scratch/polish/wax questions

[antiprnt]

Hey guys, I`ve recently got a new PC 7336 from lowes. I have not used it yet and have yet to buy backing plates, pads, etc. I have a scratch on my front bumper(pic attached) that I got from rubbing on a metal pole. I did the fingernail test and it doesnt catch. I plan to go all out on the car and wash, clay, polish, attempt scratch removal, and wax once I get all my products together. The car is a 2006 honda civic, besides the scratch, it only has minor marring.



Products I will have :

6 inch Yellow Cutting Pad

6 inch Green Medium Cutting Pad

6 inch Orange Light Cutting Pad

6 inch Blue Finishing Pad

6 inch White Ultra-fine Polishing Pad

Edge 2000 Quick Connect Dual Action Adapter

Meguiar`s Colorx, Scratch X, #26, DC step 2

Optimum Polish, Compound

Collinite 845, blackmagic liquid wax, honda sealant (hendricks auto guard), Duragloss AW



Now on to the questions..



What should I do with the pad that comes with the PC? Apply wax? or use with bonnets?



Will I be able to severely reduce or get rid of the scratch with the power of the PC, or would I need a rotary?



What pad should I use the Optimum Compound on? How many passes do you guys estimate I will have to make? How dangerous is it to use the strongest cutting pad with the Compound?



What pad should I use Optimum polish on?



What should I use to get rid of the micro marring? Optimum polish or colorx? Should Colorx be used on a brand new car? What pad?



Would throwing the meguiar`s dc step 2 glaze after colorx or optimum polish yield better results? Does the glaze effect bonding of sealants?



If I plan to use collinite 845 or meguiar`s #26, would there be a problem if I threw some Duragloss AW on top of there after the next wash? How often should AW be used?



How often should I polish the car with cleaner/polish?



Do I need a pad cleaning brush/spur?..or would just rinsing the pad with some detergent good enough?



Thanks!

[imported_Dave KG]

Many people simply throw away the pad that comes with the PC... I would personally keep a hold of it and use it to apply glass polishes - works well with Autoglym Glass Polish I have found, but I wouldn`t personally take it onto paint.



A lot will depend on the depth of the scratch, though as you say it doesn`t catch the nail so I am hopeful that you should at least be able to significantly reduce that mark by using the PC. Start with a mild abrasive polish and pad combo first and then work up to a more aggressive combo until you get the defect correction you are happy with. It may not be possible to fully correct that mark, but I reckon you`ll be able to make a significant impact on its severity. Oh, and given time and plenty of patience, a PC will achieve what a rotary can achieve in many circumstances, its just the PC works much slower - for example, it was widely believed that to achieve decent defect correction on badly marred VAG finishes required a rotary, but left alone for three days I got there in the end on an Audi A4 with the PC.



I would use the OC on either the medium cutting or the cutting pad. The PC is a gentle tool, so using the OC on an aggressive pad is unlikely to do any damage - what you may find is light micromarring from the PC not fully breaking the polish down or from the coarse pad but this is quickly and easily removed by following up with a milder abrasive and a milder pad. As far as passes goes, one thing I really like about the Optimum polish range is how well lubed they are which gives them a nice long working time - keep working the compound until the residue goes clear, this will take many passes and plenty of patience but it is worth it in the end. Stopping before the polish has properly broken down will lead to more significant micromarring. Also, keep your working area small as well, its easier to focus on a small working area by PC and get better results: about 18" square tops.



OP I would use on a polishing pad or a light cutting pad depending on whether you are using it to remove light micromarring or hazing, or using it on more significant swilrs.



I would personally go for Optimum Polish to remove micrmarring as this polish finishes down very nicely to an LSP ready finish, especially on a polishing pad - then I would go straight from here to glaze/seal/wax.



A glaze will affect the bonding of some fussy sealents, yes and will adversely affect the durability of most LSPs as they can struggle to bond to the more oily surface... a products like Autoglym SRP leaves a layer of acryllic seaents that other sealents and waxes can bond easily to and give excellent durability. That said, the durability of many sealents is not destroyed by using a glaze, just slightly reduced, and the DC2 will give you a nice wet look shine, espeically on a dark colour... If you want the utmost of durability, leave the DC2 out. If you have a dark coloured car, and want a nice wet look, use the DC2.



I have no experience of the AW product I`m afraid so cannot comment fully on it...



How often you polish a car will ultimately depend on how well you care for it once the defects are removed - I would not polish a car any more than twice a year personally and only with light abrasives to refine the finish.. Thorough compounding I would only look to do a couple of times in a car`s life as with the proper care regimes in place (two-bucket wash method for example) it should not be necessary to fully compound a vehicle. Just a very light polish every six months should be sufficient.



I would recommend a pad cleaning brush for use during the detail as it removes clotting from the pads which will adversely affect their performance... I brush my pads down after every panel to ensure I get the best performance from my pads throughout a detail.

[antiprnt]

Does claying the car effectively remove wax? After claying, should I use DC step 1 (paint cleaner) or should I go ahead and use Optimum Polish? OP is a cleaner/polish right?

[mikebai1990]

Some people say that fine clay does not remove wax. However, most clays (Clay Magic, Mothers, Meguiars) will remove wax and it is imperative to follow up with polish->wax or just wax. I`m not sure whether to use paint cleaner or Optimum Polish. I think that the paint cleaner would go first, as long as the paint cleaner doesn`t leave a layer of protection.



I don`t think ColorX has much swirl removal abilities. Please correct me if I`m wrong, I have ColorX also and I plan on using it with my new PC very soon. ColorX, I believe, is mainly used to revive oxidized paint and restore color and gloss. I don`t think it`s too much of a swirl remover.



DG AW is always a great choice to use on top of your LSP (Collinite, Meguiars). It is a quick spray sealant that gives a good looking sacrificial layer (that lasts quite a while by itself) for your LSP. I generally use AW every time I wash the car (2 weeks) so that I can wait longer between my waxing with Collinite.