Cyclo Power

A

Anthony O.

New member
We did a slew of cars today and they were mostly dark colored cars and this gave me a chance to try out a few things.



First up was a black BMW X5. Really jacked up paint, sap, hard water spotting and loads of scratches from the local tunnel washer and the poodles that great mom in the driveway:shocked



I did not want to use the rotary on it as time was short so I opted for the Cyclo and the yellow pads with Hi-Temps Extreme Leveler. Many "experts" in the detailing field have felt that I am not actually removing anything in the paint with a Cyclo but rather "filling". To that I disagree because I am not using a product designed to fill PLUS I am wiping down my work with a solution that removes fillers and residues.



The Cyclo will NOT remove heavy scratches nor deep swirls but it does a great job on the lighter surface scratches and swirls. Once again I provide proof in the way of pictures, in the full sun. I used two steps on the X5 hood (and the rest of the car also). First step has already been described and the 2nd step is Hi-Temps Medium Cut with the green pads. There is no other product applied and no waxes.



i did not take a full hood shot but rather a "DONE" side and then an "UNDONE" side. The first pic is what the whole X5 looked like.
 

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The swirls are difficult to see but they are there. Not heavy into the paint but just enough to catch your eye.



In this next picture, the AFTER side, there are still some scratches but all swirls were eliminated. Also the tree sap stains were either removed or lightened up quite a bit. There was no initial claying dome to the paint.
 

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Anyone else care to display their Cyclo results? Please feel free to use this thread.



My whole process on the above X5 was after the green pads I used the white pads with IP and then sealed it with Hi-Temps Fine Finish. The owner came out before I could snap a full AFTER shot but it looked very nice.



I was also sent by Steve @ Poorboys the new SSR 2.5. Nice product and I'll be sure to post my results soon.



Anthony
 
Anthony, I'm with you on this. I recently purchased a Cyclo and have been continually amazed by the results of this machine. While I haven't used the yellow pads yet, the green pads have worked great getting paint defects out that a PC hasn't been able to. The key for me is to use VERY SLOW passes (2-3 secs per inch). True, some deep scratches need the power of a rotary, but there hasn't been a swirl or spiderweb that I haven't been able to tackle (yet) with this machine. With a PC I had to go to a rotary much quicker. With the Cyclo I end up using the Rotary a little less.
 
Bill D- Heh heh, some of us would say so....



NickC- That's a good summary of the Cyclo/PC difference. Yeah, without the Cyclo I'd be using the rotary more often too. The PC just doesn't get it for me except for very light work.



Anthony- Interesting about the Hi-Temp Extreme and Medium cut with the Cyclo. Also, I think I oughta start trying the white pads more. You always seem to use them for your final polishing steps whereas I usually switch to the PC.



I should've documented my work on the S8 but I was so ticked off about having to do it at all that I just wanted to get on with the job. Before getting out the rotary and really *doing* the car, I experimented on the driver's door using just the Cyclo and PC. It had some nasty swirls and a few holograms after the deer-incident repairs (I'm *really* disappointed in how it turned out, they usually do much better work :( :mad: ). Used PI-III RC (05933) with first the yellow pads then the green ones, then PI-III MG (05937) with the green. Then I switched to the PC and used Menzerna FP/white. Worked great, no more marring of any kind. It *did* take quite a while, but then we're talking about hard Audi clear (this panel had both new and old paint, it was where it got blended). It would've gone a *lot* faster if I'd had more aggressive products like the Hi-Temp stuff, but I never thought I'd need them on one of *my* vehicles (until I saw the S8 in the right lighting :( ). There was other marring that the Cyclo just wouldn't get, however. When you need a rotary, you need a rotary, so I ended up doing the whole car with the Makita then going back over it with the Cyclo and PC.
 
“While I haven't used the yellow pads yet, the green pads have worked great getting paint defects out that a PC hasn't been able to.�



“With a PC I had to go to a rotary much quicker. With the Cyclo I end up using the Rotary a little less.�



“Yeah, without the Cyclo I'd be using the rotary more often too. The PC just doesn't get it for me except for very light work.�



Hmm, looks like I haven’t tapped into the full potential of my Cyclo yet!! Accumulator, so far, the only real polishing I've done with the cyclo was on the dealer-installed marring on our new Audi. Maybe the hardness of the Audi clear is throwing me off and should try polishing a car I'm more familiar with.



Anthony, good job. :up I'm anxious to try some of High-Temps' other products as I really like their Light Cut (nice shine, very easy to use).
 
I'm a little confused, :confused:, are those green pads the CMA German car pads or are they the pads made by Cyclo?
 
:grrr :angry ANTHONY - you made me do it. I ordered a cyclo from TOL today, and a bucket full of spare padds. I blame YOU, YOU, YOU.



:idea No wait, this is a good thing! :bounce Thanks Anthony, I just needed a little convincing. :cool:
 
Intermezzo- Yeah, the Audi clear is sorta hard to work. I'd use the Hi-Temp stuff that has served Anthony so well if I were gonna try to remove any *real* marring from it. That way you wouldn't have to do :nono stuff like really leaning on the machine.
 
Gonzo said:
:grrr :angry ANTHONY - you made me do it. I ordered a cyclo from TOL today, and a bucket full of spare padds. I blame YOU, YOU, YOU.



:idea No wait, this is a good thing! :bounce Thanks Anthony, I just needed a little convincing. :cool:
Click to expand...



:welcome to the Cyclo Club Gonzo - those guys posts are the reason I am a proud owner of the Cyclo Polisher "YOU'LL NEVER LOOK BACK" it's a great machine.



Foris
 
Bill D said:
Ah, so indeed, the Cyclo is the "missing link" between the PC and rotary?
Click to expand...



Looks like I need to add one of these to my arsenal of tools. I've always wanted to try one, but after reading this thread, the tipping point has been reached for me at least.



Nice work as usual Anthony. :bigups





Mike
 
Mike,

.... and the head of the buffer is already shiney .....

Guess you will be making yours "dirty"
 
Gonzo said:
Mike,

.... and the head of the buffer is already shiney .....

Guess you will be making yours "dirty"
Click to expand...



No way, in fact my old Makita is going to be rebuilt by Makita.



New Makitas apear to be poweder coated?



Since I have already worn the rough texture smooth after years of buffing, and because I really like the small size head and the rubber block on the back of my old Makita, (purchased in 1988), I decided it is better to rebuild than to buy new.



Mike
 
Intermezzo said:
They're made by Cyclo.
Click to expand...



Now here's a question, I'm sure the 4" Lake Country pads should do ok on a Cyclo but..could Cyclo pads perform properly on the correct backing plate on a rotary or PC?
 
What are these LC pads you speak of? I like the Cyclo a lot so far (haven't gotten the nerve to use it on the Aurora yet), but the pads really are not great. Where have you seen these other 4" pads? Thanks!
 
I have those 4" pads shown but what I'm looking for are some more yellow cutting pads by Lake Country in 4" diameter size. I have wool ones like TOl sells and I do have yellow pads I got locally but they're not the same as the nice LC pads. I'm kinda stuck and Lake Country doesn't return my e-mails. I'm going to have to call. I'd really love to know to whom/where they are distributing these pads because according to the price list I got from them they do seem to make all of their pads in 4" in size all the way I even think possibly to 9" diameter!
 
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