Looking for an aggressive replacement for my 3M Compound

[Danspeed1]

Hello,

In detailing my personal vehicle this past week, I ran into the first time, in a long time where my compound really met its match. I have a 2009 CTS-V in Tri-Coat Red. The clear on this car was rock hard and heavily scratched and marred. I didn`t even take before and afters because I thought this was going to be a, two pass and done sort of deal. It certainly wasn`t! I started by busting out the M105 with my DA on orange; quickly moved to my Rotary when nothing changed. That didn`t help either. Swapped out the foam for wool. It started to knock it down but was taking forever. Switched over to 3D ACA500 which is my usual go to for quick results. Nope. At the back of my detailing cabinet sat a 1/4 full container of 3M Perfect-IT Extra Cut Rubbing Compound 06060. This was the last stand, and thankfully this product has never let me down. It did a great job getting the finish ready for a few polishing stages. Car looks great, finish is perfect, AND MY BOTTLE IS EMPTY . I went online this afternoon to order a new bottle in case I run into this issue again, and to my surprise... I think its been discontinued. I was looking for some replacement options, but I am not sure what direction to look. I know my ACA500 is pretty aggressive so I want to keep something on hand thats a little more brutal, but I am not sure what that is. Please advise.

[Dan]

I`m not up on the latest but M101 even gets minor scratches off glass for me.

[Accumulator]

I`m not up on the latest but M101 even gets minor scratches off glass for me.

While I haven`t tried it on glass...that`s what I would have posted had Dan not beaten me to it. M101 *works*. In fact, better take it easy on that Tri-Coat lest you reduce it to a Bi-Coat Yeah, really. And FWIW, while no compound has ever finished out OK for me, M101 doesn`t leave all that much hazing as long as you don`t use a crazy-aggressive pad (which is *NOT* necessary anyhow, no matter how hard the paint is).

[Bill D]

M101 rarely gets attention but it`s a great product. I`ve even did very light spot work with it by hand. That impressed me.

[Stokdgs]

Have had great success with the old M105 and M205, way, way, back when they first came out.. On a variety of all the American, British, German, and a few Italian vehicles, and one huge boat...

Had a good amount of experience with the 3M compound/polish line, when I was working as a Painter in an body and paint shop..

M105 had to be the compound on a really dirty, never corrected airplane with a beautiful paint job that had aged forever, before they called me.

I used M105 with the Lake Country Purple Foam Wool Pads, my Makita Rotary and a backing plate for 5" pads on the tricky places, and 6" plate and pads on the long, forever, tail and oh yeah, don`t forget to do the underside of all that wingspan and tail...Oh, and all those Rivets !!!! Pad killers.... Finished all of it with M205 and Lake Country White foam pads, to a blinding gloss in the sun..

M105 finished down pretty great alone, using a lot of moisture sprayed on as I went, and working the compound all the way to - nothing -

Don`t know your process with your D/A or your Rotary, so I can`t comment on why you had the issues, etc., with that paint...

Hope you are using a good, reliable paint thickness gauge and know how to measure in microns...
Dan F.

[Lonnie]

Anyone try Scholl`s Concepts High Performance Cutting Compound S3 Gold XXL?
From what I have read about it, it was designed for hard clear coat finishes.
Another compound to consider is Menzerna`s Heavy Cut Compound 400.

If someone comes up with a value and measurement term for the hardness of a clear coat finish surface, let me know.
Rock-hard is a subjective term and assessment. I am am looking for a definitive and quantifiable number relating to a measurement term or title, similar to Mohs, Rockwell, or Shore.
Like CO 100, "CO" meaning Captain Obvious and 100 being like front windshield glass and zero(0) being like the gloss black of a Bentley that supposedly scratches or swirls just by breathing on it... Well, I tried.

[Accumulator]

Lonnie- Ah, I never knew that Bentley used extremely soft clear! Thanks for mentioning that.

[Bill D]

So Bentley is like BMW jet black? Better keep it in the garage often and never drive in bad weather

[Setec Astronomy]

Better keep {the Bentley} in the garage often and never drive in bad weather

I dunno Bill, if I had a Bentley, I think that would be SOP, although I`m sure there are plenty of daily drivers.

[noorth]

Scholls shock to cut maybe. Rupes blue is another which you can get cheap.

[mgm2003]

A detailer in my area recommended feynlab A50 super heavy cutting compound. This product works magic. 6-8 passes on the Rupes DA using a megs wool pad. Zero dust, is clears out swirls, scratches, and to an extent RIDS very effectively. If you have to do any light wet sanding, this product with save your back, and literally trim down your polishing time by at least half. I was sceptical until I tried it. Not cheap, but it does the job and really saves on multiple passes. I go straight from A50 to a finishing pad and final polish (I have not tried the feynlab final finish, but plan to when my Menzerna runs out).

[wannafbody]

M105 worked on a pretty deep scratch I had.