Some Spiderwebs snagging my first full detail

D

donoman

New member
Dear Autopia University,



I tried my first full detail tonight. Rather, I'm in the middle of it. I noticed when I turned on my super-bright halogens in the garage that I have some spiderwebs, most noticeable from atop the hood. So I made another pass over the hood with 3M Perfect-It II Fine Cut rubbing compound and a Porter Cable.



Now, the spiderwebs are much less, but by no means are they all gone. If I look directly at the light bulb from my ceiling-mounted spotlamps, I can still see some spider scratches. I went over the area again and again but started to get some hazing in some spots so I got scared and quit.



My car is white and it's hard to see these unless I stare into the overhead lights' reflections.



I felt like I was not doing any more help to the swirls by doing another pass with the Porter Cable. I was running it at "5".



Questions:

-Is it possible to remove mostly all spiderwebs? Or am I shooting for something that is short of a repaint?

-Do you guys run the PC at "6"?

-How do you know when to stop working the polish in, and when to start wiping it off? Seems if I work it too long it becomes difficult to remove.



Thanks for your help,

Sorry for asking questions that have probably been asked before.
 
u need to go to a less abrasive compound/Polish. The hazing and spider webbing is the micro-marring from the 3m. Get something like PB SSR 2 or even 1 should clear it up. IMO..
 
I love 3M polishes, and have had great results with them. You mentioned speed 5, which is perfect IMO, but what pad are you using? How big of an area are you polishing at a time, and how long are you polishing?
 
I'm using the orange Sonus cutting pad, i'm polishing 2x3' areas, and i'm polishing maybe 2 minutes per section
 
Dude....it's a white car......and you are looking for the marring using high wattage halogen lamps?!?!?



I bet in the real world the car looks great, right? So how many people are running around with 500 watt halogen lamps seeing if your car has any marring?



I would finish the car up with a fine polish like FPII and a really fine foam finishing pad, wax it and call it quits. You will be there forever chasing each and every little scratch....trust me I speak from OCD experience.



Anthony
 
OCD

....

but

i can see

scratches



I swear to God 4 weeks ago (prior to Autopia) I would never have seen these swirls
 
Sounds like you've done everything you can do. I agree with Anthony. You're done, just finish it up now.



Since you used the 3M RC, I suggest following behind it with some 3M PI II MG and a Sonus green pad. That should smooth things out nicely.
 
donoman said:
OCD

....

but

i can see

scratches



I swear to God 4 weeks ago (prior to Autopia) I would never have seen these swirls
Click to expand...



All you can do is go over the car again with the RC. Just remember to move very slowly and polish until it start to dry up, and then remove it. Sometimes a haze will form if you aren't polishing long enough.



I still think you should move to MG from here. Even if you only try it on a small area to see what it looks like. 3M PI II RC doesn't have any fillers so what you see is what you get. It's probably squeaky clean, huh? If you were using another product with more oils/fillers, you probably wouldn't even see these "scratches".
 
Yup, it's squeaky clean... and it looks great until I look at direct light reflections from these halogens. I've already given up and worked around some Klasse AIO and then coated with Sealant Glaze but I was having an OCD moment and considered starting all over again. :)
 
Personally, I'd leave it alone until next time. Take a break and read as much as you can on here to see what other people have done in your situation. You still have lots of options.
 
OK i'm calling it quits for the night. I seem to have read somewhere that white paint is pretty hard to work with. I've been polishing since 6pm :nervous2: I may need something more abrasive for this BMW paint. Weird, my Honda paint cleaned up VERY nicely.
 

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There's also a difference in paint hardness between manufacturers. BMW may have much harder paint than Honda. (Audi sure does!)
 
Anthony Orosco said:
Dude....it's a white car......and you are looking for the marring using high wattage halogen lamps?!?!?



I bet in the real world the car looks great, right? So how many people are running around with 500 watt halogen lamps seeing if your car has any marring?
Click to expand...



:LOLOL If he had a black, red or other dark colored car he'd be freaking out big-time. I've long ago ceased to look at my red car under overhead lights. It's too depressing. Same with certain types of low lighting. 95% of the time it looks great so I'm happy.



I guess it depends on how obsessive you allow yourself to be. It's easy to get carried away and stop seeing the proverbial forest from the trees. When you start getting overwhelmed or crazy it's a good time to take a break because you can screw things up by overdoing it. Voice of experience talking here. ;)
 
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