Order of use: Meguiars 83, 80, 9, ColorX

M

mikebai1990

New member
Okay, so I just got a PC and am planning on buying new pads/backing plate and some Meguiars polishes for polishing after the winter.



I plan on polishing my parents' 1993 Acura Vigor. It's swirled pretty badly because the first owner didn't really take much care of it. No scratches that can be felt with the fingernail, but lots of marring, spiderwebbing, etc...



So I plan on ordering 83, 80 from Amazon. I currently have #9 and ColorX. Here's what I'm thinking about doing. BTW, I will have Lake Country CCS orange, white, and gray pad.



Orange pad 83

Orange pad 80 (or maybe white pad?)

White pad 9

White pad ColorX

Gray pad Collinite 476S



Are any of the products I plan on using redundant? I'm not sure how the 9 and ColorX should be used.



Also, do you guys think my process may be too aggressive? I haven't done any polishing before, so I'm somewhat of newbie with machine polishing.



Thanks for the advice!
 
if it's in rough shape...



#83

#80

collinite 476s



if it isn't...



#80 or #9 or colorx (#80 and then straight to lsp is commonly done)

collinite 476s



remember to do a test spot with the least aggressive product, check your results and go from there...
 
ColoRx after M09 is duplication of a step since ColoRx has mild abrasives in it.



M09 has mild abrasives as well. I suggest either using M09 and finishing with a wax/sealant with no abrasives OR skipping M09 and working the ColoRx very well as a last step.
 
I see. So you mean the #9 and the ColorX essentially perform similarly and it would be redundant to use both products, correct?
 
Ideally, I should have stated it as, "Using M09 before ColoRx is redundant."



M09 does a bit of correction and adds a bit of gloss, but that's where it ends.



ColoRx does some correction, adds some gloss, AND has a wax for a bit of protection.



If you do use M09 and find that it does what you want, then I'd finish with a wax that does no cleaning so as to not make you work any longer or jeopardize the results M09 gave you. I have never used a Collinite product, so I can't say if it would do any cleaning or is a non-abrasive last step wax.
 
Collinite doesn't have any cleaning properties, so it's a good pure carnauba wax.



I guess I'll leave out the #9 and use ColorX. ColorX should do a better job of creating a good gloss in addition to its slight correction properties.
 
I'd do colorx first. ColorX's strength as a heavy cleaner is removing oxidation and surface contaminants. It will let you see what you have to work with. Then based on that 83 and then 80.
 
I thought that less stronger polishes should be used at the end to get rid of the slight micromarring caused by the aggressive pads (is orange considered aggressive?) and the polishes. Does that mean I should use ColorX in the beginning as well as at the end?
 
colorx is an aggressive cleaner wax. it's a cleaner, polish and wax all in one. if your defects are light, you can use this product to save a few steps and top it for added protection...
 
On the Acura, the swirls are pretty bad, so I'm afraid I will have to step up to either 80 or 83 to get rid of the swirls.



Do you guys think using #83 with a orange pad will cause micromarring by itself? I'm curious to see how strong the orange pad/83 combo is.
 
mikebai1990 said:
......Do you guys think using #83 with a orange pad will cause micromarring by itself? .........
Click to expand...
Sometimes it will and sometimes it finishes off pretty nice. I have done a red car with #83 and a polish pad that came out looking very good, and in one spot I used an orange pad on a bird crap etching. I did follow up that spot with a polish pad, didn't have to bother with a #80 follow-up at all.
 
mikebai1990 said:
I thought that less stronger polishes should be used at the end to get rid of the slight micromarring caused by the aggressive pads (is orange considered aggressive?) and the polishes. Does that mean I should use ColorX in the beginning as well as at the end?
Click to expand...



I don't see a need for ColorX in the end. Since its a 93 and you say the paint is really neglected, I say use it first to get all the crap off of the paint that is not paint, then polish. I hate trying to clean up an old car with all kinds of crap on the paint with a polish instead of a cleaner. It wastes the polish and gunks up the pad. I like to use a crappy pad and a strong paint cleaner. Obviously not a great practice for pros as it is another step but for those of us that can afford some time it works well.
 
Oh, I guess I left some info out in my original post. Whoops. :lol



My parents bought the car used about 2 years ago. Since then, I've always meticulously maintained the car with claying and hand waxing. So basically, the car is clean and well protected, it's just the swirls and marring that is the problem. Now that I just got my PC, I'm starting to think of getting rid of the swirls that have always been bothering me by using polish. The paint itself is not contaminated because I've clayed the 3 times in the past two years, and I will be claying again when I polish. Yakky, do you mean that even claying won't get rid of the gunk that would be collected by the polish? Thanks :)
 
i would do a test spot with #80 and if it doesn't seem to do the trick, give #83 a shot. if you use #83 and it leaves some micromarring, follow up with #80 and then go straight to your lsp...
 
mikebai1990 said:
Yakky, do you mean that even claying won't get rid of the gunk that would be collected by the polish? Thanks :)
Click to expand...



Claying will do a good job of removing surface contaminants, but won't do much for oxidation. Since you have been taking car of the car for two years, it probably doesn't have much oxidation to worry about and you could probably go right to a polish.
 
imacarnut said:
i would do a test spot with #80 and if it doesn't seem to do the trick, give #83 a shot. if you use #83 and it leaves some micromarring, follow up with #80 and then go straight to your lsp...
Click to expand...





Agreed :xyxthumbs I wouldn't use the #9 in this case and if doing all that polishing with the 80-series products I wouldn't bother with the Color-X either. I'd expect the #80 to make things better but not great and the #83 to be required to really knock down the marring.



The #80 is a bit too mild to pair up well with an orange pad IMO (but no first-hand experience, somebody who's tried it might want to correct me on this). Used with a polishing pad, #80 will almost always give a ready-to-wax finish.



Clay vs. polish/cleaner: The clay is great for contamination that protrudes from the paint (where the clay can shear it off) and that will "detach" as in become a speck of [stuff] that's stuck to the clay instead of being a speck that's stuck to the paint. When you have contamination that's more of a smooth film (and I'd often put oxidation in this category), or something that's embedded in the pores/microfissures of the paint, then the abrasives and chemicals in the polish/cleaner can be the better choice because they don't rely on "catching the protruding speck", they "sand" it down or dissolve it chemically and they can get down into those pores and microfissures better than clay can.
 
Thanks for the explanation, Accumulator. Things are much clearer now :)



So I guess I'll change my process to: Orange pad #83, White pad #80, Gray pad Collinite 476S. Seems much easier :)
 
mikebai1990- That sounds like a very good plan. If you're gonna use any product more than once I'd do it with the #83; I'd think of the #80 as just a follow-up for micromarring. The #83 will do most of the correction.
 
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