I hate owning a C5 now ... I need help!

Perfect Speed · 07-03-09, 06:06

So I'm having a hard time with my C5... I have some deeper scratches on it...
I'm using Lake Country Orange pads, Meguiars #105/205 and a PC7424... they don't seem to be coming out. I was wondering if I should go to a Yellow pad? Is there any other product I should consider?
Thanks in advance.

inov8ter · 07-03-09, 06:25

How deep are the scratches. I just got done with a car that I had to use a yellow pad and a heavy cut compound on. The orange was just not cutting it. If all else fails you can try wet sanding them out. I then followed it up with Megs scratch remover 2.0 with a orange pad, then followed it up with pinnacle advanced polish with a white pad. it came out very nice! I also clayed it before I started. This was on a Cherokee srt8. It was some metallic red. Good luck!

gmblack3a · 07-03-09, 06:41

How are you applying the M105 to the pad?

KBM:

Prime the entire face of the clean/dry flat orange pad, ensure you have polish in every pore.

Apply 3-4 dots of M105 to the pad.

Apply enough pressure at speed 6 so that the pad is still spinning, but slowly. Ensure that the pad is spinning and not stopped.

Wipe the M105 from the surface with a MF and inspect the area. If the M105 become difficult to remove from the surface wipe it away with straight IPA.

After each use wipe the pad accross a MF to clean the pad. Then apply 4 more dots of polish and repeat.

After a few uses brush the pad clean and blow compressed air to clean out the dust. You will still see residual polish on the pad.

After so many uses the pad will loose its cut as its just clogged with too much polish and clear from the surface.

Clean the pad by spraying APC 1:4 onto the pad and wash it w/ warm water in the sink. Make sure you get all the soap and polish rinsed out. Spin the pad out into a bucket with your PC or a rotary if you have one. Let the pad air dry fully by placing it in from of a fan.

Of course you will need more then a few pads to complete this process.

Prime a fresh pad and start again.

If you have any 4" orange pads and the proper backing plate, use the above method to spot polish those deeper scratches.

Follow with M205 and a white or gray flat pad using the same process as above, you will not have to work the areas as long. If you don't have M205 use a finish polish with a white pad.

Perfect Speed · 07-03-09, 06:41

I'll try and post pics... I took some for a before/after pics... "deeep" would be an accurate description tho...
Here's some pics...
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...e/DSC_0009.jpg
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...e/DSC_0010.jpg
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...e/DSC_0011.jpg
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...e/DSC_0013.jpg

Accumulator · 07-03-09, 09:39

Perfect Speed- If you're not using 4" pads, I'd recommend that you get some.

M105 is good stuff, but sometimes you need to use it with very aggressive pads.

I never had to do serious correction on my C5, but on very hard clear I *have* had to resort to 4" *wool* pads on the PC (with M105). LC's PFW pads are the usual choice, but I've also used the 4" yellow wool pads sold by Cyclo Toolmakers, which are made by Edge.

Note that those will leave some not-so-micro marring of their own, but the M105/4" yellow wool combo is probably about as aggressive as I'd recommend. Anything so bad that *that* won't handle it, I'd rather wetsand with 3-4000 grit and then polish out the wetsanding marks (which can be a lot easier and safer than one might think, compared to being very aggressive with a polisher).

Oh, and even with the PC/4" yellow wool/M105, I had to do many passes to accomplish what I was after. Don't expect just four or five tries with *any* PC-based combo to be sufficient if you're doing really serious correction.

SuperBee364 · 07-03-09, 10:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmblack3a

How are you applying the M105 to the pad?

KBM:

Prime the entire face of the clean/dry flat orange pad, ensure you have polish in every pore.

Apply 3-4 dots of M105 to the pad.

Apply enough pressure at speed 6 so that the pad is still spinning, but slowly. Ensure that the pad is spinning and not stopped.

Wipe the M105 from the surface with a MF and inspect the area. If the M105 become difficult to remove from the surface wipe it away with straight IPA.

After each use wipe the pad accross a MF to clean the pad. Then apply 4 more dots of polish and repeat.

After a few uses brush the pad clean and blow compressed air to clean out the dust. You will still see residual polish on the pad.

After so many uses the pad will loose its cut as its just clogged with too much polish and clear from the surface.

Clean the pad by spraying APC 1:4 onto the pad and wash it w/ warm water in the sink. Make sure you get all the soap and polish rinsed out. Spin the pad out into a bucket with your PC or a rotary if you have one. Let the pad air dry fully by placing it in from of a fan.

Of course you will need more then a few pads to complete this process.

Prime a fresh pad and start again.

If you have any 4" orange pads and the proper backing plate, use the above method to spot polish those deeper scratches.

Follow with M205 and a white or gray flat pad using the same process as above, you will not have to work the areas as long. If you don't have M205 use a finish polish with a white pad.

This is the best summary of the KBM I've seen yet. It should be made in to a separate thread and stickied.

Using this method for 105 and then followed with 205 and a no bite pad will produce phenomenal results on most paints.

kty100 · 07-03-09, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmblack3a

Clean the pad by spraying APC 1:4 onto the pad and wash it w/ warm water in the sink. Make sure you get all the soap and polish rinsed out. Spin the pad out into a bucket with your PC or a rotary if you have one. Let the pad air dry fully by placing it in from of a fan.

Do you think using a pad after cleaning with a washer (System 2000, Universal) would be OK, or should the pad be completely dry?

grungy · 07-03-09, 10:17

I agree SuperBee364! That is a great writeup

efnfast · 07-03-09, 10:28

Don't dispair - as said above, it's all about finding the right pad/product/methodology that work with your technique.

For example, on my cyclo my vette kicked my butt all the time - I did decent correction on it, but never perfect. Always frustrated me, but I chaulked it up to it just not having enough power (no matter how much pressure i used) to work with superhard clear. Then I tried gloss-it products and bam, 1 pass with the compound, 1 pass with the polish, very light pressure, and the clearcoat was absolutely perfect.

Cyclo finally kicked corvette's butt

SuperBee364 · 07-03-09, 10:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfect Speed

So I'm having a hard time with my C5... I have some deeper scratches on it...
I'm using Lake Country Orange pads, Meguiars #105/205 and a PC7424... they don't seem to be coming out. I was wondering if I should go to a Yellow pad? Is there any other product I should consider?
Thanks in advance.

If you follow gmblack3a's advice to a T, the chances are very good that you'll get great results. I would, however, stay away from a Yellow LC foam cutting pad. I've had terrible results with that pad, and it just isn't necessary if you use Bryan's method.

gmblack3a · 07-03-09, 11:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by kty100

Do you think using a pad after cleaning with a washer (System 2000, Universal) would be OK, or should the pad be completely dry?

The pad needs to be completly dry prior to using again. I have a S2k pad washer but don't use it for this process as I can't get the center of the pad clean. I guess you could always use the S2k cleaner and then finish cleaning the pad in the sink. Rinse very well as you want to ensure that you get all of the M105 out of the pad. If not after the pad is dried you will have a cloud of dust upon your next use.

gmblack3a · 07-03-09, 11:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperBee364

If you follow gmblack3a's advice to a T, the chances are very good that you'll get great results. I would, however, stay away from a Yellow LC foam cutting pad. I've had terrible results with that pad, and it just isn't necessary if you use Bryan's method.

I fully agree about the yellow pad, IMO its always a disaster waiting to happen when using a yellow pad with a PC.