Black '08 Jetta - First time!

[Accumulator]

Thanks! I think I'm going to start with the top of the trunk since it's the most heavily scratched area from the previous owner (presumably from setting a bunch of things on it). I'm going to make sure I've got a bright sunny day for the test spot. If I check the paint from a bunch of different angles in direct sunlight will I be okay?

Probably, though sometimes "distant point source illumination", such as streetlights at night or an incandescent bulb in an otherwise dark shop, can still show flaws you won't see in daylight (and vice-versa!).



At some point you gotta be reasonable and it's all about whether *you* are satisfied. Just try to keep in mind what you *do* care about, and aim for that.

 

[pwaug]

I don't know if this is advisable on a routine basis, but this is what I did since I am new to this: I divided the hood of my wife's car (97 Escort--soon to be replaced) into four 20" X 20" areas with masking tape. Using the UNO and a green pad, speed 6, 4 passes with firm pressure followed by speed 3, 2 passes with medium pressure in one square then green pad, speed 6, 6 passes with firm pressure followed by speed 3, 2 passes with medium pressure in another. Then in the other 2 squares did the same with an orange pad. Gave me a better idea of how different combos work and how to control the GG etc. I had also repaired some chips on the front fender with touch up paint and then wet sanded them with 2000 paper so I put the 4" orange pad on and gave them a few passes at speed 5 and then 3 and couldn't believe how good they turned out.

 

[ctdivo]

Ok, so I got all my gear in and went to town a little bit late this afternoon.



Here's what I did -



1. Wash & GG Prep Wash to remove NuFinish garbage



2. Clayed hood & applied Poxy with GG 6" - I did this after reading in another thread that pwaug did this to learn how to handle the DA before trying any correction. I have to say I was totally thrilled with my first experience with the DA, and I can't wait to do some more work with it.



I have a couple little questions.



1. Since I'm going to Poxy the whole car right now without doing any correction, will I need to Prep Wash again before doing the correction when I decide to do that? I'm going to use Poxy again.



2. Do I need to clay it again, if I'm thoroughly doing that now and I only wait a month or two?



Thanks in advance, I'm having a blast with this stuff

 

[Accumulator]

I have a couple little questions.



1. Since I'm going to Poxy the whole car right now without doing any correction, will I need to Prep Wash again before doing the correction when I decide to do that? I'm going to use Poxy again...

Probably not, but you won't know for certain until you try it. SOMETIMES (not often, but it has happened) a healthy LSP has make for hassles when I tried to just polish through it.



But most of the time the polish just cuts right through the existing LSP like it's not even there.



So your call...not a big deal if the polish makes for hassles (takes longer, bit of gummy residue on the pads/finish) as long as you figure it out before you go too far.

2. Do I need to clay it again, if I'm thoroughly doing that now and I only wait a month or two?

Same kinda thing...you won't know until you get there. Some cars get contaminated, others don't (environmental factors alone can make this a crapshoot).

Thanks in advance, I'm having a blast with this stuff

Glad to hear that!

 

[ctdivo]

Ok, so I have another rookie question. Do I need to treat the painted bumpers any differently than the rest of the car?

 

[Accumulator]

Ok, so I have another rookie question. Do I need to treat the painted bumpers any differently than the rest of the car?

Not really. But if you're doing really aggressive machine polishing, take it a little easy on them because the plastic doesn't handle heat the way metal does. Not like you need to be really paranoid though, I've used a rotary on them plenty of times with no problems.



Edit- also note that many plastic bumpercovers aren't even painted at the same time/place as the rest of the car. Look them over for signs that yours might have thin paint, especially around the edges/crown lines. But again, this generally isn't some big problem.

 

[GeeReg]

Well I hope you have better luck than I did today. I tried out the Meg's MF cutting pad and compound and I'm not happy. I knew there was a chance that it wouldn't finish LSP ready, but the marring and haze it left was unbelievable. I tried Ultimate Polish on another MF pad and that didn't really clean it up. Finally I pulled out a 4" white pad with Ultimate Polish and that cleaned it up pretty well, but I'm still having problems. I'm still getting mico-marring or something left over. I can see the marringor whatever of the passes I made (going one direction looks slightly different than another) even with the white pad and UP. I can't image having to use a finer pad or product on this hard VW clear.



I was really disappoint as I planned on the Meg's MF being a one-step and I would just live with whatever D300 left behind, this being a daily driver, but this was terrible. I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow as I only had a little while to play with it today, but I followed all the instructions and videos I've seen on how to use it.

