:: Working With Soft Paint ::

[Circa40]

Thanks for the very useful how-to CM8. :dblthumb2: Thats a useful chart as well.
I guess the cat's out of the bag for the Megs UPW, its secretly been one of my favorites lol. You cant beat it for $20

 

[venu]

Wow, great write up CM8....Thanks!
Lol @ online detailers term.

 

[WRXINXS]

Drew, Kevin Brown taught me this way to finish polish. Depending on the power of the DA, use the speed that allows the backing plate to slowly rotate with firm pressure. Slow arm movement and usually only one SECTION pass is needed. Do not lighten up on pressure. This technique would be with SMAT products.

Thanks Mark!

 

[CM8 6MT]

Great detailed article. I havent used scratch x in about 4years way before I found autogeek or knew anything about a da. Going to have to add it to the arsenal

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Yeah dude same here, I bought it back in 2008 I think , before I got into machine detailing.

Aaron, what's funny is I actually did the exact thing you did priming with Scratch X then applying the M105 to see how it would react on my friends Maxima. It worked great with the LC CCS white pad. Low dusting if any at all.

Great article as always. Every time I stop by a local store I always look at what Meg's has to offer. Shame I couldn't find the UP anywhere though.

Thats why I love Megs products, very versatile. Thanks for reading!

Great job!

Another way I've found to remove marring from soft paint, using a finishing pad and polish, drop the speed with FIRM pressure(about 1 rotation of the backing plate per second) while moving the polisher about 1" per second. ONE SECTION PASS!! It works!!!

I really don't think there's a need for speed 5 when removing micro marring, you're not cutting. Obviously, what you did worked, but I feel if you used speed 3 throughout, you would have gotten the same result. JMO.

I agree, however the only reason I used speed 5 is merely out of habit, just to work the polish in and finish it with a lower speed. Just personal preferance. Thanks for viewing!

You and I share similar collection of Meguire's products.

Great write up with the use of American made products!

Nice! Your on the right track. Thank you much for reading.

Aaron,

Really nice article. I love how that UP straightened up that micro-marring.:xyxthumbs: And yeah my neighbors little dogs were near my car yesterday and I was praying they would not claw the doors!! Of course I did not want to scare them away and make my neighbors mad so I just crossed my fingers lol.

What speed do you recommend for removing micro-marring with a DA, 3 or so?

Drew

Yes as state in my article above & what Fivepoint.O mentioned speed 3 is ideal. You can do it with higher speeds and slow arm movement, but lower speeds will allow you to burnish the paint to its highest gloss possible.

Thanks for the excellent write up! You gotta love that Japanese paint. I have experienced similar results with Scratch X on my wifes Camry. I used probably $2 worth of polish to correct her hood.

Good stuff man! Just goes to show quality products dont always have to be expensive to perform.

Aaron I love your writups! You are so thorough and great at giving tips and describing the correction process. Your pictures turned out fantastic and that red really POPs now! Well done

Thanks Caleb, I really do try my best to document how I do things. Glad you enjoyed it.

Nice writeup

Simple and to the point

End results excellent

Thank you much!

Great article Aaron!!! Keeping the fanboys in check lol

Heh, there nowhere to be found now are they? Thanks Roshan

Thanks for the very useful how-to CM8. :dblthumb2: Thats a useful chart as well.
I guess the cat's out of the bag for the Megs UPW, its secretly been one of my favorites lol. You cant beat it for $20

Im glad you found my chart useful, I made it from scratch, took me a while to make just right.

Wow, great write up CM8....Thanks!
Lol @ online detailers term.

LOL, glad you liked it! Thanks

 

[quiksilver_ben3]

GREAT write up!

 

[Meticulous-Detail]

Great write up. I am a big fan of Megs products and of the belief that just because it comes in a fancy bottle and cost twice as much doesn't mean it works better.

 

[cardaddy]

Big Aaron! Guess we'll file that one under "what did you do today detail related". :laughing:

Good job buddy... and nice choice of products.
Bet that Meguiar's apron looks good on ya'. (psst mine got used this weekend too)

Finally talked an old friend into letting me spend some time with his wife's IS350, (garage queen mostly but 60K on it) He OTOH thought it was a waste of time!!! (What a dumba$$)

Started Sat afternoon forcing him to wash it, then I broke out the clay. Once we got done claying he wanted to put it back in the garage and quit! Figured that was a good enough time to take a break and let him provide the ribeyes.

