Exactly.

 

i like Meguiars products. if its really, really bad, use an yellow pad on your PC and meg's diamond cut. follow up with something lighter, like their medium cut compound, also yellow pad. then an orange pad with something like a fine cut cleaner. for swirls/final stages, i like tropicare swirl cutter with a white pad (not orange like they say). for damage control, you can either leave it as it and go to your polish/wax, or further it up with another white pad and a polish or a glaze. i always hand apply glaze or wax, so that would be my final step.

i had some very, very bad paint damage from an autox cone, and with using half the steps/products i listed, it came out fairly decent. not perfect by any means, since i didnt have a new white pad or a medium cut compound at the time. another few applications of a white pad and TC swirl cutter should finish it off.

 

I recently tested the yellow pad and 3M Perfect-It II Rubbing Compound. Had pretty good results with it, gonna wait till the humidity goes away so i can finish. I'll post pics if i can.

 

that sounds like a good plan, but I would also consider swappiong out the IP/Orange for FP/White .. Following the Prima with the IP might be a bit of overkill, and using the FP instead could end up giving you a smoother finish.

 

As I understand it Nate...you want to follow the Prima Cut with Prima Swirl (or equivilant).

I need to try the 5 step process on one of the daily drivers soon.
Prima Cut, Prima Swirl, Prima Finish, Prima Amigo, RejeX

 

On this deck lid, we buffed with both the Flex and UDM side by side to remove the previously existing sanding lines after hitting them with our new flexible 2" foam block and self adhesive 3000 grit sandpaper. The 3000 does not remove the orange peel. In this area we used the orange CCS buffing pads with Menzerna SIP. The SIP is an improved version of the IP and suited for harder clear coats such as Mercedes and others. Both of these M products are suitable for removing 2000 grit scratches and finer.

Deep stubborn blemishes:

The Power Gloss(S34A) is an aggressive compound (85/100 aggression) that's able to remove 1000 grit scratches from the surfaces. It can be used with a yellow foam pad on the DA or a wool/foam pad on the rotary. A follow up with IP or SIP may be needed afterward.



Before:


This is the finish after just using the orange/SIP combo. From here, we could step down to a white pad/SIP or Swirl Cutter combo for additional refinement and smoothing of the paint.

After:

 

By FP do you mean Menzerna Final Polish? I wasn't sure if jumping from a yellow pad to a white would be enough.

Well it sounds like the Menzerna IP should be the equivalent of Prima Swirl.


Should I purchase new buffing pads? I purchased a yellow medium cutting pad and an orange polishing/cutting pad from Tropi-Care last year but it seems like the Lake Country pads are being carried by them now. Do I really need the little dimples in the LC pads? I just hate to spend more money if I don't need to.

And I have 3 final finishing pads... 1 blue from TC and 2 tannish Meguiar's pads that came with my DA. Looks like I need to pick up a white LC polishing pad. I should probably just get a yellow LC pad as well to make sure I've got the highest quality cutting pad I can.

 

We have carried Lake Country pads for several years now and been extremely happy with their reliability and performance.

If you're using the Menzerna line, the yellow cutting pad is best matched up with the Power Gloss. This is a super aggressive combination that will remove 1000 grit scratches. A follow up with IP or SIP with an orange or white pad might be necessary on darker colors. A white CCS foam pad has very little cutting ability and will refine and smooth the surface before you're ready to apply your last step protection product with the blue pad.

The SIP is a more improved version of the IP and works a liitle bit faster as well. It was formulated for harder clears including Mercedes' cerami-clears.

The pictures I posted earlier were done with the orange Lake Country CCS foam pads(with the dimples) and SIP. We corrected this surface to near flawless without micro-marring using a PC and Flex DA even after wetsanding with 3000 grit foam sanding block. The speckle you see in the pictures are the reflections of the gold metal flake in the finish. The CCS variety pads are only a few cents more due to manufacturer increased production costs than prievious versions. The dimples in the pad hold the product closer to the surface without soaking deeper into the foam, prevents product splatter and provides better surface working action.

 

So is the SIP a heavier abrasive/cut then the 3M Perfect-It II Rubbing Compound?

Sending you a PM steve.

 

Thanks, Steve. I really appreciate the feedback.

I'm still up on the air deciding between Prima Cut and Menzerna Power Gloss. No matter what I'm ordering Prima Epic so I'll be spending shipping on one site and I'm going to get new pads from TC so I'll be shipping from there as well. Anyone know how different these two compounds are?

Hmm... Prima Cut is only $17 compared to $28 for Menzerna Power Gloss. That's a big difference.

I just sent an email to Prima to see how abrasive Cut really is comparing to Power Gloss. I'm not ordering the products right away because I don't have the time to detail yet anyway so I can wait a bit.

 

The Super Intensive Polish will remove sanding lines to 2000 grit and finer using an orange pad followed by white foam while the 3M Rubbing Compound will remove 1200 and finer grit lines with a yellow pad. Using the 3M may inflict some compound swirling with its during high speed rotary polishing.

The Menzerna Power Gloss compound will remove 1000 grit scratches with its high concentration of consistently sized abrasives to use uniform cutting action. At this time, I have not had the opportunity to test the Power Gloss to observe this action.

You can use both compounds on a DA such as the PC or UDM with a yellow pad but it will take a little longer working time as compared to a high speed rotary polisher.

 

I do two stages. The first step with "Moose Wax" and a blue pad. Second step with "Total Eclipse" and a black pad. I never have any scatches. I did that with some old pads, I need to get some new ones.

I get my stuff from The Detail Supply Warehouse.


I have used this stuff on cars @ lots from 1996 F250's to TownCars and it gives me the same results everytime.

 

Power Gloss is much stronger than Prima Cut FWIW. PG also finishes quite well for how abrasive it is.