First post with a few ?s

fordlexus

fordlexus

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Hi,
This is my first post here. I am new to detailing and just recently purchased a PCxp along with some Pinnacle clay, paint cleansing lotion, and liquid wax. The car im working on is a 2008 starfire pearl Lexus IS 250. We just purchased it and overall the paint is in good shape. Upon close inspection though there are some scratches on various parts of the car that dont catch the fingernail but are visible at the right angles. They are just random scrathes not swirls and are all over. I have only tested the polisher out on the hood so far. I clayed it but didnt get any dirt on the clay(which i assume is good). Then i used the paint lotion with a white pad, still scratches, then i used the orange pad, still scratches, i even had some meguiars fine cut polish laying around so i used it but the scratches are still there. I still need practice with the polisher but i have watched your "how to videos" and i believe i am doing everything right. I guess my question is will these scratches come out or am i wasting my time? Should i use something more aggressive? Sorry i dont have pictures but like i said you can only see them at certain angles, but they are the reason i bought my kit so i would like to get them out. Thanks in advance I know you guys are busy.
 
Pinnacle paint cleansing lotion has zero correcting ability. Go pick up Meguiars Ultimate Compound from your local auto parts store. Start with a white pad, if the scratches are still there, try it with an orange pad.
 
07 z-oh-6 said:
Pinnacle paint cleansing lotion has zero correcting ability. Go pick up Meguiars Ultimate Compound from your local auto parts store. Start with a white pad, if the scratches are still there, try it with an orange pad.
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:iagree:
 
fordlexus said:
^^That was a fast response, thanks.
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:iagree: But what Mark's mentioned is exactly what you should try to gain some improvement of the finish.

My personal assessment.

Pinnacle Paint Lotion is more of a cleaner and is not intended to remove swirls..

The Pinnacle line is very nice from it's wash through it's wax however none of it is all that aggressive. I've mentioned in another post that the Pinnacle Bodywork Shampoo is rather mild. It does a nice job on light surface contaminates and makes lots of foam but don't expect it to dissolve resistant contaminates like grease, oil, or heavy stuck on splatter..

Pinnacle's Advanced Swirl Remover and Finishing Polish are two great products that seem to work well on light to moderate swirls. Both of these in my opinion are polishes and not considered compounds. Heavier defects will require a more aggressive product something outside the Pinnacle lineup.

A product I highly recommend for heavier defects is Menzerna Power Gloss. This works superbly with a dual action polisher combined with an Orange or Yellow foam pad. With my rotary I'll use Menzerna Power Gloss with a Foamed Wool Polishing Pad.
 
the clear on Lexi is very easy to work with. You probably will see results with only a couple passes using UC.

Maybe use some Megs 205 on a black pad to refine the finish even further. Then slap some Duragloss 105/601 on that baby and call it a day.
 
Thanks for the replies. Another question about the Megs UC. How aggressive is this stuff? I dont want to take off too much clear coat.
I saw a thread where one guy messed his paint up pretty bad with the UC.
 
It is slightly less aggressive than M105 which is the strongest cutting polish Meguiar's makes.

If it worries you, then get some Menzerna Power Finish. It's what I use on my car and you can dial it down by using it with different pads. In fact, for my first polish, I used it with a white lc flat polishing pad, followed by 106FA on black and it turned out great!
 
Thanks again for the help:)I take it you own or have worked with lexus cars before embolism. I do have some meguiars #2 that im going to try again and maybe work it a little longer. If i do get the UC should i use it on the whole car or just the problem areas?
 
just my own but I did lots of research on what other people used when detailing second generation IS's

in the end, I decided to go with foam and Menzerna b/c the diminishing abrasives were said to finish down well on softer paints.

Didn't have any issues with my first correction but honestly, I think any polish on a DA will correct Lexus paint without any problems. The real trick is keeping it corrected...
 
I did my wife's 2011 Obsidian Black ES350 with the Wolfgan Twins (TSR and FG). It turned out like a freaking mirror. I chose those because is this was my first time polishing supposedly soft Lexus paint and they are know to be easy to work with and the TSR is a less aggressive "compound". Maybe it is soft, maybe not. All I can say is it was more sensitive than my RAV4 and the other non-Lexus imports and GM's I've done. Take your time and you'll be fine regardless what you choose.

AS embolism noted, the real trick is keeping Lexus paint, especially black, corrected. I chose to go with one of the new "super coatings" - CQuartz. I can say that the car has stayed nice and haze-free despite being a daily driver, so the CQ appears to be protecting. I'll know more in a year.
 
Thanks HeavyMetal, my wifes car is starfire pearl. Her car is an 08 though and probably needs more correction then a 2011. Im going to test a few products out and see what works best, i appreciate everyones input.
 
I can recommend the Wolfgang Twins (TSR and FG). While they aren't the most aggressive polishes, they've taken care of everything I've run into so far. And that includes some pretty heavily swirled 90s GM cars. However, one of the main reasons I got them is because they were on BOGO. I do want to try the Menz line. Several have recommended their Super Intensive Polish or Power Finish followed by Super Nano Finish and Finish Polish. Menz makes the WG products and the Menz line is supposedly just a tad bit better than WG. Worth it for a Lexus.

I can also recommend the Meg 105/205 or actually their commercial versions Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish. The commercial versions are reportedly a bit lighter cut, but they also have a longer work time. I used to not like Meg's, but then I was using them by hand. A DA makes a big diff.

Try the Menz and pick up the Meg's as a backup/alternate. I still use Meg's UC and UP on my wife's Lexus and other cars around the door handles where you have to hand polish. They easily beat the WG/Menz for that and they're pretty cheap, especially if you hit a sale at Wally World or an auto store, so it costs next to nothing to have them on hand.
 
fordlexus said:
Thanks again for the help:)I take it you own or have worked with lexus cars before embolism. I do have some Meguiars #2 that im going to try again and maybe work it a little longer. If i do get the UC should i use it on the whole car or just the problem areas?
Click to expand...

Is the #2 in a tan bottle or the Step 2 Deep Crystal Polish?

Either way, there are much better polishes for use with a DA than either of these two products. The Meguiar's #2 Fine Cut Cleaner uses diminishing abrasives and it does work, I've used it in the past with great success but there's better products for use with a DA polisher.


:)
 
Hey Mike,
Its the tan bottle(fine cut cleaner). It was just lying around so i used it, and yeah its sounds like there are some better polishes out there. Ill have to do some experimenting with others.
Thanks
 
fordlexus said:
Thanks for the replies. Another question about the Megs UC. How aggressive is this stuff? I dont want to take off too much clear coat.
I saw a thread where one guy messed his paint up pretty bad with the UC.
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Keep in mind the only way to remove scratches is to remove paint.
 
^^good point
Overall the paint is glossy and clean it just has those scratches here and there that BUG me. Considering the paint is still good should i only use the UC on the spots that have these scratches and something less abrasive for the rest?
 
fordlexus said:
^^good point
Overall the paint is glossy and clean it just has those scratches here and there that BUG me. Considering the paint is still good should i only use the UC on the spots that have these scratches and something less abrasive for the rest?
Click to expand...
I think you're looking into it a bit too much. ;) If you *properly* polish your car with a DA, you're removing a very small amount of clear, even with an aggressive compound.
 
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