but i think youd be happy with that above

 

Maybe this will help you.
http://autopia.org/forum/detailing-p...etsanding.html

 

Buy Zaino! Trust me once you use it you will never go back. My Friend Randy with the MinneSSota club is a Dealer and can hook you up.

www.MNZaino.com

http://mnzaino.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29

^ Here is a 68 Charger he did. I am telling you once you see it done you will be amazed.

Don't be scared of the sticker price for a full kit either, you use so little to get the job done that it will last you for years. Randy does Dozens of cars a year and is on his first kit still.

~HJ

 

Before I start, I just want to say that i'm sorry for necro-posting. Just wanted to clear some stuff up.


You wont really ever see a huge difference after using a cheap buffer you get from your local auto parts store. The random orbital buffers they sell are mainly if you are feeling lazy and want to apply a coat of wax. They never have the power to do any sort of paint correction. You didn't really do anything wrong, it's just what you were using. If you want to see more of a difference you should try to use some ScratchX and a bunch of elbow grease. If you dont see something right away, hit it up again. This product is meant to remove light swirl marks by hand.

WAT. Compound is fine if used correctly. I personally wouldn't recomend it if you didn't know what you are doing with it but it is not something to fear. Also, you can NOT remove orange peel with a compound. To remove orange peel you need to wet sand the car, then use a cutting compound to remove the deeper scratches then hit it up with less and less abrassive compounds. I deffinatly wouldn't recomend this because the factory clearcoat is too thin and its just not worth the hassle.