I was contacted by the owner a few weeks ago, originally scheduled the detail last Sunday but after a beautiful, sunny warm Saturday, rain and cold moved it for Sunday so we pushed it back to this Sunday. Worked out well anyway, after looking the car over I expected it to be a long rotary job but the extra week gave me enough time to get to my local Meguiars distributor, Wash Solutions, to pick up the new Meguiars microfiber buffing system. I got a package of two cutting pads and two finishing pads, along with D300 compound and D301 Finishing Wax.
The current owner picked up the car used and wanted as much of the defects as possible removed. This G35 was covered in deep spider swirls, rotary holograms and several RIDS (random isolated deep scratches) and the roof and passenger door and rear fender had been repainted (noticeably different orange peel vs the hood, trunk lid and driver's side paint) so this wasn't going to be a quick job regardless of the polishing system used.
As you can see in the before shots, the paint was in really rough condition.
I started off with the MF cutting disc and Meguiars D300 compound. While it was removing a lot of defects and leaving a pretty nice finish, it wasn't aggressive enough to remove the deeper defects. I stepped it up to Meguiars #105 and that was taking most of the deeper stuff out but a few stubborn areas on the hood and trunk lid, I had to step up to Optimum Hyper Compound, then back down to #105 to remove the moderate hazing OHC was leaving behind.
These are all after #105 and OHC (in the really bad areas)
A couple half 'n half shots:
I then went over the whole car with D300 and a cutting disc which removed the light hazing from #105, then 3M Ultrafina using a yellow Meguiars polishing pad. Thought I had taken more pictures after all the polishing was finished but I guess not. You can see the top of the Ultrafina bottle in the fender in this shot. I did try UF with the MF finishing pad but it kept depositing polishing residue on the edges of each section.
Full process:
ONR wash, Meguiars white clay
Meguiars #105 + Optimum Hyper Compound (few areas) with a Meguiars microfiber cutting disc and my Porter Cable 7424 XP
Meguiars #300 compound with a Meguiars microfiber cutting disc and my Porter Cable 7424 XP
3M Ultrafina with a yellow Meguiars polishing pad and my PC 7424 XP
HD Proxy Sealant Wax
Armor All on tires/fenderwells
Overall I am pretty happy with the new Meguiars system. Does nearly rotary correction with a DA and a lot less taping off trim. Has an advantage over a rotary on really curvy cars where a rotary can be tough to control as it catches the curves. D300 is moderately aggressive but not as stout as #105 or OHC. Should be fine on cars that have less serious defects than this G35 had. Finishes down very well for the amount of correct it does do. Haven't tried the D301 yet.
The current owner picked up the car used and wanted as much of the defects as possible removed. This G35 was covered in deep spider swirls, rotary holograms and several RIDS (random isolated deep scratches) and the roof and passenger door and rear fender had been repainted (noticeably different orange peel vs the hood, trunk lid and driver's side paint) so this wasn't going to be a quick job regardless of the polishing system used.
As you can see in the before shots, the paint was in really rough condition.
I started off with the MF cutting disc and Meguiars D300 compound. While it was removing a lot of defects and leaving a pretty nice finish, it wasn't aggressive enough to remove the deeper defects. I stepped it up to Meguiars #105 and that was taking most of the deeper stuff out but a few stubborn areas on the hood and trunk lid, I had to step up to Optimum Hyper Compound, then back down to #105 to remove the moderate hazing OHC was leaving behind.
These are all after #105 and OHC (in the really bad areas)
A couple half 'n half shots:
I then went over the whole car with D300 and a cutting disc which removed the light hazing from #105, then 3M Ultrafina using a yellow Meguiars polishing pad. Thought I had taken more pictures after all the polishing was finished but I guess not. You can see the top of the Ultrafina bottle in the fender in this shot. I did try UF with the MF finishing pad but it kept depositing polishing residue on the edges of each section.
Full process:
ONR wash, Meguiars white clay
Meguiars #105 + Optimum Hyper Compound (few areas) with a Meguiars microfiber cutting disc and my Porter Cable 7424 XP
Meguiars #300 compound with a Meguiars microfiber cutting disc and my Porter Cable 7424 XP
3M Ultrafina with a yellow Meguiars polishing pad and my PC 7424 XP
HD Proxy Sealant Wax
Armor All on tires/fenderwells
Overall I am pretty happy with the new Meguiars system. Does nearly rotary correction with a DA and a lot less taping off trim. Has an advantage over a rotary on really curvy cars where a rotary can be tough to control as it catches the curves. D300 is moderately aggressive but not as stout as #105 or OHC. Should be fine on cars that have less serious defects than this G35 had. Finishes down very well for the amount of correct it does do. Haven't tried the D301 yet.