Paint hardness and pad/polish combos

[rowe100]

Hello everyone - this is my first post and happy to be here!



I`m a newb to this, played a bit with okay results, handful of quick questions. BTW, I use a PC.



1) Any experience with hardness of clearcoat on our two cars? Mine is 2004 Sterling Grey745i and wife`s is 2001 Red Volvo wagon.



2) Menzerna IP has been hard to work with for me. Dries and dusts quickly without ability to work it. I think warmer temps were part of the problem (I was in garage but still pretty warm). I was thinking of moving to SIP and 106FF combo, while also watching temp. Also changing from std LC pads to CCS. Thoughts on that?



3) I`ve read different recommendations on pad/polish based on hardness of clearcoat. Any changes based on our cars?



4) For more focused defect removal, do you recommend 4" pad setup? 4" CCS pads or another option?



I`ve got a million questions, but 4 for now. Thanks everyone in advance for time and help - this looks like a great community

[mr.ikon]

I think both clears might be pretty tough.

I`ve never used Menzerna products but will be using some very similar. 1Z Polishes.

Yes for a more focused removal, a 4" pad would work best.



And welcome fellow norcal resident.

[rowe100]

Thanks Mr. Ikon - yea, I did some work on these two previously and they were both slow to see results. Also my understanding is the PC is forgiving but also you have to be patient to see results. That`s why working with the IP was so frustrating.

[SpeedEuphoria]

I`m a newb but not sold on the 4" "spot buff" pads, they seem a little plush. The ccs would be my choice as I just used dome 5" verions on my UDM and like them.

[rowe100]

I`ve never used the 4" pads, but it seems to make sense that for addressing a more focused problem (like scratches where our cat jumped on the car!) a 4" would be the ticket.



Seems like it would take a year to do the whole car with 4" pad.



Anyone think they are worth the investment?

[mr.ikon]

I`ve got some 5" ccs pads, but never tried any 4". But i have seen others use them and get great results.