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PC and Menzerna One Step

hotdimmes

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Dec 26, 2003
Messages
4,112
Location
New Britain, CT
This weekend I decided to clean up my car a bit so I bought some Menzerna One Step Acrylic Jacket and had at it with my brother's porter cable 7424. It went well for the most part, but I still have problems with door panels. I still get those ghost-like buff marks in certain lighting/angles that just seem to move around. I used to get these alot when I would do waxing by hand.

I know there can be many factors to this. For instance, I don't have a shaded area, so I'll do one side that isn't facing the sun, then turn the car around and do the other side. Once I do this, I see all the flaws in the buffing that I couldn't see in the shade. Then I'm trying to buff a hot panel. Maybe too much product? Not working the product long enough? Not letting it haze up after I'm done for long enough? I'm pretty sure I'm using way more force than I should be for buffing/product removal.
 
aren't those ghost marks from working it to hard? I had them on my SVT when I applied some zaino by hand. when I used the PC they disapeared. You don't need a hiugh amount of force when you use the PC.

Also working a hot panel isn't going to help either since everything says to work on a cold surface. IIRC the idea behind the PC is to apply product in a very think layer and to heat it up so that it cures. So if you use the PC on a hot panel it maybe curing to fast.
 
aren't those ghost marks from working it to hard? I had them on my SVT when I applied some zaino by hand. when I used the PC they disapeared. You don't need a hiugh amount of force when you use the PC.

Also working a hot panel isn't going to help either since everything says to work on a cold surface. IIRC the idea behind the PC is to apply product in a very think layer and to heat it up so that it cures. So if you use the PC on a hot panel it maybe curing to fast.

yeah that's what I was thinking. I initially do the major work on a cool panel, but when I turn the car around I can see all the flaws since the sunlight is hitting it. Unfortunately that also heats up the panel which may be making it difficult to remove said flaws.

I think the reason that the hood comes out well and not the doors is because when doing the hood, I use gravity for force, whereas when the PC is vertical, I have to supply my own, which may be too much.
 
I think the reason that the hood comes out well and not the doors is because when doing the hood, I use gravity for force, whereas when the PC is vertical, I have to supply my own, which may be too much.

check out the PC videos on autogeek. they talk about how to use the PC, how much pressure, etc. I watched those and use it the same way with very good results.
 
The PC can instill micromarring if an aggressive product is used. Did you try a less aggressive product to remove the marks? If the product you used has a lot of polishing oils in it, they may not have been removed completely. The use of multiple clean MFs should relieve this issue.
 
The PC can instill micromarring if an aggressive product is used. Did you try a less aggressive product to remove the marks? If the product you used has a lot of polishing oils in it, they may not have been removed completely. The use of multiple clean MFs should relieve this issue.

I don't think it's all that aggressive of a product. Although I could be easily talking out of my ass. I definitely need more mf towels, I was using 3x 1'x1' towels.

This is the stuff I was using:

http://www.properautocare.com/meonacja.html

This is the second time I've used a PC so I'm sort of just looking to evolve on what I'm doing and correct my errors along the way :eek:

It took for freakin ever though and I'm sore as hell from squatting to use this thing lol.


Also, I hate the bottom of our doors, all those ridges were a pain to get at with the PC!
 
From the description it doesn't sound too aggressive. Did you allow to dry to a haze before removing?

I would highly recommend a rolling seat for buffing the doors, fenders, and bumpers. A nice foam pad is nice for kneeling, to get the bottom portions of the doors and bumpers.
 
I think I didn't allow enough dry time. I started out buffing immediately after machining, and towards the end of the whole process, I machined one panel, machined another, then went back and buffed. I didnt immediately realize, but I think that netted better results. I've read some on some sites that say machine to a nice haze then buff out, and others that say machine to a nice haze and specify that I wait 30 minutes before buffing out a sealant.
 
You cant really wait too long to let it haze and sit. I always polish the car in one round and then come back to buff the haze out in the next round.
 
I meant to say take your time and let it sit and haze. I re-read it and it kinda sounded like I said to hurry up and buff it out.
 
One time I actually finished polishing and got all excited about being done before I started going inside and realized the car was all hazy.
 
It sounds to me like you used too much product or didn't work it enough. I have some experience with the PC and I experienced what you are describing when I started out and was using too much product.
 
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