# For those wondering how hard Audi clear coat is....



## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Picked up my car a few months ago and still trying to get the car polished and sealed with a ceramic...work/weather/amount of time needed has all contributed to it still not being done! Dealer prepped the car so fair amount of light swirls all over. I thought a 1 stage would be enough...but no...

So I met with a friend a few weeks back and after a full wash, decon and clay it was time to polish the car ready for a ceramic. We used a MF cutting pad and Meguiars MF correction compound and the results we perfect.



Could only do the driver side and bonnet so I needed to finish the rest, including a full final polish (although I thought Meguiars finished very well...). So found some time today and had a go. I had a MF pad, but only some CG V line polishes. I thought V34 would be strong enough, but I was wrong. This was after two passes....



Could be my technique, could be my pads (did wonder if they are marks from the machine rather than swirls...?) but struggling to get the finish I won't/we achieved already.

Also tried finishing the parts we already done and cant help but think I made them worse! I used a white hex-logic pad and V36 and couldnt get rid of these minor holograms/trails!!

In all a fairly tiring and frustrating day detailing....:wall:

Drove it like I stole it home to cheer me up :car:


----------



## Kimo (Jun 7, 2013)

A lot better polishes out there too tbh

It is quite often hard but a good compound and a good pad will usual see you through it

Though if it's only recently you've been hacking away with the megs MF system the why are you needing to use a harsh MF pad again so soon?

Clear coat doesn't last forever you know and that's a hard cutting combo


----------



## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Kimo said:


> A lot better polishes out there too tbh
> 
> It is quite often hard but a good compound and a good pad will usual see you through it


Thats what I'm thinking. I hate to blame my tools, but seeing the difference of the finish from using Meguiars correction and then using V34...

Why does it have to be so expensive though!!! I have Merzerna final polish (SF4500?) so maybe will switch to that for the final? Not sure the white pads are a good choice either...?


----------



## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Kimo said:


> Though if it's only recently you've been hacking away with the megs MF system the why are you needing to use a harsh MF pad again so soon?
> 
> Clear coat doesn't last forever you know and that's a hard cutting combo


I only managed to do one side, boot and the bonnet with the Megs. This was to finish the job and do the passenger side and roof.


----------



## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

DrEskimo said:


> I only managed to do one side, boot and the bonnet with the Megs. This was to finish the job and do the passenger side and roof.


do you know if any of the car has been resprayed, ive heard it can be much harder than OEM paint


----------



## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

I work on a lot of audis and in all honestly, very few of them are "hard". Some of them are down right soft. With that being said, the hardest paint I've worked on was also an audi. So they really cover all base depending on colour. A lot of them are also thin at the bottom of their front wings, where it meets the sill


----------



## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Christian6984 said:


> do you know if any of the car has been resprayed, ive heard it can be much harder than OEM paint


It's only 3 months old so I sincerely hope not!! I did give it a going over with a paint depth gauge and no sign of this. Had readings around 120-150, while the door sills had a reading of about 80 so knew I had a good margin for error.

I'm wondering if I should just go back to the Megs correction compound. Only thing is I'm worried about using the Megs and MF pad on the panels where I've tried V34. As above they are both harsh combinations...would it be fair to assume that I haven't achieved much cut given that light swirls are still visible (assuming I was introducing them with DA....)

To that end, I'm also thinking I may be putting too much pressure on the machine....might pay a visit to a local pro and get some pointers.


----------



## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

stangalang said:


> I work on a lot of audis and in all honestly, very few of them are "hard". Some of them are down right soft. With that being said, the hardest paint I've worked on was also an audi. So they really cover all base depending on colour. A lot of them are also thin at the bottom of their front wings, where it meets the sill


Very interesting...wrongly assumed they were all pretty 'hard'...

Have you noticed patterns based on model year? E.g are newer Audis more likely to be harder?


----------



## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

DrEskimo said:


> Very interesting...wrongly assumed they were all pretty 'hard'...
> 
> Have you noticed patterns based on model year? E.g are newer Audis more likely to be harder?


Solid blacks seem soft, and are awkward with solvents. the metallic black can be too. The whites, and in particular suzuka grey are rock hard, and from what I've done dolphin and daytona are hard too. Ive got a couple of nardo grey RS3's to do soon and hopefully a merlin purple, but can comment as of yet.


----------



## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Ah OK, yea I heard all the horror stories with the flat solid black paint..! My old Metallic Black A5 was just as much as a pain as this Sepang Blue thought. Being 6 years old, I knew perfecting the finish was going to be an impossible task.

This being a new car, and wanting to apply a long lasting ceramic, I really want the finish to be top notch...might have to concede that I dont have the skill/time to get it the way I want and book it in with a pro...


