Menzerna is body shop safe correct?

[Ccrew]

Grr. Forum fail too.

Just a couple hours ago got my Challenger back from yet another warranty body shop repair and they seem to make it worse rather than better. They left a ton of sanding scuffs in the clear coat in an attempt to level it and take out a bunch of dust nibs. Pretty sorry job and I wouldn`t have let them touch it but it`s warranty so I didn`t have a choice.

Anyhow, I know the whole don`t wax it but there`s no issue with Menzerna 400/2500/4500 that I`m aware of is there? I can`t walk out to the garage and look at it without flinching. And I`ll be darned if I`ll take it and let the wash guy get it again. They dealer slimed my Perl coated rubber to boot - after they ran the tires in the mud. :o

Thanks.

[WhyteWizard]

Yes, Menzerna is safe.

Robert

[JSFM35X]

Not sure. It`s pretty oily imho.

[Stokdgs]

+1 with Robert -

Menzerna compound is body shop safe per their website.
Dan F

[The Guz]

So you now have the car at home? If that is the case then it doesn`t matter if the compound and polish are body shop safe as it is not at the actual body shop. You can pick up some Meguiar`s M305 which is made to work on freshly painted surfaces.

[Smack]

Yes, the full range of Menzerna compounds/polishes are "body shop safe". You can also use Paint Refresh during the 30-45 day cure time before applying a sealant such as PowerLock.

[imported_JustinTRW]

Not sure. It`s pretty oily imho.

Even one of the most oily products, Maguiar`s #7 glaze, is body shop safe.

[Ccrew]

Thanks guys. I know one of the pre-requisites for "body shop safe" is the fact that the product can`t contain waxes or silicones that could interfere with paint adhesion. And The Guz, I understand your point but this has now been a multiple event warranty repair, I don`t want to chance doing damage to the work they`ve done which then becomes my fault.

Background of the question is that I have a Challenger that`s exhibited perforated rust through in the passenger rear quarter. It`s an engineering issue with factory foam injected in the rockers causing drainage problems. It was fixed (we`ll use that term loosely) the first time under warranty in January of 2015 and now again in January of 2016 as a return under the dealers "Lifetime" repair warranty. Both times the bill was over $3k and I`d rather not jeopardize any subsequent repair via something I`ve done. While I`ll probably dump the car this year due to the ongoing headaches should that not prove economically feasible and this time next year it pops again I don`t want something I did to put me on the hook .

On the positive note I now have three different flavors of orange peel on the car, the Factory version, the rear quarter and door version from the first repair and the rear quarter since they didn`t need to panel blend the door this time. Oh wait. That`s not a positive! Heh. Larger concern at this point however is that I clearly have 2000 grit or so marks in places they didn`t paint also, in additions to small spots where they did paint where they tried to minimize dust nibs and fisheyes. So blending that together is going to require some talent to not now buff through the factory clear also.

Thought is that I`m going to buff the rear quarter, and lightly 2000/3000 grit block sand or CarPro denim the orange peeled door which is now a 1 year old repair to try to at least get it to a level where it all may not be perfect but it`ll at least be consistent and not turn the car into the 20 footer it is now. I`ll try to get some pictures for show and tell, but as many know these are some defects that are hard to catch in pictures.. Thanks all. !

[WhyteWizard]

Matching orange peel is one of the more subtle things we can do. I`d suggest, for the orange peel that`s worse than the factory peel, you use 2000 on a soft block, don`t push down hard, just let the paper glide over the paint. Don`t sand anywhere you can`t hit with your polisher - I mean buffer - unless you are willing to do the hand work required. Do a cross cut, one cut one direction another across, not parallel to the first cut.

At this point all the orange peel cutting is done and there should be orange peel left that`s pretty close to factory peel. So, you can use finer papers to refine the scratch down to what`s easy for you to handle.

From here, I would use Menzerna 400 with a rotary polisher and the foamed wool pad from Lake Country for the first cut. This scratch should just about wipe off the panel leaving a very fine swirl mark. Here`s where I differ from others. I get my swirl marks out using the Makita BO6040 with an orange foam pad and again, Menzerna 400. I make an initial pass to break down the product, wipe off most the residue then make a second pass without adding more product - using the broken down product that`s on the pad and then wipe that off. You can follow that with 4000 but in my experience that`s often not necessary. Keep an eye open for Jescar polish when/if it comes out, great small scratch removal with terrific gloss on all kinds/hardness` of paints.

Robert

[Accumulator]

Ccrew- It just *kills* me...that rust-out issue, let alone that it`s happening to you.

There are some fresh-paint-safe products you can use as LSPs these days; I`ve switched to OCW for this after *decades* of using 3M IHG or Meguiar`s Pure Polishes (and M80). The new Meguiar`s glaze (forget the name..) is supposed to be really nice for this too.

[jmsc]

Meg`s new glaze is M305. I had looked at it a few months ago but never bought it `cause I didn`t need it at the time.

[RaysWay]

...and the foamed wool pad from Lake Country for the first cut...

Have you tried out the Buff and Shine Wool Pads? They really blew me away. Especially the yellow 50/50 polishing pad.

[WhyteWizard]

I went to the Buff and Shine facility to see if I could find out more about their products but they didn`t have anyone available. Kind of a shame because I was researching products for a company that uses a lot of product. I like the Lake Country pad because I can cut it to within an eight of an inch of the backing plate and cut really tight and the Menzerna doesn`t need a hard backing to cut fast, though, on those occasions when I really need to rip into something, I have some pads that were designed for polishing marble. Not for the feint of heart, but seriously fast.

Will of course give them a try based on your recommendation though.

Robert

[Ccrew]

Caution.. High res pics.


My wife says I`m picky and no one else`s work would be perfect. Does this qualify as picky to you? The car is full of this where they repaired it.

http://www.tsplace.com/cars/panel1.jpg

[Ccrew]

Wheel barrels had been coated with DLUX and the tires were scrubbed and had used CarPro Perl before they got it. I get it back looking like this with some still oily slime on the tires. Like the Mud/Dust whatever? It`s a 1 mile drive on asphalt from the dealer to my garage. And they tried to sell me a black Hellcat on the showroom floor.


http://www.tsplace.com/cars/wheel1.jpg