Help needed multiple fails

[Smokin Donut]

I don't know what I'm doing wrong but every time I try to polish/detail my cars it turns into a disaster. I rebuild cars, have a good understanding of the principles (not overheating the pad, working small areas etc.), have polished and worked on yachts for years with no issues but just keep screwing up cars. What am I doing wrong, is it really that hard? I can rebuild engines but can't polish out a scratch?

First car I machine polished was a black Saab with lots of swirl marks and light scratches, I bought all the kit watched the videos and went at it very cautiously. The end result was frankly crap and where I had missed masking a small gap on 2 pieces of plastic trim they were permanently stained white by the polish.

I've never really tried machine polishing since but tonight tried to polish out a small scratch from my carbon roof, I tried PoorBoys 3.0 super swirl remover with a lightly polishing by hand in a circular motion. After 10 seconds I have really bad scratches on the roof! I've tried polishing them out by hand with a lighter compound polish but cannot get them all out, it looks 10 x worse than before. Is it really this hard?

[227bhp]

Precisely what is 'frankly crap'? What pad are you using?
It sounds like you have multiple problems, but you're not spending enough time on it, especially the final bit after the compound has begun to dry and get slightly warm. You've got to have confidence and knowledge to carry on at that point.
I would get a spare panel, an old bonnet or something and practice on that, you'll also find that old paint is much harder to work and get right than new which is essentially soft in comparison..

[Smokin Donut]

227bhp said:

Precisely what is 'frankly crap'? What pad are you using?
It sounds like you have multiple problems, but you're not spending enough time on it, especially the final bit after the compound has begun to dry and get slightly warm. You've got to have confidence and knowledge to carry on at that point.
I would get a spare panel, an old bonnet or something and practice on that, you'll also find that old paint is much harder to work and get right than new which is essentially soft in comparison..

Thanks for the reply, was really disparing tonight, I can turn my hand to most things but not paint correction.
I used a variable speed non orbital polisher with various grade foam pads matched to the cutting compound, I did the whole car in 2 compounds, medium and fine. I followed the instructions and videos to the letter, did my homework and spent about 8 hours on the car. When done it was patchy and didn’t shine like a sheet of glass, the car looked OK but not like it does in the videos.

Tonight I’ve taken a lacquered carbon roof and in a few seconds put swirling scratches over a 30cm area that I couldn’t polish out after 30mins hard graft (this was hand polishing).

Thanks for the suggestion RE using a test panel, great idea.

[paintman]

Might try asking professionals to sort your car out & give you a lesson at the same time?
Watching videos & reading instructions is all very well but can't substitute for a practical with someone that knows what they're doing.

[Peanut Gallery]

I owuld say take you time, and have a look at white details, yes, more vids, but he seems to do a brilliant job and explains it well.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq2Kxm4MquudBM4BR...

[Smokin Donut]

Thanks for the advice, I’ve bought a Audi bonnet for £5 and am going to practice on this. If I can’t get a good result on the bonnet I’ll get a pro in to sort the roof.

I’ll check out the videos, perhaps it’s just me? I’m a crap cook as I approach it like building an engine, following the instructions to the letter and the food ends up burnt or undercooked. More fineness needed me thinks.

Edited by Smokin Donut on Monday 3rd December 22:58

[Cmaxed]

A tip for the future to remove polish from trip use a pencil eraser its definitely not permanently stained. Secondly if you had scratches after just 10 seconds I would say you either had a dirty pad or car otherwise its likely you just removed old polish which was hiding these scratches.

[Smokin Donut]

Cmaxed said:

A tip for the future to remove polish from trip use a pencil eraser its definitely not permanently stained. Secondly if you had scratches after just 10 seconds I would say you either had a dirty pad or car otherwise its likely you just removed old polish which was hiding these scratches.

Thanks for the advice. When I get fully frustrated with something I just need some encouragement to get back on with it.
The cloths were clean, they had just come out the washing machine, although I have kids so anything’s possible. The pattern of the scratches were where I had been polishing, complete circles, I assumed the compound was too course, I think it’s the most aggressive Poreboys do. I’d have expected the same result from 240grit sandpaper.
Plan is to use medium and fine compound to remove the scratches, just scared of polishing through too much of the epoxy/clear coat, as I don’t have a paint thickness gauge.

Edited by Smokin Donut on Monday 3rd December 22:57