new PC user....with questions and pics

[nc_snoskier]

i recently upgraded from a cheap 10in buffer to the PC 7424. i ordered the 6.5 in pad kit from autogeek with an orange light cutting pad, two white polishing pads, and a black finishing pad.

i have always used meguiars products on my vehicles, usualy the 3 step process topped off with a final coat of gold class.

my wifes 03 dark blue honda was looking sad so i decided to try out the PC on it.
i used the orange pad with the cleaner/wax (step one) which says it will remove minor oxidation and swirls, and the white pads for the polish (step two) and the gold class. the swirls and water spots dont look like they were even touched. I applied the products with the speed set on 3.5 to 4.

i guess what i am wondering is this: are the meguiars products that i am using more consumer oriented and just not strong enough to cut through these swirls and water spots? this car is a daily driver and stays outside all the time, so am i expecting too much to remove these completely? should i use a higher speed on the PC?

any help would be appreciated.

[sQuashed]

Originally Posted by nc_snoskier

i
i guess what i am wondering is this: are the meguiars products that i am using more consumer oriented and just not strong enough to cut through these swirls and water spots? this car is a daily driver and stays outside all the time, so am i expecting too much to remove these completely? should i use a higher speed on the PC?

any help would be appreciated.

I would think the Meg's 3 step would possibly help with the water spots but not the swirls. You need an abrasive polish for the swirls and you need to crank up that PC to get anywhere. Try some Poorboys SSR 2.5 for the swirls with the orange pad and then a milder polish with the white pad afterwards. If you need some 2.5, I have a bunch. Maybe we can trade some product?

[White95Max]

Always be skeptical of manufacturers' claims. For example, a well-known gentle polish known as RMG says on the bottle:

contains no abrasives...designed to remove minor paint defects, wet sanding marks, oxidized paint and overspray.

If it had no abrasives, it would not be able to remove minor paint defects, sanding marks, or overspray. "Removing" swirls often means hiding swirls, because the product will have fillers.

Meg's step 1 and 2 both have fillers IIRC, and are both non-abrasive. Which means you will not *remove* any swirls with them. But you can *hide* them a bit.

And even if you were using a swirl-removing polish, you will do very little good while using it on speed 3-4. You NEED to use 5, or preferably, 6.

[Setec Astronomy]

Originally Posted by White95Max

Meg's step 1 and 2 both have fillers IIRC, and are both non-abrasive. Which means you will not *remove* any swirls with them. But you can *hide* them a bit.

But DC Step 1 does have solvents in it. IIRC, I read here or on MOL that solventy polishes will soften the appearance of swirls by dissolving the sharp edge of the "scratch". So that is a non-abrasive way of "removing" swirls, without filling them. Whether or not that works on enamel paint, I don't know, but I certainly have gotten paint transfer (on wheels) from products like Poorboy's Pro Polish, which seems to be very solventy.

[Arved]

Cleaner Wax is, indeed, part of Meguiar's "Consumer line" of products. Now that you've stepped up to a PC, I also suggest that step up to thier (or others) professional line products. I especially encourage you to divorce the "cleaner" and the "wax" in your product selection. Some here will disagree, citing the exciting results they've had with Klasse AIO (a product which I admit I've never tried), but it makes sense to me that you don't want to apply a wax with your abrasives, nor abrasives with your wax.

You should always work from least aggressive to most aggressive. This means you'll also inevitably acquire a range of products as you work your way to more and more aggressive products.

If you've got swirl marks you need to remove, I'd start with Meg's #9 Hi-Tech swirl remover. If that doesn't give you the results you want, and you feel you need to go with more abrasive, move onto Meguiar's #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish (DACP). And if that doesn't get-er-done, there's Meguiar's #1 Medium Cut Cleaner, Meguiar's #4 Heavy-Cut Cleaner, and #85 Diamond Cut Compound.

And if that don't get it, it's time to learn the fine art of wet sanding.

And just as you go up in grades of abrasiveness, you also have to work down, to take out the scratches and swirls added by the use of those course abrasives. Think of walking up, then down a set of stairs.

I only use Meguiar's products in the above example because it's a product line I'm familiar with. Many other lines have similar products. They may be better, or not. I'm not sure. Meg's products are easy to obtain locally, and I've gone through thier training, so it's a line I'm comfortable using, and recommending.

Your milage may differ. Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear. Etc.

Good luck! Hope this helps,

[PadawanPrime]

Originally Posted by Arved

You should always work from least aggressive to most aggressive. This means you'll also inevitably acquire a range of products as you work your way to more and more aggressive products.

If you've got swirl marks you need to remove, I'd start with Meg's #9 Hi-Tech swirl remover. If that doesn't give you the results you want, and you feel you need to go with more abrasive, move onto Meguiar's #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish (DACP). And if that doesn't get-er-done, there's Meguiar's #1 Medium Cut Cleaner, Meguiar's #4 Heavy-Cut Cleaner, and #85 Diamond Cut Compound.

Mostly good advice, but this is HONDA paint.

Honda paint is VERY SOFT (probably the softest). I would not start w/ DACP, but rather start first w/ something milder, like #82. Besides if you search, you will see that DACP is reportly hard to work w/ (I haven't used it myself, so YMMV). I would definitely question moving beyond DACP on Honda paint w/ a PC. If you need to move beyond DACP, you probably need a rotary to fully utilize the Meguiar's products mentioned in the above post. I would be too afraid of making a mistake w/ Honda paint w/ products stronger than DACP, and I would take it to a professional detailer to have it done.

BTW, there are a lot of good polishes made by companies other than Meguiar's. If you require OTC products, maybe Mothers PowerPolish. It doesn't dust, and is easy to wipe off.

