Finishing with Meguiar's M105 Ultra Cut Compound

embolism said:
Todd, does the hardness of the paint matter for this technique?

I assume harder paints are easier to try this on
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Yes a harder paint may be easier (more forgiving of technique). However my old HHR (used for this write-up) has very soft paint and I was still able to get the finish 99.5 percent of the way there.
 
105, has always been one of my favorites, It always seems to get the job done quickly. Although more labor is invovled I have used it by hand on spot corrections with pretty good results as well then touched up with a quick machine finish. Great write up, extremely informative and a very affordable option for anyone.
 
Ecrissman said:
105, has always been one of my favorites, It always seems to get the job done quickly. Although more labor is invovled I have used it by hand on spot corrections with pretty good results as well then touched up with a quick machine finish. Great write up, extremely informative and a very affordable option for anyone.
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Thank you. M105 is an amazing product and was a game changer as far as moderately aggressive compounds go. The ability to achieve such a high level of finish while maintaining a really high rate of cut is phenomenal.
 
I was practicing on my neighbors '04 Nissan Frontier - totally scratched and it never saw a car wash.

Anyway, working it with an orange pad on a 3401 left a lot of residue and dusting and a lot of rubbing with a terry towel to remove what remained.; while switching to a Megs heavy cut wool pad finished beautifully with virtually no residue.

User error or ...?
 
LeMarque said:
I was practicing on my neighbors '04 Nissan Frontier - totally scratched and it never saw a car wash.

Anyway, working it with an orange pad on a 3401 left a lot of residue and dusting and a lot of rubbing with a terry towel to remove what remained.; while switching to a Megs heavy cut wool pad finished beautifully with virtually no residue.

User error or ...?
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Wow sorry for the late response.

Sometimes, particularly if we detail a wide variety of vehicles with a wide variety of paints, we will run into some interesting circumstances.

It seems like there was either a residue on the paint (perhaps even below the surface contamination) then was interfering with the polishing process. When you switched to the wool pad, the added surface area was able to better deal with the abraded paint.
 
I've had great luck with 105 and MF finishing pads for moderate to light defects. Thoroughly blowing or changing to a QD misted pad to finish off has had excellent results.
Great topic and tips.
 
todd. let me.get this straight so i understand this correctly. im goimg to prime the pad with 105 get the panel to my liking..then take another cutting pad that is already primed ..add nothing else to it and go over it? and if thats the case..do i need to wipe off the m105 to start m205?
 
jeffny09 said:
todd. let me.get this straight so i understand this correctly. im goimg to prime the pad with 105 get the panel to my liking..then take another cutting pad that is already primed ..add nothing else to it and go over it? and if thats the case..do i need to wipe off the m105 to start m205?
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Not a cutting pad but a finishing pad. I just shot a video on how this works and I will attempt to upload today if I can get it edited.
 
briando said:
My VW has a mark down the whole hood from where my son tried to hood slide like her saw on the TV. will this stuff buff that out, or am i needing something a little more powerful??
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It's hard to really get more aggressive than Meguiar's M105. It should remove the defects (provided they are not too deep). Can you feel the scratches with your finger nail>?
 
M101.... That has good cut and surprisingly nice finish. Using with purple foam wool and rotary.

Keeps paint cool with wool and finish with M205.
 
Todd Helme said:

In fact if you are using D300 with a Microfiber Cutting Disk try this... Work the polish until the defects are removed (don't remove the polish residue from teh paint) and blow the pad out extremely well. Then reduce the DA to speed 3.5 or 4. Apply enough pressure to keep the pad rotating, but slowly (less then 1 rotation per second) and go over the area 2-3 more times.
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BTW this works pretty well. almost lsp ready. thanks again for the tip
 
Thanks for your tips and tricks to using this product. For such a good product it does give plenty of people fits in learning the ins and outs of it.
 
Hey Todd, M105 is one of my favorites except there are times when I get an exceptional amount of dusting, even though I'm priming the pad. Am I doing something wrong or is there something I can do to minimize this effect? I've seen where some take a little detail spray and hit the pad to moisten it - do u recommend this procedure?
 
so todd this is very enlightening info indeed. i take this as akin to a one step correction with different pads and a non-diminishing abrasive. would i be able to get the same results from a diminishing abrasive such as menzerna sip.
 
addysdaddy said:
Hey Todd, M105 is one of my favorites except there are times when I get an exceptional amount of dusting, even though I'm priming the pad. Am I doing something wrong or is there something I can do to minimize this effect? I've seen where some take a little detail spray and hit the pad to moisten it - do u recommend this procedure?
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M105 can dust on occasion depending on a number of factors such as the amount used, the type of pad, the specific paint, and any chemicals that are present on the paint.

Dust is a combination of the abrasives (many of which are heavier because they are coated in abraded paint), abraded paint residue (APR), and abrasives that have clumped together as the lubricants have dried up. If you have chemicals (trace residues of detail spray, clay lubes, waxes, polishes, car soaps) then this can accelerate the clumping which then will increase the dusting.

To reduce dusting I would make sure the paint is as free of chemicals as possible. This is why I personally like to wipe the surface with CarPro Eraser prior to polishing.

Also clean the pad thoroughly after priming and add three small drops of product after.

Past that, I don't mind the dust. As mentioned above, it is really the "waste" product that is being ejected which keeps the pad/polishing surface "clean". You can use liquids, such as detail sprays to prevent the dusting from occurring, but this recycles the the clumped abrasives back into the polishing process which will negatively effect the finish quality.

Ultimately it is your choice. If dusting is a concern you can try Meguiar's D300, mix D300 and M105, or use different products. I plan on washing the cars I polish anyways, so I will welcome any dusting in exchange for getting the best performance out of the product.
 
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