# Polishing extreemly hard paint



## creation (Apr 7, 2011)

I got myself a red RX7 a few months ago and half of the paint work is faded. Being an old Japanese car I assumed the paintwork would be really soft, like it is with most other Japanese cars, but boy was I wrong!

So I order myself a DA polisher kit, as I hadn't done any machine polishing before, only ordered some light and medium abrasive polish as I though it'd be enough.

So anyway I gave my car a clean










Then she was given a clay, the car wasn't too bad










Then I taped her up ready for polishing










I started with the rear bumper as that was the most faded. I tried some Menzerna Power Finish (PF2300) polish on a Menzerna Compounding Pad, but it did nothing what so ever.

So I ordered some Meguiars #105 - Ultra Cut Compound 8oz and a Sonus SFX-1 Spot Pad hoping that would do the trick, but still nothing. I then tried that combination on another part of the car with light scratches and it wouldn't even remove them!

So I assume the car has been resprayed at some point which is why the paintwork is so hard.

I thought maybe it was me, I was being special as I have never done machine polishing before, so I tried polishing my FTO, which I know has soft paint, using Menzerna Power Finish polish and I was able to remove the RDS without a problem.

So where do I go next. Should I try wet sanding? I'm worried that if I do that I won't get out any of the marks that wet sanding will create.


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## Knuckles (Sep 29, 2012)

if the car has been resprayed, which was my first thought... is it possible the swirls have been lacquered over? or are they definitely ontop of the clear coat?

and what technique are you using? are you breaking down the polish enough? 

I know you got correction on the other car, but with the paint on that being softer, it could require less working of the polish.


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## creation (Apr 7, 2011)

Well the scratches look like they are on top. I guess one way to test it would be to scratch the paintwork myself and see if i'm able to get out the scratch with the DA, if I can then it'd mean they are underneath.

I followed a polishing guide on the forum, it wasn't just a quick pass over I did, I spent a long time polishing one area.


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Are you surge that you aren't removing them? Could you be instilling fresh ones as it IS really soft? And maybe left over product under the cloth is adding to it? 

Few things, how are you working the polish? Speed, pressure, time
What cloths do you have?
Are you using any ipa or panel wipe afterwards?
How much polish are you applying
Thats a bad @ss car and i hate you with every fibre of my being


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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

stangalang said:


> Thats a bad @ss car and i hate you with every fibre of my being


Coming from a man owning a piece of 1970's American muscle named 'The Ghetto Princess'... :lol:

- Steampunk


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## Hasan1 (Jul 1, 2011)

Is it the colour your trying to restore or swirl removal. 
If it's bring the colour back I think it would be because it has clear coat and you'll not be able to restore that


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## AllenF (Aug 20, 2012)

Oh dear oh dear oh dear hasan. Have you never heard of single stage paint. Thats WHY it fades because it has NO clear on it. Take the classic pink vauxhall ( that was once red IE post office vans.) 
Mazda paint seems to be hit and miss i did an mx5 before easter and it was harder than the audi i did the week before on original paint


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## Hasan1 (Jul 1, 2011)

AllenF said:


> Oh dear oh dear oh dear hasan. Have you never heard of single stage paint. Thats WHY it fades because it has NO clear on it. Take the classic pink vauxhall ( that was once red IE post office vans.)
> Mazda paint seems to be hit and miss i did an mx5 before easter and it was harder than the audi i did the week before on original paint


Sorry mate look into things a bit more and you will see some jap cars have clear coat on the a lot of red Hondas do also looking at his clay don't look like single stage paint

I know all about single stage paint 
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=354662&highlight=Sprinter+van


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## creation (Apr 7, 2011)

stangalang said:


> Are you surge that you aren't removing them? Could you be instilling fresh ones as it IS really soft? And maybe left over product under the cloth is adding to it?
> 
> Few things, how are you working the polish? Speed, pressure, time
> What cloths do you have?
> ...


Yeah i'm sure it's not removing any, the panel looks exactly the same after I have polished it.

I'm using the DA on speed one to spread the polish and then speed 6 (full speed) to polish.

I'm applying slight pressure and ensuring the pad is still spinning.

I did 30-45 seconds on a section.

I'm not using ipa or a panel wipe, just a quick detailer spray.

Applying a small amount of polish as shown in a guide.

Yeah it is bad ass


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## creation (Apr 7, 2011)

Hasan1 said:


> Is it the colour your trying to restore or swirl removal.
> If it's bring the colour back I think it would be because it has clear coat and you'll not be able to restore that


Trying to do both.


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## Hasan1 (Jul 1, 2011)

creation said:


> Trying to do both.


Are you getting any paint transfer onto your pad at all


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## AllenF (Aug 20, 2012)

Dear ih dear oh dear.
I aint going to argue hasan 
The rx7 though is built by mazda NOT honda yes hondas have clear on reds after about 2006 when they started using water based paints.
That though is a mazda and a fairly oldish one at that. More than likely its single and hardish


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## Hasan1 (Jul 1, 2011)

AllenF said:


> Dear ih dear oh dear.
> I aint going to argue hasan
> The rx7 though is built by mazda NOT honda yes hondas have clear on reds after about 2006 when they started using water based paints.
> That though is a mazda and a fairly oldish one at that. More than likely its single and hardish


I can see what car it is I'm just trying to help the op with his problem. Maybe you could do the same. 
That's the last from me hope the op gets it sorted


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## Dream Machines (Mar 13, 2006)

Skip the detail spray, it can reduce corrective power and is never needed anymore for anything. 
Car paint will harden after years of sun exposure and hot cold temp changes throughout the days weeks and months but if it's not been outside much then possibly a repaint

Look for prep marks real closely. Most repaints have some or a few of them from average quality or crap prep

RO struggles sometimes with hard paint


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## Leebo310 (Sep 30, 2013)

creation said:


> Yeah i'm sure it's not removing any, the panel looks exactly the same after I have polished it.
> 
> I'm using the DA on speed one to spread the polish and then speed 6 (full speed) to polish.
> 
> ...


What sort of light are you using to inspect it mate? It may be under a more intense light that you can see differences, even just swirl removal rather than the actual scratches. 
Can you post up some pics of the sections that you have done? Use some tape to get a 50/50 and get a decent light source and my guess is there will be a difference.
How big of a section are you doing too? If it is rock hard then you may need to spend a bit more time and apply slightly more pressure, especially if you're using a standard DAS 6 style DA.


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## 3gdean (Jun 18, 2011)

AllenF said:


> Dear ih dear oh dear.
> I aint going to argue hasan
> The rx7 though is built by mazda NOT honda yes hondas have clear on reds after about 2006 when they started using water based paints.
> That though is a mazda and a fairly oldish one at that. More than likely its single and hardish


milano red/milano pink...

isn't single stage paint, its tinted clearcoat (lacquer) haven't used 2k gloss since before the 90's


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## creation (Apr 7, 2011)

Leebo310 said:


> What sort of light are you using to inspect it mate? It may be under a more intense light that you can see differences, even just swirl removal rather than the actual scratches.
> Can you post up some pics of the sections that you have done? Use some tape to get a 50/50 and get a decent light source and my guess is there will be a difference.
> How big of a section are you doing too? If it is rock hard then you may need to spend a bit more time and apply slightly more pressure, especially if you're using a standard DAS 6 style DA.


Will do mate when I have a go at it again. At the moment the car is in bits as i'm upgrading the fuel system, once i've done that ill give polishing another go.


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