Don't know if anyone said it... but :welcome:to AGO! :cheers:
You've got products coming (
plus the Megs UC) that should be able to do the job. That's the good news. I would suggest picking up a bottle of Megs Ultimate Polish as well. Reason being is that the Meguiar's products are a totally different type of abrasive technology than the Wolfgang (
which are a spin off from Menzerna). (
Megs being SMAT, Menzerna/Wolfgang being DAT.)
Here are two excellent threads/articles on SMAT and DAT technology.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...anted-know-about-meguiar-s-smat-products.html
The Difference Between Diminishing and Non-Diminishing Abrasive Polishes
The bad news is
you REALLY need to clay it. To expand on the previous reply, moving to compound and/or polishing without claying you'll just end up taking those microscopic particles and moving them at high speed all around, and all over your paint. Imagine taking sandpaper (
albeit ever so fine) and putting it on your buffer pad along with your compound product. The results you get without compounding WILL be different than WITH compounding.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...nspect-above-surface-bonded-contaminants.html
Want it to be much easier to do, be MUCH more cost effective, last longer, AND be able to do it with your PC?
Get a 5½" Nanoskin, fine grade pad for your PC. (
Or the twin pack of red and blue hand held Nanoskin pads.) You can do all three of your vehicles with it, 3~4 times over. :dblthumb2: Clay will not last that long, but yes, it's half the price. Clay however is junk if you drop it. It's also junk if you do something really dirty with it (
like the bottom part of the vehicle) and try to move it back to a more critical area (
such as the upper parts, hood, fenders, etc.).
You mentioned you ordered the PC kit "with a few pads". Of course a 'few' are a start, but what we (
everyone that's been machine buffing with similar machines) all know is that unless you ordered a minimum of 3 orange and 3 white you don't have enough to get a vehicle completed. Not that only orange and white are the only one's you'll need, but they are an EXCELLENT start. (
Yellow has the most cut of any foam pad and generally isn't needed but in the worst of circumstances.)
What I'd suggest is 4 orange, 4 white, 2 blue, 2 black. Or if you take your time when compounding and polishing you might could get away with 3 orange, 4 white, 2 blue, 2 black, 1 red.
Notice I always keep at least 4 white in that list because you can use them for compounding an polishing, they are very versatile.
Reason being, pads build up and hold heat inside. You'll get the obvious heat on the surface from working product on paint, but you'll actually end up with more heat between the backing plate and the back of the pad in the Velcro from the kinetic energy (friction) being converted into heat. It has been so bad in some instances that not only was the pad damaged beyond repair, but the backing plate itself has literally melted.
So when working with a pad, especially during the compounding stage (
as this builds more heat than when polishing) it is CRITICAL that you swap out a used pad fairly often for one that's cool. On a hood for instance, I'd always suggest a minimum of 2 compounding pads. Same thing for the roof. You can do a front fender, a bumper, generally a door with only 1 pad (for each panel). I'll break up the door (
on a coupe) and rear quarter panel into 2 areas, using 2 pads there. Basically 2 for the entire side. It's not uncommon to use 6 (or more) compounding pads, (
especially on larger vehicles) if you're moving straight through, start to finish. It just makes it easier to keep moving than to wait on pads and backing plates to cool down. (
The backing plate will retain heat from the last pad, so it's important not to overheat it or you'll end up having to change it out as well, lest you melt it down.)
If you have 3 (
or hopefully 4) you can start with 2 of your pads primed and ready to go.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...ow-prime-foam-pad-when-using-da-polisher.html
Once you start on the hood, cleaning that pad on the fly after EVERY 20"x20" (no larger than 24"x24") section. When half the hood is finished, take that pad off and (
after cleaning it on the fly) lay it to the side where it can get air underneath it, foam side down, allowing it to cool. Move to your second pad and finish the panel. At the end, clean that one and lay it aside to cool. Take your third pad, start with that one and keep going. Hopefully by the time that one has finished it's work (
on a fender, door, etc.) you can then go back to the first pad (that is now cooled) and use it to keep going. Just keep rotating them like that, first-in - first-out.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/20135-how-clean-your-foam-pad-fly.html
Another reason for a good selection of pads is to accommodate various paint systems. On your 3 vehicles you have totally different paint systems. That Nissan paint is likely a bit soft, especially as it's old and a bit neglected. The Honda silver is probably the hardest of the lot, leaving the red Ford paint in the middle. Actually I've seen the metallic blue paint on the 2012 Ford GT500 as being pretty darned soft.