Peace.

[Arved]

Originally Posted by PadawanPrime

Mostly good advice, but this is HONDA paint.

Well, I'll bow to a higher authority. The only Honda's I've had (and detailed) were the 2-wheeled kind. Pretty conventional B/C paint system on those.

BTW, there are a lot of good polishes made by companies other than Meguiar's. If you require OTC products, maybe Mothers PowerPolish. It doesn't dust, and is easy to wipe off.

Peace.

I'm sure there are. I'm more familiar with Meg's line, and so that's what I based my recommendation on, and was merely trying to make a point about how you would work increasingly aggressive, until the defects are finally obliterated, and then back down again with increasingly finer, less abrasive products. I've had good results going straight from 2000-grit wet/dry sandpaper to DACP, and then finer, but that's mostly on CC's I've sprayed myself.

Not being familiar with Mother's Polishes, I refered to this comparison chart, and it looks like Mother's Power Polish is about as abrasive as DACP, or a grade finer, depending on the pad used. But I am surprised at how abrasive DACP is rated - IIRC, this is a "3" on Meg's scale (of 1 to 10). That table provides many alternatives. Pick a few products, and do a search to see what people here think of them.

Sincerely,

[Tasty]

Originally Posted by PadawanPrime

Mostly good advice, but this is HONDA paint.

Honda paint is VERY SOFT (probably the softest). I would not start w/ DACP, but rather start first w/ something milder, like #82. Besides if you search, you will see that DACP is reportly hard to work w/ (I haven't used it myself, so YMMV). I would definitely question moving beyond DACP on Honda paint w/ a PC. If you need to move beyond DACP, you probably need a rotary to fully utilize the Meguiar's products mentioned in the above post. I would be too afraid of making a mistake w/ Honda paint w/ products stronger than DACP, and I would take it to a professional detailer to have it done.

BTW, there are a lot of good polishes made by companies other than Meguiar's. If you require OTC products, maybe Mothers PowerPolish. It doesn't dust, and is easy to wipe off.

Peace.

Honda paint is not so delicate that a PC and DACP is going to eat through it. Come on. How would a rotary be a better solution if you are already worried about the PC?? Your post makes no sense.

The deep crystal system is good for the weekend warrior who wants to make a decent change by hand (heck, I even did it once), but if you really want to rid yourself of swirls you will need to step up to some products with balls. Don't be afraid to go to a product like SSR 2.5 or something, and unlike some would have you believe it won't destroy your Honda paint.

[PadawanPrime]

Originally Posted by Tasty

Honda paint is not so delicate that a PC and DACP is going to eat through it. Come on. How would a rotary be a better solution if you are already worried about the PC?? Your post makes no sense.

The deep crystal system is good for the weekend warrior who wants to make a decent change by hand (heck, I even did it once), but if you really want to rid yourself of swirls you will need to step up to some products with balls. Don't be afraid to go to a product like SSR 2.5 or something, and unlike some would have you believe it won't destroy your Honda paint.

I never said anything about eating though paint. I said Honda paint is very soft, which it is.

And I wrote to fully utilize in my post. The products above Meguiar's DACP listed (#1, #4, #85) are DESIGNED w/ a rotary in mind, and not a PC. So to fully utilize them, you should use a rotary. That's not to say you can't try using a PC, it's a free country, use whatever you want to use. But please don't twist my words.

Your post is erroneous, so it makes no sense.

Peace.

[PadawanPrime]

Originally Posted by Arved

Well, I'll bow to a higher authority. The only Honda's I've had (and detailed) were the 2-wheeled kind. Pretty conventional B/C paint system on those.



I'm sure there are. I'm more familiar with Meg's line, and so that's what I based my recommendation on, and was merely trying to make a point about how you would work increasingly aggressive, until the defects are finally obliterated, and then back down again with increasingly finer, less abrasive products. I've had good results going straight from 2000-grit wet/dry sandpaper to DACP, and then finer, but that's mostly on CC's I've sprayed myself.

Not being familiar with Mother's Polishes, I refered to this comparison chart, and it looks like Mother's Power Polish is about as abrasive as DACP, or a grade finer, depending on the pad used. But I am surprised at how abrasive DACP is rated - IIRC, this is a "3" on Meg's scale (of 1 to 10). That table provides many alternatives. Pick a few products, and do a search to see what people here think of them.

Sincerely,

Oh, they have updated the chart.

I've NOT used Mother's PowerPolish (YET), but I thought the abrasiveness was dependent on the pad used. If DACP is as abrasive as MPP, then I didn't know, thanks for the 411.

And I didn't mean my post as a criticism. You posted tons of good advice. I meant my post as an addendum from a Honda owner.

If MPP is as abrasive as DACP, then maybe I don't need anything besides MPP & GEPC.

Peace.

[nc_snoskier]

thanks everybody. it looks like i'm going to be experimenting with some different products now. if its nice this weekend im going to try and work on the honda again. i appreiate all the help.

[Tasty]

Originally Posted by PadawanPrime

I never said anything about eating though paint. I said Honda paint is very soft, which it is.

And I wrote to fully utilize in my post. The products above Meguiar's DACP listed (#1, #4, #85) are DESIGNED w/ a rotary in mind, and not a PC. So to fully utilize them, you should use a rotary. That's not to say you can't try using a PC, it's a free country, use whatever you want to use. But please don't twist my words.

Your post is erroneous, so it makes no sense.

Peace.

I see that after your earlier ERRONEOUS post you took the two extra seconds to read my signature and see that I do indeed own a Honda. Good job. BTW, it's my second.