My technique concerning the 3401, Menzerna products, and Hybrid pads

Question regarding menzerna sf4500 sir Mike. I read that this product is oily to use, if this is the case should I still need to prime my pad same as fg400 and sf4000? And what speed on the 3401 using 5.5 hybrid black pad should I use and how many passes is recommended. Thanks again sir.mike
 
Yes this product is a bit more "oily" than SF4000. I still prime my pad the same as the others although I cut back the amount I add to the pad by one drop.

This may be a bit controversial but I always start out on speed 5 for the first few passes then slowly bring the speed back and ease up on the weight as the passes increase.

I make 6-8 passes with SF4500 to make sure the product is fully broken down.
 
Mike@DedicatedPerfection said:
Thanks Kevin. Hope you enjoyed it.



Welcome to AutoGeekOnline. No Problem!

After 6-8 passes the polish is fully broken down and resembles a very thin transparent haze. At this point it is time to remove the thin film of polish.
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Thanks! Are you just wiping down with dry MF?
 
I was polishing my new black car using the Flex 3401. Used Menzerna SF400 with white hybrid pad, Menzerna SF4500 with black hybrid pad, Wolfgang 3.0 deep gloss sealant with black hybrid pad (cure time of 30 minutes) and wiped it off. Now I don't know where the problem is but I didn't really get a high gloss finish that I was looking for. In addition, the gold micro fiber plush towels didn't really do a good job of removing spent product and left some scratches as well. Anyone chime in on this? Feed back please
 
GoodToGo1 said:
I was polishing my new black car using the Flex 3401. Used Menzerna SF400 with white hybrid pad, Menzerna SF4500 with black hybrid pad, Wolfgang 3.0 deep gloss sealant with black hybrid pad (cure time of 30 minutes) and wiped it off. Now I don't know where the problem is but I didn't really get a high gloss finish that I was looking for. In addition, the gold micro fiber plush towels didn't really do a good job of removing spent product and left some scratches as well. Anyone chime in on this? Feed back please
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Couple things to consider;
Maybe you didn't work the 400 enough
Maybe it needed another intermediate pass, with white an SF2500 (or 3000) for instance.
Since it is a black car the working time with 4500 should be very long, with slow passes. 4500 is for jewelling, imho, maybe the 4000 instead.
If the paint is hard, I get better results with the 400 and mf.
Yesterday I was working on a Hyundai Santa Fe, even hyb orange wasn't cutting enough, I went 300 with mf on a rupes. But the 400 would be quite similar. To my surprise, the results were so good that I could have left with a single pass! But every car with its peculiar paint condition is a different story, so, ...
I'm a big fan of mf. It can be CarPro, Meg's, LC, or even some Chinese cheap knock off. But I use compressed air to clean it.
I hope it helps. All the best. RPM
 
Great write up.
I love the idea of spinning the pad on the rotary and laying it on a MF towel, going to try your method today:)
 
GoodToGo1 said:
I was polishing my new black car using the Flex 3401. Used Menzerna SF400 with white hybrid pad, Menzerna SF4500 with black hybrid pad, Wolfgang 3.0 deep gloss sealant with black hybrid pad (cure time of 30 minutes) and wiped it off. Now I don't know where the problem is but I didn't really get a high gloss finish that I was looking for. In addition, the gold micro fiber plush towels didn't really do a good job of removing spent product and left some scratches as well. Anyone chime in on this? Feed back please
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Perhaps your paint needs a bit more cut from something like FG400? SF4000 on white is very mild and would only be used to pull moderate swirls from paint such as those produced by repeated washings, multiple QD applications and so forth. Eventually over time these minor sessions will produce towels marks.

Tell me more about the paint and your process. How old is it? Has it had any other polishing sessions besides this?

For the Gold towels, did you wash them prior to use? Also did you remove the tag?

HateSwirls said:
Great write up.
I love the idea of spinning the pad on the rotary and laying it on a MF towel, going to try your method today:)
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Thanks Kevin.

Spinning pads dry will surely get them back into action sooner.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/62816-my-pad-washing-technique-review.html
 
Question, why do people in this thread like the Hybrid pad vs the Hydro pad with the Flex 3401 and Menzema products? If I'm not wrong I would have thought the Hydro pad would have been better with the water based Menzema products. I'm sure ther is a great answer, but darn if I can think it through !
 
Bmill said:
Question, why do people in this thread like the Hybrid pad vs the Hydro pad with the Flex 3401 and Menzema products? If I'm not wrong I would have thought the Hydro pad would have been better with the water based Menzema products. I'm sure ther is a great answer, but darn if I can think it through !
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Most of here love the performance of the Hybrid pad on the 3401 as it was designed for use on this machine. Try out a Hybrid pad and let us know what you think.