Will you need more than the Wolfgang TSR? I'd say so. I use Meguiar's and Menzerna more than Wolfgang (but have used, and keep the sample bottles in my selection) and will say that TSR will finish down pretty darned good. On the Honda it may be all you want, but on that Mustang I'd do a 2-step process with it. Good chance that this is where you'll experiment on whether the orange or white pads will get your first level of correction to where you want it.
Always do a test spot, ALWAYS!
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/50162-how-do-test-spot.html
The test spot will tell you everything you want to know about your pad and product selection. When you're new to machine buffing I'd say tape the hood off and make 6 24"x24" test areas. (You'll have room for more, but that's a start.) Select your pads, your product, your machine speed, and write it down. Your arm speed and arm pressure should be the same for BOTH pad/product selections and you also want to do the same amount of section passes when doing the test spot. With SMAT products I like to use 4 ~5 passes as a first measure to see what is happening. You can end up doing as many as 6~7 but with 4~5 you can start to see the results. With DAT however you'll need to work it through till it works down, which will be 7, 8, even 10 section passes.
Then the easiest way is to prime 2 *different cut/different color* pads with the same compounding product. So your notes should read something like.
Section 1 & 2 Megs SMAT compound: (Maximum 6 passes)
Section 1: orange pad, machine speed 5, Megs UC, medium arm pressure, slow arm speed, 4 passes . (Arm speed should be 1" per second or so.)
Section 2: white pad, machine speed 5, Megs UC, medium arm pressure, slow arm speed, 4 passes.
Now here is where you can change it up a bit with the same 2 compound/pad selections. You can turn the speed up to 5.5, change to a bit more are pressure, maybe 1 or 2 more section passes then compare the two.
Same thing when you start to do a test spot with your Wolfgang product. Just remembering that you'll need to work it down more, AND..... you can likely start with a higher cut pad than you did with the SMAT product.
Something like, Section 3 & 4 Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover (Maximum 8 passes)
Section 3: orange pad, machine speed 4.5, WG TSR, medium pressure, slow speed, 5 passes.
Section 4: white pad, machine speed 5.5, WG TSR, medium pressure, slow speed, 5 passes.
Obviously you'll be working the WG (DAT) products longer than you did the Meguiar's to get them to work down, but you want to stop, wipe it down, then inspect it at a similar amount of passes in order to see the difference not only between the two pads with the same product, but the different products with the same color pads. You'll be surprised at how much correction you can get with only 4 passes of a SMAT product, just as you will be amazed at how well the DAT product cuts during those first 2 passes (yet it'll continue to break down and get finer and finer).
So the key is to see what it looks like *before* it's totally worked down in order to get a 'feel' as to what works best for your particular situation/paint/pad/product.
Remember,
use the least aggressive method to get the job done.:xyxthumbs:
Once you pick the section that you like the best (for the compounding stage) you can then do something similar with your pad/product selection for the polishing stage.
I'd (at least on the test spots) use similar products on the compound and polish test to see what works with what. That's not to say that you wouldn't go back after Meguiar's 101, 105, D300, or UC with Menzerna 4000 or WG Glaze. Just that you'll never know what works with what until you've tried it.
It's no big deal to compound with SMAT then finish with DAT.... many do. I do sometimes, but not every time. In fact, it's well accepted that DAT based products tend to finish down better overall for a wider group of users than SMAT products. SMAT products can and do finish down to an EXCELLENT finish. You just have to realize that you don't work them as long as DAT products. Like I said earlier, 4~6 passes, period. Wipe it clean, and if it needs more correction... then reapply product to your pad and do a few more passes. Being as it doesn't break down you have to be careful not to overwork the product (
thereby making the abrasive particles get larger along the way with spent product, abraded paint, etc.) and end up hurting the overall finish. Whereas DAT you just keep going till it's gone.
So that was the long answer.
Short answer is YES you need to clay.
