Menzerna FPII and Optimum

M

metload1

New member
Hi,



I am going to buy some Menzerna FPII because so many people love it for a final finish, but from what I've read I don't think that it'll be enough to tackle all of my swirls. Some time I'll get some pictures up, but basically I'm wondering, what is the next step up from FPII in terms of Optimum polishes? The word "compound" scares me as my paint is in reletively good condition, just maybe a little too much work for the FPII, but other than Optimum Polish they only have Compound and Hyper Compound, unless I'm missing something. What should I get?



Thanks
 
Take a look at Menzerna's Intensive Polish. It's a step up in agressiveness from FPII. However, before going up in a more agressive polish, try a more agressive pad.
 
The FP2 is basically the last step before you put on a seal or wax correct? There is no less abrasive Menzerna polish the this right?
 
The Menzerna FP2(PO85U) has a 'cut' of 3 out of 5.If you want to work with something milder, i would suggest FF(PO85RD) 1.5 out of 5,or FF(PO106FF),which is 2.5 out of 5 for 'cut'.
 
Wait, there's a finer Menzerna polish? How come everyone talks so much about how FPII finishes the paint off so well right before your LSP? Do most people even use anything finer than FPII?



Final Polish is kind of a deceiving name for a 3 out of 5 cut...



This stuff is quite confusing for someone who just got a PC and has never used a real polish before. :hm
 
Noting that the only Menzerna product I've used is FP....



I got a *very* minor improvement by following the FP with 1z Pro MP, used in a very light "burnishing" manner (this was on a silver '01 Audi).



But, having said that, IMO all the recent emphasis on the differences between "finishing polishes" is meaningless to *most* people, even most "Autopian" people. I didn't do such "final polishing" on most of our other vehciles and they turned out fine too. IMO it'll only add another few % and won't make the difference between OK and not-OK. Sorry if that sounded like a rant :o but I sometimes worry that we needlessly complicate this stuff and get people focused on the wrong things. Get rid of the visible marring so it looks good under all lighting conditions..that's what makes a vehicle look OK.
 
Agreed. Menzerna IP followed by FP2 on a plishing pad will make most any car look 99% good. Same with Optimum compound and polish. Or 4* medium cut compound and light cut compound...and and, you get the idea. hehe
 
Accumulator said:
Noting that the only Menzerna product I've used is FP....



I got a *very* minor improvement by following the FP with 1z Pro MP, used in a very light "burnishing" manner (this was on a silver '01 Audi).
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The hard silver paint is likely why you only saw a minor improvement. Get some soft black Honda paint and you'll see the greatness of a great finishing polish.:)
 
SpoiledMan- Yeah, I specifically mentioned that it was the silver Audi because once you get that paint marring-free any additional improvements are pretty minimal.



Been a while since I tackled something like, say, the ss black lacquer I had for years, but when you have something really soft the less aggressive/finer finishing products are more obviously required all right. I don't envy pros who have to work on everything under the sun, that's for sure. Only soft paint I deal with these days is on the Jag.



I do, however, wonder about the overall, practical wisdom of getting that last 2% on a soft paint though. IMO most (non-Autopian) people will mar it something awful with the first wash anyhow. Maybe I'm just getting cynical about this stuff in my dotage :o ;)
 
Some of the newer finishes (jet black Bimmers) can be really challenging to finish. My first attempt was frustrating to say the least. I went through 3 different machines, a bunch of pads as well as products. Having just a couple products simply doesn't work in some cases.
 
SpoiledMan said:
Some of the newer finishes (jet black Bimmers) can be really challenging to finish. My first attempt was frustrating to say the least. I went through 3 different machines, a bunch of pads as well as products. Having just a couple products simply doesn't work in some cases.
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what eventually worked?
 
metload1 said:
Wait, there's a finer Menzerna polish? How come everyone talks so much about how FPII finishes the paint off so well right before your LSP? Do most people even use anything finer than FPII?



Final Polish is kind of a deceiving name for a 3 out of 5 cut...