AFAIK, the face of the Hybrid pads are closed cell while the rest of the pad is open cell.

BTW, welcome to AutoGeekOnline!
 
Here is the result of my work with menzerna fg400, hybrid orange pad and flex 3401. I love the size of the pad but the problem is j feel like I wanna cover more area specially when I'm polishing. Should I get the 6.5 hybrid white or black pads and use it with my rupes 21 with a 5in backing plate to jewel better? And how about I use the DRC pads. Will it finish as good as the hybrid pads
 
Beautiful 50:50 picture. Nice work.

When needing to cover more area, equip the larger 6.5" Hybrid pads with the factory 5.5" Flex plate.

I would not do any "jeweling" with a larger stroke free floating spindle machine. That's when a rotary such as the PE14 comes into play.

Never used a DRC pad.
 
jehsautosalon said:
Here is the result of my work with menzerna fg400, hybrid orange pad and flex 3401. I love the size of the pad but the problem is j feel like I wanna cover more area specially when I'm polishing. Should I get the 6.5 hybrid white or black pads and use it with my rupes 21 with a 5in backing plate to jewel better? And how about I use the DRC pads. Will it finish as good as the hybrid pads
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I use DRC pads, especially white and green; but they are rotary pads, with a hole in the center for minimizing swirls, so they say, but I never used on the 3401, only on the PE14. The DRC on a rotary works pretty well. The problem is the backing plate, you need a DRC backing plate, since the 5 inches is too big and 4 inches is too small. But I use on a 5 plate anyway, but the fitting is not perfect.
I started using DRC mainly for the price, people in my country didn't like it, so it went on a huge sale and I bought around 10 pieces. But I got along with it very well, and indeed it seems to minimize rotary swirls. But never used for finishing, though.
I would get 6.5 hybrids on a Rupes. And forget about using DRC for finishing. I also think that finishing with the Flex is a better choice than finishing with a Rupes.
The hybrid pad line is best line of pads I came across, if I could I would buy a truckload of it.
 
RPM_BR said:
I use DRC pads, especially white and green; but they are rotary pads, with a hole in the center for minimizing swirls, so they say, but I never used on the 3401, only on the PE14. The DRC on a rotary works pretty well. The problem is the backing plate, you need a DRC backing plate, since the 5 inches is too big and 4 inches is too small. But I use on a 5 plate anyway, but the fitting is not perfect.
I started using DRC mainly for the price, people in my country didn't like it, so it went on a huge sale and I bought around 10 pieces. But I got along with it very well, and indeed it seems to minimize rotary swirls. But never used for finishing, though.
I would get 6.5 hybrids on a Rupes. And forget about using DRC for finishing. I also think that finishing with the Flex is a better choice than finishing with a Rupes.
The hybrid pad line is best line of pads I came across, if I could I would buy a truckload of it.
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I believe Renny Doyle uses the drc pads on his 3401. The way the foams are stratified, appear to be a Buff and Shine manufactured product.
 
Thanks guys! Yah our group uses the DRC and it's a great pad. All I'm trying to do is to make a simple/ close to perfect combination with fg400. Guess I'm sticking to my hybrid/flex/fg400 combo. I'll probably just get the hybrid pad 6.5! Thanks again!!
 
jehsautosalon said:
Thanks guys! Yah our group uses the DRC and it's a great pad. All I'm trying to do is to make a simple/ close to perfect combination with fg400. Guess I'm sticking to my hybrid/flex/fg400 combo. I'll probably just get the hybrid pad 6.5! Thanks again!!
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No problem. If you trying DRC, or Buff and Shine, try the Orange, and Yellow foams with the FG400. Right now I'm taking a food break from buffing some extreme oxidation with my 3401, FG 400, and Orange, and Green B&S foams. I'm actually grabbing my Yellow pads as I head back out. So far, the Orange has been killing it! The Green isn't bad either, better on swirls. The Yellow should peel off the oxidation with ease. I was told I'd have to repaint the car, which I probably will, but in the meantime I'm going to have some fun!
 
dlc95 said:
No problem. If you trying DRC, or Buff and Shine, try the Orange, and Yellow foams with the FG400. Right now I'm taking a food break from buffing some extreme oxidation with my 3401, FG 400, and Orange, and Green B&S foams. I'm actually grabbing my Yellow pads as I head back out. So far, the Orange has been killing it! The Green isn't bad either, better on swirls. The Yellow should peel off the oxidation with ease. I was told I'd have to repaint the car, which I probably will, but in the meantime I'm going to have some fun!
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Thank for the input, pretty man with a moustach, I know, but i can't help associating you with him. Amazing the impact an avatar has on you. I envision Mike Phillips as a tan dude buffing out an awesome yellow street rod. See what I mean, wierd huh ? Take care.

Peace,

Darrin
 
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