----------



## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

DrEskimo said:


> Ah OK, yea I heard all the horror stories with the flat solid black paint..! My old Metallic Black A5 was just as much as a pain as this Sepang Blue thought. Being 6 years old, I knew perfecting the finish was going to be an impossible task.
> 
> This being a new car, and wanting to apply a long lasting ceramic, I really want the finish to be top notch...might have to concede that I dont have the skill/time to get it the way I want and book it in with a pro...


If you can find shelter, and have a love for it, just take your time, and break it into manageable chunks. It isn't supposed to work first time, and there will always be hiccups. It isn't that someone isn't good enough all the time, its about doubt. Don't allow yourself to feel self doubt. Change one thing at a time and keep going until it works


----------



## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

Completely varies really like stangalang said, my a4 isn't that bad really, using heavy pads with megs UC and 205 work fine 

My dad's black a6 a few years back was soft as hell and would mark if you just looked at it funny. But then his white s6 was rock hard you couldn't put marks on it if you tried 

Just keep at it buddy you'll get there, I would try different Polish personally. I've had great results with wurth compounds but they are difficult to get hold of


----------



## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

DrEskimo said:


> It's only 3 months old so I sincerely hope not!! I did give it a going over with a paint depth gauge and no sign of this. Had readings around 120-150, while the door sills had a reading of about 80 so knew I had a good margin for error.
> 
> I'm wondering if I should just go back to the Megs correction compound. Only thing is I'm worried about using the Megs and MF pad on the panels where I've tried V34. As above they are both harsh combinations...would it be fair to assume that I haven't achieved much cut given that light swirls are still visible (assuming I was introducing them with DA....)
> 
> To that end, I'm also thinking I may be putting too much pressure on the machine....might pay a visit to a local pro and get some pointers.


Consistent paint reading would suggest its original paint. I used to put a black mark on my old Porter cable backing place so i could see its spinning
round as force stopped it, something my Flex DA doesnt do.


----------



## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Cheers guys some useful advice. I do enjoy it and rarely give up, but I guess I'm just terrified of going to far and damaging my brand new car..! I know that's difficult with a DA and modern clear coats but still....!

I do make sure the pad is always spinning, but im wondering if I'm just leaning into it a bit too much? Is there a case that if I only use light pressure I will get better results? Particularly with the finishing stage I'm struggling with as well?


----------



## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

DrEskimo said:


> Cheers guys some useful advice. I do enjoy it and rarely give up, but I guess I'm just terrified of going to far and damaging my brand new car..! I know that's difficult with a DA and modern clear coats but still....!
> 
> I do make sure the pad is always spinning, but im wondering if I'm just leaning into it a bit too much? Is there a case that if I only use light pressure I will get better results? Particularly with the finishing stage I'm struggling with as well?


There was instances using my old PC7424 i did have to apply some pressure when correcting (hence the line on the backing pad, as if you push too hard it'll stop, something my Flex3401 doesnt do being forced rotation), lighter pressure may well work for the refining stages, you can start with some pressure and ease off for final passes? or changing pad will also have an effect say if you need to step down to a polishing pad or even a finishing pad


----------



## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

Sonax EX04-06 on a green RUPES pad on the dual action will eat those swirls.

Or a Sonax SFX1 cutting pad following with a SFX2 polishing pad.
Whatever combo, finish glossing with a softer pad yields greater depth of gloss and crispness of reflection.

These work like a charm for me on Audis/BMWs/Mini/Range Rover etc.


----------



## Waltsinhull (Jan 22, 2011)

Hardest paint - or I guess clearcoat - I ever worked on was a 2001 Audi TT in metallic black or Schwartz or whatever it was called. Almost lost my faith in my ability - which was fairly novice back then 

I did what all people tell you to do - start with a kiss, build up gently, maybe stroke a thigh..no wait a minute, wrong skill set...start with a non aggressive pad polish combination and see how you go then build up to the more aggressive combinations.

Nothing worked til I got to white pad - agressive cutting in Monza speak and a fairly aggressive Menzerna Polish - then after a final polish with a finishing pad and the finest Menzerna polish it came up super smooth and like glass with a depth of shine that with care lasted unhazed or swirled til I sold it.

The only problems was that I did only intend polishing the bonnet and boot (flat surfaces) but it stuck out like a sore thumb against the rest of the paintwork so much that I had to go on and do the whole car.

Took ages - after that I started using three buckets, johnsons baby bath and sheepskin mitts to wash the cars so that I never had to repeat the process.:lol:

So, I think the summary is that with Audi paints - you just can never tell. My preconception was that they were super hard from my direct experience but I guess their paint processes, like everything else will evolve.


----------



## moochin (Mar 17, 2009)

I've just come across your thread and feel the need to show you this. This is what I posted on both instagram and DW. I've been using menzerna fg500 and ff3000 to finish with a das6 and flexipads mf. I've got rid of the swirls but some faint scratches still remain and it's driving me nuts. I can use a glaze before I wax to hide the remaining sinners but I want them gone.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


----------