 

[CM8 6MT]

GREAT write up!

Thanks dude!

Great write up. I am a big fan of Megs products and of the belief that just because it comes in a fancy bottle and cost twice as much doesn't mean it works better.

Its all about reputation & consistant results. Thanks for checking it out man!

Big Aaron! Guess we'll file that one under "what did you do today detail related". :laughing:

Good job buddy... and nice choice of products.
Bet that Meguiar's apron looks good on ya'. (psst mine got used this weekend too)

Finally talked an old friend into letting me spend some time with his wife's IS350, (garage queen mostly but 60K on it) He OTOH thought it was a waste of time!!! (What a dumba$$)

Started Sat afternoon forcing him to wash it, then I broke out the clay. Once we got done claying he wanted to put it back in the garage and quit! Figured that was a good enough time to take a break and let him provide the ribeyes.

LMAO a Megs apron? I have no such thing! (But if I did, Id make my wife wear it & tell her to get to work in that kitchen)

Your friends a sissy, detailing is hard work especially when doing tasks by hand like claying, buffing with a MF etc. Good workout though . Thanks for taking the time to read!

 

[EWtheDETAILER]

Nice write up! Love the practicality and real world approach! :dblthumb2:

 

[CM8 6MT]

Nice write up! Love the practicality and real world approach! :dblthumb2:

Well thank you!

 

[runrun411]

Remember, at this point your not REMOVING defects, your bringing the paint to a high gloss finish by burnishing the paint using slow arm speed & rotating pad. Here are the final results


Question, you can't move the pad a little quicker since you already removed the defects?

BTW: fantastic work, excellent review.

 

[TimmyG]

Nice review and all but I have to ask. Have you ever actually used any menzerna compounds or polishes? They have longer working times than the products you used and in many cases, simply get the job done quicker than scratch-x.

I only ask because I recently had a Subaru WRX with some of the softest black paint I've ever worked on come into my garage for a correction. Menzerna 106FA worked better and faster than D300, M205, and the CG V lineup. Just my thoughts.

 

[CM8 6MT]

Question, you can't move the pad a little quicker since you already removed the defects?

BTW: fantastic work, excellent review.

Right, you already removed the defects with a higher speed, next you want to lower that speed in order to allow the pad to oscilate & turn smoother in order to burnish the paint, instead of eratic movements caused at high speeds. Hope this makes sense.

Nice review and all but I have to ask. Have you ever actually used any menzerna compounds or polishes? They have longer working times than the products you used and in many cases, simply get the job done quicker than scratch-x.

I only ask because I recently had a Subaru WRX with some of the softest black paint I've ever worked on come into my garage for a correction. Menzerna 106FA worked better and faster than D300, M205, and the CG V lineup. Just my thoughts.

If I've never used them, I wouldnt be talking about them. Ive used SF4500, SF4000 (106FA), FG400, & PL. Funny you ask me because Ive posted several times that I got to play with the Menz line at my trainning course here in town.

So your telling me that a heavy compound like D300 worked "better & faster" than a super finishing polish that has a cut similar to that of M205, and below ScratchX? Not sure if I follow that logic.

You also mentioned about Menzerna having longer working times. Which is a fact, DAT products require you to work them longer, ALOT longer until the abbrasives diminish completely turning the product clear.

With SMAT abbrasives (non diminishing), you have a shorter working time. Meaning the abbrasives in the product will continue to cut until the abbrasives are no longer effective. DAT cutting faster than SMAT? LOL I dont think so.

Think of it this way, and if you understood the product you were using, in this case Menzerna, I wouldnt have to explain this to you. With DAT products, as soon as you turn on the machine, they begin to cut, and cut, and the cut gets smaller and smaller until the polishing granules diminish. Each pass will have less cut.

With SMAT products, the polish will CUT, and keep cutting at the same level until either stop buffing or complete its buffing cycle. Not sure about you, but if you put me vs you, ill be done in 2-3 passes while your still watching your backing plate spin trying to work down that polish. Just pulling your leg, but you get the idea.

So which one "finishes" better? My experience is that Menzerna polishes will finish better on certain paint systems, ceramiclear, some finicky paints like Porche.

Your Subaru could very well be an exception, every car & paint type acts different to certain products.

If you were to compare FG400 to M105, that would be a different story. Both have similar cut levels, With FG400 dusting less. Finish will vary by paint, but from what other people have posted , and what Ive worked with at the shop,the finish left by the two is almost indistinguishable.
Though why does everyone act like M105 is the only product Megs has to offer? M101 ring a bell? Like to see someone compare M101, M100 to FG400.

