Need Polish Compound and Pad Recommendations for Honda Paint

[Setec Astronomy]

Speaking of polishers, I read in another thread that you don’t own a long throw DA? I’m pretty surprised to hear that.

I never felt the need for anything else after I got my Flex 3401. As I said in that Rupes HLR 15 thread, I was tempted to get one of those, but the TRC video on it...they stalled it and I figured if I want to stall a polisher I can just take out my PC.

And really with paint as thin as it is now, is everyone just ripping through clear at speeds faster than in the rotary days?

It's kind of a conundrum, isn't it? 20 years ago it seemed to be a regular occurrence that someone would come onto these forums who had burned through their clear, then came SMAT polishes, forced-rotation, long throw, and thinner and thinner clear...except no one seems to burn through anymore...unless it's just those people aren't coming to these forums.

 

[DFB]

It's kind of a conundrum, isn't it? 20 years ago it seemed to be a regular occurrence that someone would come onto these forums who had burned through their clear, then came SMAT polishes, forced-rotation, long throw, and thinner and thinner clear...except no one seems to burn through anymore...unless it's just those people aren't coming to these forums.

..................and they don't want to get publicly flamed for burning through clearcoat with a D/A.

 

[yakky]

I never felt the need for anything else after I got my Flex 3401. As I said in that Rupes HLR 15 thread, I was tempted to get one of those, but the TRC video on it...they stalled it and I figured if I want to stall a polisher I can just take out my PC.


It's kind of a conundrum, isn't it? 20 years ago it seemed to be a regular occurrence that someone would come onto these forums who had burned through their clear, then came SMAT polishes, forced-rotation, long throw, and thinner and thinner clear...except no one seems to burn through anymore...unless it's just those people aren't coming to these forums.

Good point but I think most of those oopsies were the rotary edge spinning against some plastic, I've done that a few times,, enough to scuff up the clear anyway. With a good polish like the 1&D or Megs 101, I'm getting fingernail catching scratches handled quickly, almost scary fast. And this is all talking at a hobbyist level. If you are a pro, absolutely, the fastest machine possible is the right answer, it pays for itself quickly. For hobbyists, its just another step up the ladder of gratification followed by want for more.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Good point but I think most of those oopsies were the rotary edge spinning against some plastic, I've done that a few times,, enough to scuff up the clear anyway. With a good polish like the 1&D or Megs 101, I'm getting fingernail catching scratches handled quickly, almost scary fast. And this is all talking at a hobbyist level. If you are a pro, absolutely, the fastest machine possible is the right answer, it pays for itself quickly. For hobbyists, its just another step up the ladder of gratification followed by want for more.

But that's just the scenario for a burn-through; SizzleChest had a new car that he did recently that had only 2-3 mils TOTAL film build on it, I would be scared to death to take a fingernail-catching scratch out of paint that thin. That was usually the burn-through story in the old days, someone trying to get a scratch out by sanding or spot polishing.

 

[yakky]

But that's just the scenario for a burn-through; SizzleChest had a new car that he did recently that had only 2-3 mils TOTAL film build on it, I would be scared to death to take a fingernail-catching scratch out of paint that thin. That was usually the burn-through story in the old days, someone trying to get a scratch out by sanding or spot polishing.

Yeah, that's going to be a real problem. Like I posted in the other forum, the TW scratch repair fluid might be the wave of the future. I sure hope someone hurries up and invents the clear in a bottle that levels scratches, I have a lot of stuff that is too deep to polish out.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

the TW scratch repair fluid might be the wave of the future. I sure hope someone hurries up and invents the clear in a bottle that levels scratches, I have a lot of stuff that is too deep to polish out.

Dr. G already did that, it was called Clear Coat Restorer, and it was kind of a 1K clear that you applied like a coating. From the name it seemed to me like it was intended to fix failing clear, but it wasn't, they specifically said it wouldn't fix that, it was for exactly the scenario you described, clear that was too thin to polish or scratches that were too deep.

The only problem was you had to keep the stuff in the freezer, and it was isocyanate-based, so you needed to wear a respirator when applying (and I think the steaks you had in the freezer had to wear respirators, too). It was a flop and they (Optimum) pulled it off the market after a year or so.