Honda paint

[mirrormirror]

... resubmitting this with a different title since my previous two posts resulted in the `white screen of death`...hopefully they don`t reappear as clutter later on to this forum...



Hi All. Newbie post here. I am planning to do my first ever machine detail, and my victim is a 2008 Honda Accord with Mystic Green Metallic paint (kind of a medium dark seafoam green). The paint is in good condition, with only minor swirling and typical automated car wash light scratches (all hard to see without spot lighting). My plan of attack is the following:



Wash

Clay

M205 with Meguiars Soft Pad 2.0 Polishing (W8207B) for light swirl removal

M205 with Meguiars Soft Pad 2.0 Finishing (W9207B) for final finish polish

Wipe down with Meguiars Final Inspection (M34)

Apply Blackfire Wet Diamond

Wait 24 hours and reapply BFWD



While reading through variuos threads in this forum, I`ve learned that Honda paints are often "soft", and may require some extra effort or additional polishes (such as Menzerna 85RD or FPII or 3M Ultrafina) to get that final bit of clarity. Is my current approach a good one, or should I be considering some other polishes and pads into the equation? Is there any special technique or pad combination to get the best finish from M205 on soft paint?



I only have a Meguiars G110v2 DA, with the full portfolio of Soft Buff 2.0 pads, plus some LC SMART Gold Finishing pads. I don`t mind buying other pads or polishes, if they will help deliver the best finish. I didn`t see a need to have anything more aggressive than M205, but I could be wrong there too (I have the 2.0 Cutting Pad, and can also get M105 quickly, but I was trying to avoid getting that aggressive on my first job!



Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!

[BigAl3]

do a test spot (always least aggressive approach first) and use the M205 with the yellow polishing pad and go from there (do a few passes if necessary). remember to do slow overlapping passes and crank it up to speed 5-6...

[mirrormirror]

do a test spot (always least aggressive approach first) and use the M205 with the yellow polishing pad and go from there (do a few passes if necessary). remember to do slow overlapping passes and crank it up to speed 5-6...



Thanks for the advice!

[jDizzle]

3m ultrafina is still my favorite finnishing polish for my car (and pretty much everything else) but 205 finnished just fine on my honda (2003 tan honda civic) using a grey finnishing pad (never tried meguiars pads) 205 is very versatile, and depending on the pad you use can do some correction, and finnish very well. the only thing i would change about your procedure is to do an IPA wipedown (thats a 50-50 mix of isapropyl alcohol and water) before the blackfire to get rid of any polishing oils left by the 205 so the sealant will have an ideal surface to hold onto. good luck

[mirrormirror]

3m ultrafina is still my favorite finnishing polish for my car (and pretty much everything else) but 205 finnished just fine on my honda (2003 tan honda civic) using a grey finnishing pad (never tried meguiars pads) 205 is very versatile, and depending on the pad you use can do some correction, and finnish very well. the only thing i would change about your procedure is to do an IPA wipedown (thats a 50-50 mix of isapropyl alcohol and water) before the blackfire to get rid of any polishing oils left by the 205 so the sealant will have an ideal surface to hold onto. good luck



Thanks JDizzle! I`m assuming that the 50-50 IPA mix you refer to is mixing the standard grocery store 70% Isopropyl with distilled water?

[jDizzle]

you assume correct. plain old isopropyl alcohol. you can get a decent size bottle for a couple bucks. i generally dilute it a bit weaker than 50-50, but thats generally what most people use for an IPA wipedown after polishing. i would try to get the correction done, wipedown and make sure you`ve gotten correction you`re happy with, then go ahead and do your final polish with the softer pad and wipedown with IPA again. the oils in some polishes can actually hide defects.

[mirrormirror]

Actually, JDizzle`s comment about the IPA wipedown begs another question that I`ve been struggling with while learning in this forum.



