After having done my S2000 last month with good but not great results I decided to take on my sons 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX. I'm using Menzerna products, Intensive Polish, Final Polish and Glaze. Last month I skipped using the Intensive Polish on my car, fearing it would be too aggressive. This proved to be a mistake as the Final Polish I found to be far less abrasive than I anticipated. On the Mitsubishi I started with the Intensive Polish seeing as the Mitsubishi had a fair amount of scratches including a 3 foot long key mark. After spending 5 hours with the Intensive Polish it became apparent that this polish isn't all that aggressive either. I used it in conjunction with a white pad. But I feel I would have been better served if I'd opted for Menzerna's Power Gloss along with an orange pad. I'm certain I would have spent 12 hours with the Intensive Polish before I'd be satisfied but due to time limitations I didn't want to put more than 14 hours total into this car over a 2 day period. After 5 hours with Intensive Polish I moved on to the Final Polish probably spending 3 hours with that product. Then using Menzerna's Glaze, followed by 3 coats Zaino topped of with a coat of Meguires #26 Yellow Liquid Carnauba. The car looks very good but with the products I had in hand would have taken me at least 20 hours to get the results I'd wished for. Practice makes perfect I guess, I'll try doing my daughters 1993 Accord next, real tired paint, I'll try to make a better assessment of what products I need before I tackle this project.

 

With the PC, you will regularly find need for the orange pad (light cut) to really make a difference. Depending on the paint and the scratches, the PC might not be the best bet, but if you give it time it WILL work.

I've found IP to be relatively aggressive when worked in with an orange pad and FP/white pad to pretty much take care of any IP marring and restore a very nice gloss. One thing about IP and PG is that you really need to work them a lot with the PC to get them to break down completely.

I've found FP/white pad to be more than enough to remove most spiderwebbing and marring when used with the rotary. Of course, the black S2000 I just finished required some real finessing to bring out to full gloss. Had to 3-step it (Sonus products, SFX1/2/3) where SFX2 is usually enough... Apparently very soft black paint on the S

 

agree with animes2k...
and something is wrong if it takes 14 hours with the pc to polish any car-
sounds like you had some pretty nasty paint issues to deal with. i would not have gone to menzerna for those- but what really matters is whether you are happy with the results!
sure wish i could see some before and after pics!

 

Like wanabe said, something's not right. I did a very bad red Benz with Meguiar's products (DACP and #80) and it took about 6-8 hours. I think there might be something about your process that isn't right.

Since I don't know if you did these things, I'll throw them out there for you to consider:
- You really need to crank the PC up to 5.5-6 to remove swirls on most paint
- You need to move the PC very slowly to allow the polish to work and break down
- You may need to also apply pressure to the PC JUST to the point of the PC bogging down, then let up a bit - about 10-15lb pressure should do it.
- The orange pad sounds like it'd be a good pad for you if you're already doing the above
- The best serious defect removal tool with a PC is a 4" spot pad. It focuses the energy of the PC on a smaller area, so it essentially works harder.

Good luck with it.

 

Since your working on your daily drivers and have less emotional attachment to them, use the most agressive stuff you have and see how safe the PC is to paint. Also blue tape an area and notice how untouched the blue tape is...

I just got a Sonus SFX-1 yellow pad that has warnings out the wazzooo about paint burning at high PC speeds...I used it with menzerna IP at spd 6 and still had to make multiple passes to get some deep hard swirls out. The PC is safe, one of the best tools ever created IMHO.

 

Orange pads are good for the intermediate step but not so great for aggressive polishing. I find the yellow pad to work much better at removing the tough stuff.

 

Porter cable: what i've learned in 3 years of its use and the reason i'm going to a rotary for smr work. Xviper, i'm still working on my write up for you.

- much longer time to remove swirls/scratches with no guarantee they will all be rid of. Many more passes, much more time spent on small sections. Not as aggressive for medium to heavy swirl damage.
-with orange pad, mezerna compound does work as nice. Mezerna works better with a rotary
-Dacp, Poorboys SS3 good combo -but just the other day i hit my truck with SSR3 , orange pad , speed 6 and it did nothing.. still swirls present
-does not cut deep enough into the clear coat but rather cuts lightly, and fills in around the edges of swirls. Swirls will come back

I still get cars dropped off to me with pretty bad swirls, which quite possibly were embedded for months, years, and my porter cable can not rid them whatsover. So be wary of the significant limitations of the porter cable. I have since adjusted my work to use a rotary for swirl removal, and a porter cable to apply pre-sealant, sealant and lsp.

if you need any further help, don't hesistate to PM me

s2ksimon

 

Simon's right in his general jist, but depending on the car, the swirls and your process, you CAN permanantly remove swirls with the PC. It just takes WAY longer than a rotary.

I've only been using a PC since spring and I've already upgraded to a rotary and MAN do I love it. Can you imagine attacking something like this with a PC (friend's car)?



to get it flawless? Pshaw! Rotary to the rescue - with 1-2 passes of IP, it's mostly cleaned up and I can polish out any holograms or marring with the PC.

 

WOW Anime,
You did an awesome job on your friends car. That paint looks like brand new! Were those small nicks in the paint along with the scratches in the clearcoat?

 

With the right pads, product and time the PC can do some very good swirl removal. DACP, 80, 82 with yellow, orange and white pads. Neither machine will take care of the clear coat etching/pitting from acid rain and hard water that this car had.