This stuff is quite confusing for someone who just got a PC and has never used a real polish before. :hm
Click to expand...



These are multiple versions of Final Finish, you just need to make sure the number is what you want. FPII is pretty good for the finish, the 106FF/085RD when finished correctly are a touch better in appearance (this ranges according to the user and machine application). Take note 085RD3.02 is the new IP, there is even 106FA (wetter 106).



Sure some more of the EU or Menzerna users can give some more info on the naming schemes. Having one name is alot better than having a billion, like 3M. :mad:
 
metload1 said:
Wait, there's a finer Menzerna polish? How come everyone talks so much about how FPII finishes the paint off so well right before your LSP? Do most people even use anything finer than FPII?



Final Polish is kind of a deceiving name for a 3 out of 5 cut...



This stuff is quite confusing for someone who just got a PC and has never used a real polish before. :hm
Click to expand...



IIRC, FPII is a cut of 2 out of 5. At any rate, you can finish a CD with a MF towel by hand and leave a perfect finish.:D
 
artikxscout said:
what eventually worked?
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In one case 85RD, Meguiar's 9006 and the rotary at ~1000 RPM. In other cases it has been dependent on the defect removal needed and varied between 85RD, RE5 and 106FF. I need to get my hands on the 3.02.:D:D
 
SpoiledMan said:
Some of the newer finishes (jet black Bimmers) can be really challenging to finish..
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Yeah, I read about people struggling with those and it sure got my attention! Funny how paint has come full-circle that way, hadn't heard of that kind of problem in ages but it wasn't all that rare back in the day when everything was ss, especially after lacquer repaints.



Hope my "oh, who needs this stuff" attitude didn't come across wrong...some people *do* need certain products, I just question whether some folks who *don't* need them are getting too caught up in the, uhm, Autopianism of the subject.



FPII is a cut of 2 out of 5. At any rate, you can finish a CD with a MF towel by hand and leave a perfect finish..
Click to expand...



Ah, CD-test of a *polish*..that's good.



I was thinking of this thread and remembered that weird soft repaint I had on my old Volvo, even a regular Cobra MF would mar it and the PC did the "hook-shaped micromarring" thing with stuff that should've worked. Soft paint is a PIA...that was the only time I had one that I couldn't finish with the PC (Cyclo worked OK with the right stuff but it was one of those times I was glad I had a zillion products on hand).
 
Accumulator said:
Hope my "oh, who needs this stuff" attitude didn't come across wrong...some people *do* need certain products, I just question whether some folks who *don't* need them are getting too caught up in the, uhm, Autopianism of the subject.
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No, not at all. It's just good to give a thread balance for future reference.:)





Ah, CD-test of a *polish*..that's good.



I was thinking of this thread and remembered that weird soft repaint I had on my old Volvo, even a regular Cobra MF would mar it and the PC did the "hook-shaped micromarring" thing with stuff that should've worked. Soft paint is a PIA...that was the only time I had one that I couldn't finish with the PC (Cyclo worked OK with the right stuff but it was one of those times I was glad I had a zillion products on hand).
Click to expand...



Yeah, had a scratched CD the I used IP and then FPII on. It's what got me "hooked" on the Menzerna polishes.:D
 
Hey,



Thanks for all the replies! Looks like I don't need to bother with anything finer than the FPII, if that doesn't do the trick I'll go for a different pad, and at worse I'll need some IP. I wasn't initially planning on getting any IP because a while back I was reading a thread where someone said that their FPII wasn't getting all the swirls out, so they were going to go for IP and someone else said that they should go with something less abrasive, so that kinda freaked me out about that particular polish. Maybe it's not as bad as I thought. I've always had a mindset that polishes are more abrasive than they really are, so I have a tendancy to worry about taking off too much paint. I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow so that you can get a better idea of how bad my swirls are.
 
metload- I bet you'll find that the products/process aren't nearly as aggressive as you'd think, probably not as aggressive as you'd *like*. It could go the other way, but that's what I'd expect ;)
 
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