Machine Polishing Advice Needed

[HenrikP]

I have finally gathered everything I need to wetsand paint imperfections and protect the paint from the elements. Now I`d appreciate a little advice on what order and combinations to use these pads, buffers and polishes to polish the paint on any car to perfection:



Pads:

- D2D Edge Classic Green Light Cut (R)

- 3M 2+2 Superbuff (R)

- PC Factory Polishing Pad (DA)

- Meguiars High Tech Applicator Pad (H)

- Cotton Applicator Pad (H)

- Microfiber Towels (H)



Buffers:

- (R) Hitachi Rotary 0-3400 RPM

- (DA) Porter Cable 7336SP Random Orbit 2,500-6,000 OPM

- (H) My Hand



Polishes:

- 3M Rubbing Compound

- 3M Finesse-It Finishing Material

- GS27 Scratch Remover

- Farecla G3 Advanced Liquid Compound

- Farecla Machine Glaze

- AG Super Resin Polish

- Auri Polymer Polish

- Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze

- Meguiars #26 Hi-Tech Yellow Wax

- Zymol Cleaner Wax

- Mothers Cleaner Wax

- Mothers Pure Carnuba Paste Wax



...Thank you in advance...

[Accumulator]

Sorry, but I`m not familiar with most of the stuff you mentioned. On the stuff I do know something about:



The pad that came with your PC- Don`t use it on your paint. I threw mine away but some people use it on shower doors/etc.



Cotton applicator pads- I don`t use them.



3M RC- There are a lot of different ones, hard to tell which you have. I`d use it by rotary at around 1200-1500 rpm.



3M FI-II- Might be good to use after the above RC, with the rotary and/or the PC.



Autoglym SRP- Use with the PC at speed 4-4.5 with a mild polishing pad and/or by hand.



Meg`s #7- Use by hand on vehicles you did *not* use the above SRP on.



Meg`s 326- Use by PC/hand as your LSP.



Zymol cleaner wax, Mother`s waxes- No need for these if you have the SRP and the #26 IMO.



Oh, and I`d be mighty careful doing any wetsanding. About 99% of the time if I can`t get a problem out with something like the 3M RC and the rotary I live with it. Be sure to do your wetsanding with some Unigrit brand paper (yeah, it *is* that much more uniform) and get the sanding scratches out with the RC before going to a milder product. But again, I`d skip the wetsanding and keep the clear nice and thick if it were mine.

[HenrikP]

so...

1) 3m superbuff on Rotary w/ Farecla G3 or 3M RC

2) Edge light cut on Rotary w/ 3M FI-II

3) Edge polishing pad on PC w/ SRP or Machine Glaze

4) 26 by hand

[Accumulator]

OK, but you might very well need an additional (abrasive) polishing step (with the PC) after that FI-II by rotary. I`m sure I would.

[HenrikP]

how bout FI-II on a blue edge on the PC?

[Accumulator]

As per our PMs (in case others might benefit from this thread), it`s gonna depend on the paint and its condition. Maybe that`ll work, but FI-II might be too aggressive just as FPII could be too mild. Optimum comes to mind as a good middle ground.

[HenrikP]

Yah ive been considering buying some OC and OP but Ive havent really got to it because the fact that I need to use my parents credit card to order it, so up to now Ive just used stuff I can buy with cash at local auto parts stores. Ive considered a couple of the Meguiars Compounds and Polishes at the local stores but I figured the FP-II was pretty much what I needed.