First run with the PC

[Gnarboots11]

I did my first run with the PC on my sister in laws 2000 Accord which is white and needed some help. I used XMT #3 and XMT 360. I have a few questions. The XMT #3 seems so thick and dry that it is difficult to even work it for any length of time. I watched the Pinnacle videos but they used the Pinnacle polish in those videos, not the XMT. Is there a difference in how the 2 should be worked? The bottle says till it's dry, but then I seem to get some hazing. I really liked using the Wolfgang low profile orange and white pads as oppose to the larger LC CCS pads. It seems like the PC isn't even capable of spinning those large CCS pads, and they just soaked up sooo much product! Even with the XMT conditioner applied before hand and during the polish here and there, I was having a hard time getting the XMT #3 on the paint and working it because it all seemed to be in the pad. The LC CCS pads have those dimples in them where all the product goes into and to even get it out and onto the paint you have to press down but then the PC can't spin those pads with any slight pressure. I felt like I was going to go through the whole bottle of XMT #3 trying to get the polish on the paint instead of in the pad!

Honestly I think I would be better off just going straight to the rotary and skipping over this PC stage. I feel like the PC doesn't have the juice to even spin the larger pads and allow me to work the product how I feel it should.

Anyways, the end result was a pretty big change and the car looks nice, but there was quite a bit of hazing. Would the hazing be due to the fact of my difficulties working the product? Or should I have used the Pinnacle Paint Cleanser before the 360? I didnt think so because the 360 has a cleaner built into it. Sorry no pics.

[budman3]

Welcome to the world of the PC. It is a great tool once you figure out how it works. I rarely use anything but 7.5" LC pads and the PC has no problem spinning the pads. You have to make sure that you aren't applying too much pressure and that the pad is flat on the paint. Speed 6 is what you should be doing the polishing on. The other speeds aren't powerful enough to polish the paint. As for your hazing issue that is because of your product / pad combination. An aggressive polish, XMT3 coupled with an aggressive pad, orange cut pad results in hazing, especially if you don't let the product break down all of the way. I have not used XMT3 so I can't help you with the thickness or any tricks to get the product to work... No need for the cleaner if you are using the 360... one question, did the 360 remove any of the hazing?

[Gnarboots11]

You know, it's a white car and I was working in my brothers garage which doesnt have the best set up of lights yet. So it was really difficult to see how the product was working and where the hazing was. There are spot where it worked out really nice, and others where it wasn't as good. This weekend I will do my little black truck which is in bad shape right now and see how it goes. I will work in my garage which has alot of lights and I also have a halogen light I can set up. I don't really like working on white cars. There used to be a time before I got into cleaning cars that I only wanted white because it was easy to keep clean. Now, I want dark metallics! Cause it's much more satisfying! I will see how it goes this weekend. Thanks man.