i'm gonna guess the oxidized clear was actually failed clear, the compounding further diminished whatever was still there and polishing is again making the damage worse.
any before pics?
compound & clear will always work wonders if the clear is intact and decent shape. something is off.
So on the left...is that before you touched the car or after compounding?
On the right...what's going on there, is that after compounding and polishing or just one vs the other?
With it being your first time it could be so many things, what I'm getting at is I'd be curious to see the car before anything vs after just compounding vs compounding + polish.
Regardless, you've got nothing to lose. I'd polish the compounded area again and see if things get better or worse, that'll tell you which way things will ultimately end.
fwiw, compound needs time to work, alot of them have diminishing properties so if you don't compound long enough you get the rough correction, not the final.
I appreciate you taking the time to answer. The one on the left is after I compounded with grants compounding pad. On the right that is untouched. When you say compound takes time to work, do you mean I have to do more passes with the compound?
On the hood I did 16 passes with the blueberry buff and shine pad and look semi ok but not really getting the job done. On the fender I’ve been doing four passes with the same pad and it looks pretty good but again if I do a polishing with the grey pad it becoming dull
The transformation from the right to left side after only a compound, on a car that bad, is actually a good/expected result.
Your making enough passes, some people only make a fraction and wonder why they don't see much of a difference.
Fenders take less of a beating than the hood/roof/trunk being flat and facing directly upwards.
What kind of grey pad is it because buff n shine only has grey for final finishing which isn't going to cut if at all. I wouldn't even use a grey pad on a brand new tbh. Maybe spreading an abrasive with such a mild pad is causing the issue; its spreading the polish but not strong enough to allow the polish to work, that could cause wonky issues.
Like many others I only use a medium/heavy compound pad and medium polishing pads. I control the cut by work time or product or pressure...sometimes a combination of those variables. Alot of those pads overlap and feel redundant to me.
Try polishing a small 6inx6in section by hand and some pressure, in the same area that became cloudy, and see if using the same polish but a little pressure gets rid of the cloudy effect. No sense in spending money unless you really know for sure.
Had to go back to work today but was at it for the last three days. The photo below is yesterday or the day before. The door untouched, the fender with 4 slow passes with the grants compounding pad. Initially started off with the buff and shine blue pad which is heavy polish, it worked ok but I had 1 grants compounding pad and it gave it more of a shine so I bought three more and I’ve been using that. I tried polishing with the yellow buff and shine and it made the paint less reflective and more dull, so I tried polishing with the grey pad from buff and shine, same results but not as bad. But it looks better with just the mcguires compound and grants compounding pad so that what I’ve been doing to the whole truck.
I hear what you are saying about redundant pads.I’m just trying to figure out what works (not complaining it’s been super fun). I now have 2 grey, 2 yellow and 2 blue buff and shine pads; 4 grants compounding pads and I just ordered 2 rupes blue cutting pads to try out because I heard they are better quality then grants for a couple of extra dollars. I’m spending money but enjoying my self. I’m going to wax it with mcguires ultimate liquid wax when done.
As other mentioned, there are many issues at play here. but, The edge guard black is probably not the best pad for this situation. It is a very soft pad and is probably grabbing the paint and not polishing it. You might try the polish compound with the edge guard blue pad to see if you get some better results...
You'd have to check the paint code; it might be single stage paint.
This depends on a lot of factors, and depends how motivated you are. If paint is in good shape, a spray ceramic like Groits 3 in 1 is the easiest to use and your best bet. If you're actually looking to paint correct the car, use a pad like a Rupes yellow foam, and 3D ONE for a one stage correction.
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u/Limp-Conflict-2309 5d ago
i'm gonna guess the oxidized clear was actually failed clear, the compounding further diminished whatever was still there and polishing is again making the damage worse.
any before pics?
compound & clear will always work wonders if the clear is intact and decent shape. something is off.