 

[lostdaytomorrow]

Well I hope you have better luck than I did today. I tried out the Meg's MF cutting pad and compound and I'm not happy. I knew there was a chance that it wouldn't finish LSP ready, but the marring and haze it left was unbelievable. I tried Ultimate Polish on another MF pad and that didn't really clean it up. Finally I pulled out a 4" white pad with Ultimate Polish and that cleaned it up pretty well, but I'm still having problems. I'm still getting mico-marring or something left over. I can see the marringor whatever of the passes I made (going one direction looks slightly different than another) even with the white pad and UP. I can't image having to use a finer pad or product on this hard VW clear.



I was really disappoint as I planned on the Meg's MF being a one-step and I would just live with whatever D300 left behind, this being a daily driver, but this was terrible. I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow as I only had a little while to play with it today, but I followed all the instructions and videos I've seen on how to use it.

What polisher and speed and pressure applied??

 

[ctdivo]

Well I hope you have better luck than I did today. I tried out the Meg's MF cutting pad and compound and I'm not happy. I knew there was a chance that it wouldn't finish LSP ready, but the marring and haze it left was unbelievable. I tried Ultimate Polish on another MF pad and that didn't really clean it up. Finally I pulled out a 4" white pad with Ultimate Polish and that cleaned it up pretty well, but I'm still having problems. I'm still getting mico-marring or something left over. I can see the marringor whatever of the passes I made (going one direction looks slightly different than another) even with the white pad and UP. I can't image having to use a finer pad or product on this hard VW clear.



I was really disappoint as I planned on the Meg's MF being a one-step and I would just live with whatever D300 left behind, this being a daily driver, but this was terrible. I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow as I only had a little while to play with it today, but I followed all the instructions and videos I've seen on how to use it.

I'm so sorry things aren't going well! Did you do the whole car? It seems like it was the MF pads that really gave you the issues?



I'm going after my car tomorrow with different products (weather permitting) - Orange & Green 3D Pads with HD Uno. I'll let you know how that works.

 

[GeeReg]

What polisher and speed and pressure applied??

PCXP at 5. 2 moderate passes then 2 light (a little over the weight of the machine).



I didn't do the whole car, just a test section on the hood.

 

[Accumulator]

GeeReg- I *always* expect a fair amount of (not-so-)micromarring when I use stuff that'll correct hard clear. Yeah, I know others say that even M105 finishes nicely for them, but it doesn't work out that way for me. I sometimes get *really* nasty hazing/etc. from M105. It doesn't bother me as long as I also removed whatever marring prompted me to reach for M105 in the first place. Just makes for a lot of work with the subsequent product/pad combos.



I've never used M300 or UP, but I'll extrapolate as best I can from other stuff I have used (e.g., M105/M205).



Here are a few things that come to mind:



Is the micromarring from the polishing or from the wipe-off? Are you using something to assist in the wipe-off (I used M34)?



Are you cleaning off *all* the M300 residue so it doesn't get mixed in with the UP follow-up?



Are you keeping your pads clean?



I never really keep track of my arm speed or number of passes, but that "two and two" sounds different from what I do. I do more like six trips across the area (right/left; up/down/diagonal), all at the same arm speed, machine speed, and pressure. This leaves the product slightly wet, not dried-out, and I give it a little spritz of M34 before buffing it off (again, before it dries).



The follow-up with the UP can in many ways be more critical since it leaves the final finish. Two or three tries might be needed to remove all the hazing/etc. from the M300. And again, each of those would, for me, be at least six trips across the area in question.



And I work pretty small areas, *never* the "2' x 2' " ones that others like (except when doing very mild final polishing).

 

[ctdivo]

So today I dug in to my car, and am having some good and some bad results. I'm using HD UNO.



To report, here's what I found worked:



Green 3D pad with GG on speed 3, using the weight of the machine. I found this to remove most of the swirls (though not 100%), and made a drastic improvement in my finish. I can still see some deeper scratches and swirls, but I'm not as "drawn to them" like before.



My problem, however, is getting marring from the wipe down. I have a hard time getting all the UNO off, and I end up wiping really hard. Most of it comes off with a light wipe using GG pre-wax cleaner, but then I can see some of the trails left from the last pass of the DA. I'm finding myself wiping really hard to get that off.



Any tips? I thought UNO was supposed to be super easy to work with and wipe off. Am I working for too long on a section? Should I not be so obsessive about getting ALL the product off??

 

[GeeReg]

Is the micromarring from the polishing or from the wipe-off? Are you using something to assist in the wipe-off (I used M34)?

It is definitely from the polishing. It's the entire polished area and very noticeably with an inspection light.

Are you cleaning off *all* the M300 residue so it doesn't get mixed in with the UP follow-up?

