Rubbing Compound Questions!

Alright CI, I'm back again. Seeing as you guys and gals are so helpful

My poor R has some insane swirl marks on the paint. Mainly on the hatch, roof, and spoiler. Though I didn't look at the rest too much. Now I'm pretty OCD about my detailing most of the time so it bothers me.

A month or so ago I hit the hood and drivers fender with Meguiers Ultimate compound and rubbed it in by hand. The hood and fender now look brand new and amazing. Yay! But This is what my cloth looked like...front and back...



I wasn't rubbing hard or anything, just following the directions.
Now I understand, correct me if I'm wrong here, but the ITR and maybe others have really soft paint.
So soft that my Acura dealership (Gunn Acura San Antonio for your SAtown folks) wouldn't do a complementary wash. They said they wouldn't touch an NSX either because it's an automated machine wash.

Back to the point!
1. Is there a compound I can use with a terry cloth and hand to get rid of the swirl marks (I'm partial to meguier's products, but im open) that isn't so harsh on my paint?
2. Is it normal to have my cloth covered in my car!?!?
3. Is it safe to wax after a compound rub down? (I use Meguiers Gold Class...it smells good)

Thanks ya'll!

You need to use steps to buff. This is the only real way to get rid of swirls. Also you shouldn't be taking up basecoat, that means you're all the way through the clear. You have to be really careful not to mess up, otherwise you're looking at a paint job. Let me see if I can find a good steps explanation.

i usually use a dual action buffer machine with a foam pad for compound/wax appplication and with microfiber bonnet for removal.
by hand i wax with the circle foam pad and not a terry cloth towel.
yes, you can wax after the compound.
i recommend nxt tech wax 2.0.



but if your paint is coming up like that, i think you're through the clear coat. be very careful.. maybe try to get some opti-coat 2.0 and apply it after the compound.

Welp I'm glad I stopped before I did the entire car....but that hood had a literal mirror finish. Ladies could do their make-up by leaning over my car.

simplels said:

i usually use a dual action buffer machine with a foam pad for compound/wax appplication and with microfiber bonnet for removal.
by hand i wax with the circle foam pad and not a terry cloth towel.
yes, you can wax after the compound.
i recommend nxt tech wax 2.0.

but if your paint is coming up like that, i think you're through the clear coat. be very careful.. maybe try to get some opti-coat 2.0 and apply it after the compound.

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Yes! I was going to snag some of that wax and then I realized I had an entire unopened bottle of Gold Class was...Thanks dad lol

I just glanced at these. They seemed pretty informative.
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2889748
http://m.wikihow.com/Buff-a-Car

So now we have established that my clear coat is...well gone?
Ultimate compound is too aggressive for my paint??
I shouldn't be taking the base coat with me when I'm done buffing?

If it's all so bad than why does it looks so good? xD
Also I have a orbital? buffer...or it it DA? It doesn't look like an angle grinder and it has two handles.

just make the part that paints coming off really clean and smooth..

then spray with a 15% rubbing alcohol solution, clean, and dry..

then put on a coat of opti-coat 2.0..

let it set for 24hrs.. then wax it..

then the paint shouldn't come rubbing off anymore.

can i see a pic of your hood? paint on your rag means you went through the clear coat as someone stated. If you went through the clear coat, then there is nothing protecting your paint. Usually if you went through the clear coat, there should be darker/different colored spots where you went through the clear (thats why i wanna see the pics). As for the swirl marks, i know 3M makes a ultra fine machine polish (ina blue bottle). Use that and then use a final inspection to get rid of all the compound oils on your car.

ya take a picture of your hood... only reason yellow would be coming off is it were actually rubbing off... color should be protected by a layer (or layers rather) of clear. Rubbing compound thats not too aggressive should not go through the clear. Despite being a late model gen 3 everyone parks under different conditions so its possible the clear has faded more than someone might think. And compound can make milano pink look milano red again. It basically wets the color and polishes.

the only other conclusion i can think of for getting paint on your rag is that maybe your car is painted with like a single stage paint, but im not too sure.

that would mean its been repainted.. i doubt they went that route with any of the type r's from factory. Good theory and i really hope nobody did that to a type r.

well i have not other theories on how hes getting his paint onto the rag unless he went through the clear coat.. and iits hard for me to believe he went through the clear coat just by rubbing compound onto the hood just using his hands and a rag. Unless its not paint..

Alright guys. Yes I think the car has been repainted. I remember asking why the paint looked so good after so many years, and 2 owners before me. He told me that it had been repainted.

Me standing over my hood right after the Ultimate compound:


In the garage:


rest of the car still pretty shiny, but no Ultimate compound:

drevans_satx said:

Now I understand, correct me if I'm wrong here, but the ITR and maybe others have really soft paint.

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Yes, in my experience most Hondas typically have pretty soft paint.

drevans_satx said:

2. Is it normal to have my cloth covered in my car!?!?
3. Is it safe to wax after a compound rub down? (I use Meguiers Gold Class...it smells good)

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2. No, it is not normal unless you have a single stage paint job.
3. Yes, you should wax after compounding since you should have removed all of the protection in the earlier stages. Assuming you are prepping the paint properly for polishing.

I typically do this when polishing any of my stuff:
- Two bucket wash
- Clay bar
- Meguiar's M105 w/ orange pad on Porter Cable 7424xp
- Meguiar's M205 w/ white pad on PC7242xp
- Alcohol wipe / inspect quality
- Glaze/Seal/Wax

I also have Menzerna PO85RD and black pads for a third stage if I feel I need to finish down better, but on most of my rides M205 finishes down just fine. You should atleast do a good wash and clay bar before using any compound or polish. Then finish with a wax.

drevans_satx said:

So now we have established that my clear coat is...well gone?
Ultimate compound is too aggressive for my paint??
I shouldn't be taking the base coat with me when I'm done buffing?

If it's all so bad than why does it looks so good? xD
Also I have a orbital? buffer...or it it DA? It doesn't look like an angle grinder and it has two handles.

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Not necessarily
UC is not too aggressive. It would be hard to work through the clear by hand with UC
You probably have an orbital. In my opinion, those big cheapo 10" orbitals do more harm than good.

LoweredDC4 said:

the only other conclusion i can think of for getting paint on your rag is that maybe your car is painted with like a single stage paint, but im not too sure.

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You are correct, a single stage paint would show this. But I doubt someone single staged it, Honda didn't from the factory. My bet is overspray from a re-paint.

LoweredDC4 said:

its hard for me to believe he went through the clear coat just by rubbing compound onto the hood just using his hands and a rag.

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I agree. You would have to have one h*ll of a strong elbow to work through a good clear coat with UC by hand.

drevans_satx said:

Alright guys. Yes I think the car has been repainted. I remember asking why the paint looked so good after so many years, and 2 owners before me. He told me that it had been repainted.

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This is where I place my bet. Your car has been repainted, what came off on that rag was probably overspray.