Sonus Pads and Autoglym range

D3mon

New member
My PC and DAS pads arrived this week :woot2: and I'm contemplating my strategy while I get the 'power' side of things in place.



My wife's car will donate the body panels for my PC 'education' before I take to my own car's paint with it.



So anyways, I'm figuring these Sonus-Autoglym relationships:



Orange Pad with AG Paint Restorer (only on wife's car as mine won't need it)



Green pad with AG SRP



Blue pad with AG EGP



Orange pad + buffing bonnet for removing residues (1 for SRP, 1 for EGP)



P21S topper with its stock foam pad or one of my new yellow Meguars applicators.



I'm guessing I'm going to have to go REAL careful with the Orange Pad + AG Paint Restorer combo - potential for serious clearcoat removal there, I think. :eek:



I'm mildly concerned about using the SRP with the Green pad though. With SRP being slightly abrasive, I'm wondering if I could get into trouble early with that combo? :nervous:



I plan to keep the pad speeds quite low for the first sessions to save me carving-off sections of my paint in my in-experience.
 
Personally, I don't think you are being too aggressive at all. I have used the AG Paint Renovator with the DAS orange pad and it did remove swirling, but didn't seem to take much paint off - 3M Fine Cut seemed to remove more paint, and some consider that more of an aggressive polish. You'd have to go over the same spot many times before you noticed significant paint thinning. The SRP/green pad combo works great for me when I'm doing a little cleanup on my car. In fact, that is really quite mild - only removing slight spiderwebbing. Remember, the PC isn't something to be afraid of. You'd have to try really hard to damage your (or your wife's) paint with it. IMO, your concerns would be more appropriate with a rotary, not a PC. Just remember to keep the machine moving and stay away from ridges in bodywork where the paint is thinnest, and you'll be fine.
 
I have just recieved my DAS & PC kit too - and I have also tried it out using AG products. My route was:

I haven't got the paint renovator so still no use for Orange pads.

SRP with a green pad - got great results. Like you I wondered if the green pad was too "harsh" for the SRP - but it seems to be fine.

However, to apply the EGP I used one of the microfibre bonnets with the orange pad. this was reasonably successful - although I am thinking that the watery consistency of EGP lends it better to a foam hand pad.

the blue pad, I tried using #16 with it - this worked really well - it went on like butter and applied in a really thin even coat.



let us know how you get on!
 
I've SRP with a green DAS pas with fantastic results. If you needed a bit more cutting ability you could always try SRP with the orange as well.



I apply EGP by hand with a foam applicator as I find it's less wasteful and doesn't take that much longer as it's such an easy product to use anyway.



Ben
 
Thanks guys. I've a roll of 3M Scotch Blue (found it in B&Q eventually) tape, ready to mask off the edges of the panels I work on and cover any plastic trim bits like the washer jets etc. I figure on masking the edges (e.g. on the bonnet/hood ) by about 1/4 inch all round, but don't know if this will leave a visibly 'un-polished' line around the egdes. I guess I could go over the edges by hand if that was the case.



The Honda does have some edges/contouring running down the bonnet on either side, so I guess I can either mask those, or just carefully run up close to them.



Should I be looking to prime the pads with water, or is that mostly for rotary work?



If I get enough time I break out the camera to make a 'photo diary' :)
 
I do almost exactly what you are planning. Autoglym Restorer with the DAS orange at speed 5.5 followed by SRP with a green pad at speed 4.5. The only difference is I apply EGP by hand with a MF applicator. It's less wasteful and easier to control overall.



EGP is kind is sticky and very watery. You want to put a very thin coat on your car. I apply it in straight lines. If you apply it to thick it will take a lot of buffing to get off plus take longer to cure. Remove it with a good buffing towel.



I had a couple of real bad areas on my car and was amazed how well the PC/Autoglym worked.



Oh! Restorer is also very watery. Load the pad and start at speed 3 and do a pass over the panel. Then kick up to 5.5 and fully break down the polish. This gets the polish thinned out over the panel and reduces splatter.
 
Ok thanks. I'm used to working with AG products by hand, but I'm hoping the PC will make for an arm-saver. If I'd carried on by hand I'd might've had a right arm like Rocky in a few years.
 
Here's a little trick with the EGP - Put the EGP in a little pump spray so it will "mist" on to your pad allowing for uniform coverage and less product waste. This way it is not pouring out of the bottle.



I picked mine up for less than $1 US dollar in the cosmetic section of the market :xyxthumbs
 

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Here's the results of the first PC work on the DCC (Don't care car)

Click the photos for bigger shots:





Paint before washing. Covered in black stuff. Could be accumulated traffic film or even some kind of mouldy stuff.



Washed with super-strength AG Shampoo

Clayed (Perfect finish) - clay cleared black stuff with effort.

Sonus Green Pad with AG SRP x 2





Lesson 1 - never take a loaded pad off the car while spinning :doh





SRP bottle reflection - Orange peel quite evident





Street Sign Reflection - Scratches still present but less noticeable.
 
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