Pad Agressiveness

[Jonah]

I have a challenging 2003 Honda project. The paint has what appears to be some etching and very stubborn water spots. Lake country orange with Meguiars UC or Wolfgang Total Swirl doesn't seem to touch it even with getting very aggressive.
I now have in my arsenal the Meguiars MF system and some surbuf pads. I am wondering how to rank these in order of least to most aggressive. Thanks

 

[LuxuryMobile]

Surbuf will be most aggressive option for a DA.

 

[ColumbiaDetail]

Hey Jonah. Meguiars UC while effective is still a retail product and not as abrasive as some of their professional line. Also, from what I hear UC is actually more effective by hand although I have not tested this myself.

When using a Meguiars product what I would recommend is product matching. I have always had better results with Meguiars compounds and polishes when using Meguiars pads. Such as Meguiars Mirror Glaze Compound Power Cleaner with the Red Cutting Foam Pad.

If that doesnt work, I would also try using a rotary buffer if you have the experience to do it. I get much better results from my rotary and it takes half the time. Then use your DA for polish and waxing.

The truth is some etching caused by bird droppings and bugs are just below beyond saving and if your not experienced you could cause more damage than good. No matter what product or process you use, make sure you are taking the time to let the product do it's job. Work small areas and work them well with just enough pressure to keep the pad flat and even. This applies to both hand cleaning and the DA. It's pretty hard to mess up your paint with the DA so dont be afraid to spend a few minutes working an area back and forth.

Good Luck

 

[ColumbiaDetail]

BTW, Surbuf pads are probably more aggressive than the MF system. I havent used the MF pads so I can't be sure.

 

[Jonah]

Thanks Columbia Detail!!! I reluctantly confess to becoming impatient when working my car. On my first project I was very careful to mask off a test spot. I had very good success with my first car which led to overconfidence. Of course, the second project proved more challenging and discouraging with my impatience. My plan of attack is to try the Megs MF system. If results are not satisfactory I will try Megs 105/205 with the surbuf pads. Does this sound reasonable?

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I have a challenging 2003 Honda project. The paint has what appears to be some etching and very stubborn water spots. Lake country orange with Meguiars UC or Wolfgang Total Swirl doesn't seem to touch it even with getting very aggressive.
I now have in my arsenal the Meguiars MF system and some Surbuf pads. I am wondering how to rank these in order of least to most aggressive. Thanks

I would give the edge to the Surbuf pads as being more aggressive than the microfiber pads.

When working on serious or deep defects, try shrinking your work area down for kind of the reasons I explain here,

Tips for working in warm/hot weather or direct sunlight

Shrink your work area down to a smaller size...
Anytime a product becomes difficult to work with, one tip you can try is to shrink down the size of your work area. This means you spread the product out over a smaller area and because you're engaging the working film of product over the area more quickly as you move the polisher there's less time for the product to dry.

The above will help but also by shrinking your work area down the paint you're buffing on will get more abrading attention.


Some defects can be deep enough that you're better of learning to live with them than try to remove them as removing them means removing more and more clear coat and all the UV protection for the basecoat is in the clear coat. Especially if the car is simply your daily driver grocery getter.

Dr. David Ghodoussi told me the UV inhibitors used for auto paints have a half-life of about 5 years, so the older your car gets the less UV protection you have without abrading the paint.

 

[Jonah]

Thanks Mike !! Very helpful :dblthumb2:
I always work in my garage completely out of the sun. Two definite steps I am going to incorporate are smaller work area and more frequent cleaning of pads.