meguiars #9 vs #80

[andrew300]

well i am new here and have learned a lot allready. i just bought a complete kit of zaino and a pc with sonus pads in preperation for my black 05 m3 but im not just going to go to work on that, i thought i would practice on my parents cars which vary in color and paint condition. there is my gf`s 03 eclipse gts in graphite which has light to moderate swirls. i couldnt get them out by hand so i guess they are not really light. i am a silver lexus is300 and gs300 both that are in good condition and i have a old 87 blue supra which is in horrible condition. i thought i would practice on all these cars to get technique down and which products to use. now for my question, i need something to remove swirls and not fill them and i heard #9 just fills them as it has light to no abrasive. would #80 be a better choice? i know i will probably need a cutting pad with some medium cut compound for the supra but should #80 or #9 with a orange or polishing pad work for the newer cars? do you guys think i should use 80, then 9 or just one or another. i want to get them out completely, not just cover them. please reccomend me a product. thanks.

[Accumulator]

manawar- If you`re just choosing between the #9 and the #80, I`d get the #80. IMO the #9 will be too mild for what you`re doing.



But I myself would get two 3M products instead- PI-III RC (pn 05933) and PI-III MG (pn 05937). These two should handle most of the stuff you can do with a PC and they don`t leave fillers/etc. behind. Very user-friendly too.

[hirosh]

between #9 and #80, #80 is the one that doesn`t fill as much, and is good for removing light swirls. depending on how bad the swirls are, but for most light swirls, a polishing pad and #80 should work, just be sure to work it until the #80 turns clear.



since you have zaino, you should probably do a 50/50 wipe down after polishing as #80 may leave some oils behind that may interfer with the zaino bonding to the paint. or you could also try poorboy`s SSR line of polishes, which also don`t have fillers. SSR 2.5 works on most swirls, and at times for me, i can go straight to my LSP. other times, i need to use SSR 1 to clear up any hazing left by the 2.5

[Carl Anderson]

Manawar,

I have an 03 Jet Black M3; ordered it and took possession 12/02. Unless you are extremely careful in youir wash and dry method, you will get significant swirls. The paint is pretty soft. Having said that, it is not a bad idea to have both #3 and #80 - I do. In addition I have #83 for hard to get out scratches, such as the ones my cat put on my hood. I have three different Meguire`s pads for my PC - the red cutting, the yellow polishing, and the beige finishing pad. I rarely use the cutting pad, but it does come in handy on occasion.