Hey if a detailer can get better results using Menz than Megs, all power to him. Though in all honestly put a detailer vs a detailer that KNOWS how to work with Megs polishes just as good , at that point only the most skilled & talented detailer would win, not the brand of product they used. FACT

 

[cardaddy]

I think what is seen/felt when working with DAT products is that the finish seems to be 'coming in'. It's a tactile thing and as the abrasives wear down it does indeed look/feel like it's getting smoother right before your eyes. The thing with that however is you have to keep applying the same amount of product to the same (size) area, to get the same result. Cleaning/keeping the pads clean are a critical step along the way, in order to keep the gunk from getting moved around surface.

SMAT products though cut when you start, and keep cutting. Not having to "work it down" speeds up the process. If for no other reason than you have predictable results from the first 4 passes loading a pad to the last 4 at the end of the pads duty cycle. (IE when it starts getting too hot to use) Not having to "work it down" in my use has also allowed for using less product. Loading the pad once then a few drops at most in the next section. Pads don't seem to get as 'full'. But... that may just be me. :dunno:

 

[vegas911gts]

I have soft paint and I know what works on my car. Everyone elses car is different. Usually I get to play around on other cars that have harder paint. For those I use either m100 or fg400.

I've worked with both megs and menzerna. I hate 205. 205 micro marrs a lot on me. m100 is great. Haven't used m101 yet and probably won't because I want to test scholls concepts s3, but I hear m101 is even better than m100 so that's pretty incredible as m100 is really good.

I'm going to use spf in the next few days on yellow and white rupes pads. It's supposed to be a killer combo on soft paint. esoteric is claiming that its a one step on soft paint with rupes pads. And it supposed to have a total work time of 45 seconds. If it doesn't finish well as claimed, then I'll just hit it with sf4500.

 

[Dogfather]

Aaron, after so many positive replies to your post, I suppose you owe that dog an apology. And trust me, he or she is not as stupid as you think.

 

[CM8 6MT]

Aaron, after so many positive replies to your post, I suppose you owe that dog an apology. And trust me, he or she is not as stupid as you think.

LoL, I dont like dogs (no offense to you DogFather ) Especially not other peoples annoying pets that come charging you at full speed. I tried really hard not to freak out on my friend since It would be rude, after all it was his house. He didnt even call his dog back or anything. Whatever, 2 small rids remain near the door edge, a reminder of......that dog

 

[silverfox]

I agree that you can't buy good results. Before I "figured it out" I too thought I just needed to buy the most expensive, hyped up products to get the best results.

My wallet soon found out that even if Tiger Woods let me have his golf clubs, I would never be able to best him while he used a set borrowed from Walmart.

I live the OTC polishes from Meg's that I can get five minutes Fromm house and yes SMAT products require a fine level of expertise to use properly.

I don't get guys buying 50 different polishes and trying them all. That's nuts in my view. Learn one product line and hone it , hone it, and hone it again until you get the technique near to perfection then stick with it

If you are buying new polishes every time somebody recommends a new one, I seriously doubt you know what you are doing. Just my two cents.

 

[CM8 6MT]

I agree that you can't buy good results. Before I "figured it out" I too thought I just needed to buy the most expensive, hyped up products to get the best results.

My wallet soon found out that even if Tiger Woods let me have his golf clubs, I would never be able to best him while he used a set borrowed from Walmart.

I live the OTC polishes from Meg's that I can get five minutes Fromm house and yes SMAT products require a fine level of expertise to use properly.

I don't get guys buying 50 different polishes and trying them all. That's nuts in my view. Learn one product line and hone it , hone it, and hone it again until you get the technique near to perfection then stick with it

If you are buying new polishes every time somebody recommends a new one, I seriously doubt you know what you are doing. Just my two cents.

+ 2. I couldnt agree with you more. I laughed out loud at that Tiger Woods comment.

 

[BrutalNoodle]

CM8 6MT strikes gain! :applause:

I feel bad for the coupe, although we wouldn't get to enjoy yet another well-documented & written piece if it wasn't for the mishap.

For sure I thought you were going to finish off with #21. It was a pleasant surprise to see UPW on the roster.

Dig the aggressiveness chart, btw. rops:

Also, thumbs up for Knuckles! I still play with the Genesis from time to time.