need advice on 3M SMR for dark application

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smfrycruzr

New member
I just purchased this and am planning on using it on my car after a good claying...what is the best process for this product? I have a black 1997 GTP and I am worried about hazing...I plan on doing the hood and rear decklid with a foam pad on my 10" random ordital...any advice is appreciated.
 
Should work with a random orbital. That is a BIG pad though. You have anything smaller that 10"?



I just used 3M SMR on my truck using a rotary buffer and it left a lot of swirls. I followed up with Meguairs Swirl Remover 2.0 and am now using AIO on it. I think the AIO is removing some of the swirls. It is probably me though and not SMR.



I think using a random orbital you should be fine though.
 
I've used this combo and had no problems. SMR is pretty mild stuff so you shouldn't have any problems with it. In a cold or humid environment it may be sticky and need some hand work to remove. Keep a bottle of water or QD close by to aid in removal.



If you're going to wax right after SMR don't worry about removing 100% of the SMR. The wax will take off the last of it.



Use a clean (pref. new) cotton terry bonnet for application. I think you'll like it. Enjoy!!
 
i appreciate the advice, but still am wondering about removal...I was going to use foam to apply and terry and microfiber to remove(terry bonnet for flat stuff, MF for curves) but how long should I wait? the bottle says that i should do 2x2 squares apply/remove...can't I apply to all then remove? please let me know guys, thanks again!
 
3M SMR has diminishing abrasives and you really have to work it or it will leave swirls. it s initial action is to remove swirls, so it has to have some abrasives. However you should be using a high speed and reasonable pressure to start, and work it until it almost completely dissapears. At this point any swirls/hazing it left should be gone. Of course if you had deeper swirls it won't remove them in the first place and if you have a piece of grit on your pad......





10" pad - what kind of machine are you using? You need a machine that can stand up under pressure. With a 6" cutting pad on a PC I use about 10 lbs of force. A 10" pad has nearly 3 times the surface area - you'd need to press with 30lbs of pressure to get the same effect!
 
do you think moving to something up that's more abrasive like 3M Finesse-IT II and using less force will have the same effect as more pressure using SMR?
 
Use the orbital with moderate pressure and a regular overlapping pattern of up/down then right/left. Repeat until it's gone. Then go with the A-I-O and SG (maybe a few coats of SG). You'll love your car.



E
 
Just to clarify what was said above, you want to use moderate pressure to begin with but as the compound dries up, you will need to lighten up on your pressure as the lubricating oils are worked away.



Polish 'til the compound is dried up and mostly gone from the paint, not until the bottle is gone :D



HTH!~

puterbum
 
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