Can you use Megs Ultimate compound on chrome?

S

Spike73

New member
I'm going to detail a 1980's dark blue Mercedes this weekend by hand, and I have a couple of questions:

1. Can I polish the chrome on the car with Ultimate compound, and apply Megs NXT wax afterwards (in other words, treat the chrome surfaces just like the whole car), and

2. Will UC be too agressive on the paint (I don't think it has a clear-coat)? I plan to wax it afterwards with NXT. I hope to use just the UC, and not have to use a finer polish, then wax. But I will if I have to. What do you guys suggest?



:thx
 
Spike73- I can't be as helpful as I'd like as I've never used UC. But some sorta randome thoughts follow:



Nobody's quite sure when MB switched their solid colors to basecoat/clearcoat, but it was in the mid-80s. You'll know if it's clearcoat when you start polishing.



The first few years of MB clear were very thin and pretty soft (early lacquer-based tech) and you oughta be a littel careful with those. But OTOH...



buffer barry got insanely aggressive on a mid-'80s Benz with clearcoat and it turned out fine. But then he's *really* skilled too.



Many people are satisfied with how the UC finishes, you'll know how *you* feel about it after you do a panel or two.



The UC is almost certainly OK on the MB chrome, but do a test spot to make sure.
 
Hey thanks Accumulator. You have been really helpful to me with my posts. The Benz is an '82. I will definitely be careful with the finish since this will be my first time using the Ultimate compound. Polishing won't hurt the paint, right? Like taking it off, or anything like that, will it? I have used scratch x on this car before, and my polishing pad turned blue (I guess this means no clear coat?), but the surface seemed OK. I'm going to tackle it on Sat am. We'll see what happens! I will do a test spot with UC and with Megs 81 hand polish and see which one works better. I'll probably need the UC because it's a neglected finish.
 
Even by hand you can do damage, sometimes even more than if you used a DA polisher. Most people tend to use too much pressure and uneven strokes which result in various type of marring/damage.



You also asked about "not taking the paint off." The blue on your pad is paint that has been removed from the car, but that is just part of polishing. Even clear coat is removed when polishing, but it's clear so you can't see it on the pad. Just be slow, careful, and even and you should do fine. Take baby steps with aggressive compounds like UC working from light application to aggressive to find that sweet spot.
 
Spike73 said:
The Benz is an '82... I have used scratch x on this car before, and my polishing pad turned blue (I guess this means no clear coat?),..
Click to expand...



OK, between the model year and the pigment transfer it's single stage. Benz ss is good paint and fairly thick.



I will do a test spot with UC and with Megs 81 hand polish and see which one works better. I'll probably need the UC because it's a neglected finish.
Click to expand...



You might want to follow the UC with Scratch-X or something similar. The M81 is functionally nonabrasive and/but will hide some defects and "feed the paint", which is *NOT* BS with ss the way it is with basecoat/clearcoat.



I'd get the paint looking nice with UC/Scratch-X/etc. then do the M81 and then wax.
 
A few weeks ago I was working on a restored '64 Porsche 356 (non-factory fresh clear coat paint). My coworker and I were using UC on my 7424, his 7424XP, and the client's FLEX DA at a setting of 5-6 on a 6" Orange LC pad. We had tried softer pads earlier but it just wasn't getting rid of the swirling (there was light to medium swirling on the entire vehicle). Even with the fairly aggressive bite of UC, the stiffness of an Orange pad, and a high DA setting it took 2-3 passes to achieve a scratch free surface that finished fine for waxing. We followed the UC with nXt 2.0 paste as well, applied with DA on a Black LC pad @ speed 2, and it looked awesome!



There was a fair bit of chrome on the car as well and that was taken care of with the UC on a 7424XP (White LC pad I think). The chrome finished great and was an original piece as well I believe. My advice on chrome polishing with UC would be to take it slow and be very careful you don't remove the plating altogether as chrome plating is very thin (one spot that was polished turned a golden color as a result of over polishing, oops!).



I'll see if I can dig up some pictures for you...



In summary, UC shouldn't be too aggressive on that paint or on the chrome. Just be careful and do some test sections and determine the right pad for the job.
 
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