Ok....a few questions. I washed and clayed yesterday. This morning I went out to pick up the PC for the first time. I went with the SSR1 first, didn't see results so I tryed the SSR2.5 with the orange padfollowed by the SSR1 with the black/gray pad. It looks worse than before. I used speed 3-4 to work it in a little then cranked it up to 5-6 making nice slow passes until it was completly worked in. What am i doing wrong? I want to get this done, I'm so sick of looking at the swirls all over my black car. These are the products I have: PB SSR1, SSR2.5, Clearkote red moose machine glaze, PB ex w carnuba, NB. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please! :-) Thanks.

 

How many passes did you spend on each panel with the PC?? I believe that the SSR1 should have been used with a polishing pad -white LC pad- instead of a black/grey finishing pad. Its gonna take some time and effort. You just got your PC keep this in mind. There is a learning curve with it. You'll get it. You may need to work it in longer.

 

Tay, by your brief description it sounds like you are using the Porter Cable & SSR's wrong.

I'm going to repeat a little of what you explained, but keep reading and you'll see the difference the next time you try.

I'd recommend you start with SSR1, but since you already took SSR2.5 to your car...you've eliminated that possibility.. Install your orange cutting pad. Apply a quarter size amount of SSR2.5 to the orange pad. Place it on your car and smear the product around the 2x2 area you plan to work on with the machine off. Now turn the machine on to 3, work the product in for about 15 seconds so it's evenly applied to the 2x2 area. Then turn your buffer to speed 6, forget 5-6 - go with 6. Apply enough pressure to the machine that the pad stops spinning and just vibrates, now gently lessen the pressure until the pad starts spinning again, this is the amount of pressure you'll want to use with 2.5 for heavy swirls, you can lessen the pressure more if it's uncomfortable or if your pad looks like it's starting to seperate from the backing. Move the machine very slowly top to bottom over the entire area, overlapping each pass. Then move the buffer side to side very slowly, overlapping each pass. Now change angles and work the buffer in the same patterns, very slowly. By now the polish should have turned much more translucent. Take your clean microfiber cloth and wipe the are clean, look at the area in all different heights & angles, look for the swirls. If they are gone, move to the next spot - if there is still blemishes you want to remove, apply another quarter size amount of SSR2.5 to your pad and start over.

Now that you've completely gone over the car in SSR2.5 (you don't have to follow my steps of doing the entire car in 2.5 before switching to SSR1, you can do each panel completely at once, it'll just involve a lot of tape & switching of pads etc) you can start working with the SSR1. Take your white pad, apply a quarter size amount of SSR1 to the pad, smear the product on the 2x2 area while the machine is off. Then turn the machine on to 3 and slowly work the product in for a few seconds. Now turn the machine to 6. I slowly work the product in like SSR2.5 & the yellow pad in all patterns with good pressure. I then apply more SSR1 and let the weight of the machine apply it's own pressure...move the buffer much quicker in all patterns over the 2x2 area.By now the area should look swirl/blemish free and appear ready for a glaze.

Since you've completely polished the car in SSR2.5 & SSR1 with the proper methods, you are now ready for a glaze. Take your black polishing pad and attach it to the machine. Apply a quarter size amount of glaze to the pad, smear it around on the area you're working on and turn the machine on to 4. This is the speed I use to apply glaze....

If you do not properly break down the polishes, or use the proper pressures you will not achieve the results you are looking for or the results the machine is capable of producing.While it sounds like this is going to take forever, it make consume a lot of your day - but it's much safer than other buffers and it's virtually idiot proof, you will not be able to harm your finish beyond repair unless you are absolutely hopeless in life!! [8D]

 

Yeah, you want to work the polishes in longer for sure. You should hardly see any polish left on the paint if at all. Dont be afraid to use speed 6 for all of your polishes. For the SSR1 use a white LCM pad not a black or blue.

 

Thanks guys. Nice write up Dan04. This will help me tremendously. I'll let you know how it turns out.