I'm pretty sure I am. I did an IPA wipedown between steps.

Are you keeping your pads clean?

The MF pads were new and it was my first section using them.

I never really keep track of my arm speed or number of passes, but that "two and two" sounds different from what I do. I do more like six trips across the area (right/left; up/down/diagonal), all at the same arm speed, machine speed, and pressure. This leaves the product slightly wet, not dried-out, and I give it a little spritz of M34 before buffing it off (again, before it dries).

This was the recommendation from Meguiar's demonstration videos or on the back of the D300 bottle I believe.



This may just not work out to be one step using the MF and D300. I want to try the Ultimate Polish with a MF pad and a few other things, I've just been busy with other things today and I don't think I'll get to it.

 

[Accumulator]

ctdivo- I'll be interested to hear what some Uno experts recommend. I myself would probably think about using M34 before buffing it off.



GeeReg- OK, that clarifies things a bit. I think you're just in the same boat I often am after doing the aggressive step- the follow up with a milder pad/product takes forever to refine the finish just because it's that much milder.

 

[pwaug]

So today I dug in to my car, and am having some good and some bad results. I'm using HD UNO.



To report, here's what I found worked:



Green 3D pad with GG on speed 3, using the weight of the machine. I found this to remove most of the swirls (though not 100%), and made a drastic improvement in my finish. I can still see some deeper scratches and swirls, but I'm not as "drawn to them" like before.



My problem, however, is getting marring from the wipe down. I have a hard time getting all the UNO off, and I end up wiping really hard. Most of it comes off with a light wipe using GG pre-wax cleaner, but then I can see some of the trails left from the last pass of the DA. I'm finding myself wiping really hard to get that off.



Any tips? I thought UNO was supposed to be super easy to work with and wipe off. Am I working for too long on a section? Should I not be so obsessive about getting ALL the product off??

I haven't done an entire car yet, but have been doing some practicing on the hood of my wife's car with UNO. I did one section with green pad, 4 slow passes with pressure, speed 6, 2 passes with light pressure-speed 4. Next section 6 passes, green pad, speed 6, pressure- 2 passes, speed 4, light pressure. Then did the same with an orange pad. Results were great and it gave me a real sense of how pad, speed, pressure etc impact UNO. I had no trouble removing the UNO by using 3D window cleaner as suggested by Barry Theil on this forum. One or two sprays per section and light wipe with MF.

 

[ctdivo]

Ahhhh!!! So I'm so excited to share my results I can say that my outcome FAR EXCEEDED my expectations.



to GeeReg - I know you already bought all your stuff, but I can say that if you're not having success, these products worked exceptionally well for me....completely transformed my car, and I have no experience.



I saw something from 3D somewhere, that said you can apply poxy over the remaining residue without issue. So, I took a leap of faith and did the whole car. Here was my process (after wash & clay obviously)



1. HD Uno on 3D Green pad. I spread the product over the section using speed 1 first, then I bumped up to speed 5 and applied some pressure. With pressure I did one horizontal, one vertical, one horizontal, one vertical. Then I took the pressure off and lightly did one horizontal and one vertical.



2. On the plastic bumper, I needed to apply Uno on the Red finishing pad. I used the same process above, but with speed 3.



2. Wiped residue off with GG Pre-Wax cleaner. You don't see the remaining residue until you pull the car into direct sun.



3. Carefully washed the car.



4. applied poxy, speed 4 with 3D Red pad, quickly in one direction with multiple passes and no pressure.



5. Tada!!!

Thanks for all the help!!!! I'm so happy with the results!

 

[GeeReg]

ctdivo - I'm glad it all worked out for you and it looks good.



I thought I would give a quick update also. I tried some combinations again last night so I knew where I stood.



D300 on the Meg's MF cutting pad leaves too much of a haze to be LSP ready on this VW black paint.



Ultimate Polish on a Meg's MF cutting pad leaves slightly less, but still too much haze to be LSP ready. Ultimate Compound on a white pad leaves the least haze of all, but still needs a polish afterwards. 1 pass (4 sweeps) of Ultimate Polish on a 4" white pad clears up the haze of D300 just fine for my purposes.



I guess the MF pads are just more aggressive than I thought. I really thought Ultimate Polish would finish like it does on a white pad but it turns out that's not the case. I realize it's Meg's "cutting" pad but it's the same MF as their finishing with different foam backing. I figured with really light pressure I would be OK.



It looks like I'm stuck with two steps if I want to get the most defects out (D300 --> UP) or one step (UP) if I just want to get rid of some water spots and bring the gloss up.