[wwilliams181]

I know its not a hot rod but Been working on a BMW 745li.. Guys wife drove it through the glass Front of our local Post Office. Repaired the body damage and Painted the car all over.... Black. I have been doing Paint and Body since 92 and have done some pretty high end stuff over the years.. but always haunted by black.. Painted this car using Dupont 7900s clear.. Let it set for a few days..average temp has been around 55 Deg.Finally got to wet sand the car.. Washed the car prior to paint.. used a clean bucket and soaked all of the sand paper. Wet sanded the car with 1500 in straight line until orange peal was gone. Switched to 2000 and wet sand the panels. Made sure i was getting a good cut and changed the paper often.. covered all the panels twice with the 2000. Switched to 3000 on the DA. I use one of the small lightweight da's.. Washed it and blew it dry.. DA all of the panels with the 3000 twice. Washed the car and dried it. It had a really nice smooth sheen. In the past i have used perfect it compound on a wool pad then finessit on a wool polish pad then 3m swirl mark remover on a foam pad.. egg crate type. This has always worked great on every color but black.. After reading alot of forum post and talking with a friend in the field.. i was sure that Foam all the way through would fix my problems. I used the white compound pad with the perfect it compound( purple bottle) Had to do every panel 3 times to get to the same place i would with a wool pad.. I like to get a wet mirror finish with compound before i even move to the next finer step.. Started polishing with Finessit on a Black egg crate pad.. This is where the nightmare started. Finess caked on the paint surface no matter what pressure was used.. i should also state that I have Makita polisher set on the lowest speed. After pushing through the polish step using the twice per panel method.. i moved to Swirl mark remover for dark cars.. and a black foam egg crate pad.. Twice per panel.. Every panel was clean between application. new clean rags were used and surface was washed between steps. Car looks great.. until it goes outside. 10 hrs of polishing only. still swirl marks. It will make you want to change careers and Shake Fries at McDonalds.. Taking the weekend off from it and going to go back to it on monday.. thinking my big issue is the Eggcrate foam pad on the Finessit. Any helpfull advise will be greatly appreciated.

[swvalcon]

I always start of with a wool pad and finish up with a foam pad then glaze by hand. Black is always a bear.I wouldn't use 3-m compound as a gift but that's personal choice.

[wwilliams181]

Thanks.. Always been on a wool pad myself.. even with the finess.. and its worked great.. Tried Promenthius polishes once... didnt like them.. worked the piss out of me and still didnt perform like it should have.. not reallly familiar with the Meguires polishes.. i did purchase the Mequires swirl remover.. didnt remove swirls and worked pretty good with the foam pad.. just couldnt get it to dry up.. stayed greasy and had to remove with microfiber cloth..

[Stick895]

I've had good results with the Meguiars MF System. 55 degrees might be a tad cold. If that isn't to your liking I've also had good results with the 2M compound, plus Pinnacle or Adams swirl removers, followed by Adams Fine Machine Polish. All on dark colors incl. black.

[mr4speed]

Here is the formula that works for me every time, and I do a lot of black. Start off with a wool pad and 3M 05973 compound, after I am happy with the shine in compounding I will hand rub with the same compound on a blue shop towel and hand buff dry. That will usually get rid of the swirls. Then move on to the finesse-it white polish with a wool polishing pad. When that is done will then hit it with the swirl remover and the black waffle foam pad. After all that will then hand glaze with 3M imperial hand glaze. Have never had any swirl problems in direct sunlight ever.

[Scm1]

1. 3m compound synthetic wool pad
2. Light cut (yellow wool pad) and use malco restore it
3. Black foam pad 3m black polish.
4. Wipe clean with micro fiber towel
You need atleast 65 degrees to buff, also need the right lighting, post pics when done!

[wwilliams181]

:-) yeah i was being cheap with the heat.. plus it almost blows right on the car.. i kinda have a small shop. As far as lighting.. i have the Daylight bulbs in the shop and the booth.. also try to polish with the doors open to allow as much natural light in as possible.. just been a little cool here. Thanks for the advise.. there are some things you guys posted that will help.. really easy to get overwhelmed on stuff like this... specially when you need to get it out of the shop. I finished a Chevelle earlier this year... used the wool pads then the 3m dark swirl remover on it.. then a hand polish.. it was a 7900s clear.. wetsanded with 1000 then recleared.. that was the only difference. no swirls on it at all.. the only reason I second guessed my self was because of an Avalanche i painted a few months back.. it was black and had swirls after polishing.. i think changing out my polish pad was the ticket and it had a cheaper clear on it. My friend tells me that i am too picky but i want it as rich and wet as i know it can be... Thanks again guys.. i will post some finished pics.. May go ahead an upload some to this point.. Thanks again!

[swvalcon]

If you haven't tried spi universal clear yet give it a try. I'am doing a 71 roadrunner right now in 2010 plum crazy with 6 coats of spi clear. Sanded the header panel with 1000 then 2000 until flat as a pan cake just to see how it would look. Two passes with the buffer and some meguiars fine compound and it looks like a mile deep piece of glass.

[milo]

I've polished complete cars with a smaller diameter pad at slower speeds to avoid burning swirls into what ever clear used. Swirls come from the heat at the outside of the spinning cutting pad.
Black shows them the most..

http://youtu.be/ezfa-hKaXVI

[marks custom paint]

try the blue pad from 3m wth their blue compound can't remember the number of it but it is step 3 use a fresh towel and run your buff at about 1500 rpm with very little pressure and it should take all the swirls out even on semi soft clear

[Scm1]

Buffer speed and pressure is very important, when I compound with foam pads I always drop the pad in warm clean soapy water, and turn buffer on to get excess water off pad. Buffing has always been my favorite part.

[swvalcon]

Scm how far are you from mn. I've always hated buffing thought maybe next time I would call you and let you do it for me. {ha-ha]

[cyclopsblown34]

1000
1500
2000
All hand sanded wet.
3000 Trizact on 6" Jitterbug IR sander.
Wool pad with Meguairs Diamond cut
Yellow MMM pad with Meguiars Diamond cut
Black MMM pad with Meguiars swirl removing polish.
My buffer is a Milwaukee circa 1992. I rarely get above half speed with it. I used to use the 3M polish/glaze for dark cars til I had swirls it wouldn't remove on a black Dodge, my paint guy suggested the Meguiars swirl removing polish, voila, swirls were gone. I'm sold on Meguiars products now.

[shine]

hardest part is figuring out a 2 x2 area is not three ft across....
buffing is a pia anyway i go about it. i end up buffing black 3 times . different pads , different compounds.
i use presta or the chemical guys.

[Scm1]

Originally Posted by swvalcon

Scm how far are you from mn. I've always hated buffing thought maybe next time I would call you and let you do it for me. {ha-ha]

Lol I'm too far from you but what love to make that money.