On one hand, I believe the oils in these polishes (or glazes) are designed to both provide a lubricating base for the polishing process, but on the other hand, aren`t the oils also designed to improve on the paint optics by swelling the paint/clearcoat molecules? Should IPA wipedowns be used in all circumstances, or are they most important when using a sealant due to the unique bonding requirements of sealant to paint? When applying Carnuba waxes after polishing or glazing, do you leave the oils on?



Is there a general rule of thumb as to when IPA wipedowns should be applied, and when they are not necessary?



Thanks again for your replies.

[jDizzle]

the oild are for lubricating, and yes they do make the paint look very good.. people chose to remove them because it causes bonding issues , expecially with cleaner free sealants like blackfire wet diamond (which is a very good choice by the way) they do now swell the clearcoat molecuels or anything. as i said before, some polishes do hide defects they dont remove by using fillers, and ipa will get rid of those fillers. not doing an ipa will shorten the life of your blackfire, and most other LSPs. IPA wipedown is not 100% nessisary, infact durring the summer i like to use meguiars #9 (light polish with a ton of fillers and oils in it) and put some s100 carnuba wax on it. looks increadible. durability isnt really of concern in the summer for me, because i wax every few weeks. hope i answered all of your questions with my wordy response.

[mirrormirror]

the oild are for lubricating, and yes they do make the paint look very good.. people chose to remove them because it causes bonding issues , expecially with cleaner free sealants like blackfire wet diamond (which is a very good choice by the way) they do now swell the clearcoat molecuels or anything. as i said before, some polishes do hide defects they dont remove by using fillers, and ipa will get rid of those fillers. not doing an ipa will shorten the life of your blackfire, and most other LSPs. IPA wipedown is not 100% nessisary, infact durring the summer i like to use meguiars #9 (light polish with a ton of fillers and oils in it) and put some s100 carnuba wax on it. looks increadible. durability isnt really of concern in the summer for me, because i wax every few weeks. hope i answered all of your questions with my wordy response.



Great response...Thank you.



I noticed in one of your posts a while back, that you were about to try BFWD, and that you might test it in the same way as you did in your full car wax test (which was one of my favorite threads when I was first evaluating products). Did you ever try the BFWD and did you reach any durability conclusions? I couldn`t find any follow up.

[jDizzle]

wow, its really nice to hear sumwun liked that thread.. i didnt keep up with updates as well as i would have liked. but thanks :-) i have not gotten around to testing out the blackfire wet diamond. it has been on my car for a month, mabye a month and a half, and still going strong. most products dont hold up on the sides of my car in the winter time because of my long commute on a salty highway to and from school.. but then again ive been snowed in for the past week because we got hammered here in delaware. the reason i havnt tested out the blackfire wet diamond in a test like the last one is mainly because we were going to sell the car, so i just put a coat of collinite 845 (oily product.. makes the clearcoat failure crows feet looking spots less noticable, and lasts a while.) but my parents decided not to sell it until my sister is done with school (so she has something to drive when she comes home).. which will be in two more years. so i can do the test anytime. id also like to do a trim dressing test. and a tire shine test on it, ha. but for the paint ill probably end up testing the BFWD, surf city barrier reef,s100, M16, and sprays including meguiars ultimate quick wax, DG AW, and OCW. the trim dressings im not sure of yet, same for the tire shines. but hopefully i can get myself to start the test some time soon.. its cold, and i go to school monday through thursday all day. and work at a toyota/scion dealership friday and saturday, so that leaves me with a day for any schoolwork, my girlfriend, and just recouping from the week, i cant seem to motivate myself to start a test. i enjoy products, and will do the test sometime, so keep an eye out for it and comment. its much better to be doing a test when you get lots of comments and i know people are reading it and getting something out of it.. otherwise i wouldnt take the time to take pics, and post them on here. sorry i cant help you out with the blackfire wet diamond durability. perhaps someone whos been using it longer than me can comment on that.

[jDizzle]

mirror mirror. im starting the new wax test thread today by the way. keep an eye out for it

[mirrormirror]

Great News!! I`ll be watching for it. Thanks!