santov
06-05-2009, 02:36 AM
Hi guys and gals!
Preface:
After lurking on the forums for such a long time I decided to get serious and buy a machine. I've always been pretty happy with the Meg 3 step system, doing it all by hand, plus the clay kits when needed for my cars. After my wife's FX spent a couple weeks getting sprinklers I tried Meg's Ultimate Compound by HAND. This was the dumbest idea I've had in some time and by the end of day two I decided it was time to invest in a machine. After reading everything I could on the Porter Cable I decided the Flex was worth the extra money...
The Purchase:
I searched high and low for the best deal on a Flex unit, and I was undecided the on the pads. I thought I found a good deal and asked Meghan a few questions. Let me tell you: Meghan was the nicest person to deal with. She went back and forth to answer all my questions and helped me pick out a great set of LCC 5.5 pads to go with my Flex. I ended up getting great deal, plus took advantage of the free shipping. Beyond that I bought a ton of Meg's chemicals with the 15% sale. I'm VERY happy with the customer service!!
Chemicals all unpacked, after a day of cleaning the garage to make room and reorganize-
http://silvercreekyoga.com/detail/img_0002.jpg
The first victim:
My daily driver Honda 2007 Civic. The paint is in great shape, but I did get dealer installed scratches. Actually I bought the car on Mother's Day a few years ago after making a great deal on the car and went home to get the checkbook and when I came to pick it up the salesman had just finished wiping it down with gawd-knows-what cleaner and bathroom PAPER TOWELS. So there was some hazing that came right out with Meg's cleaner and polish. But to date there were some very minor webs from drying and washing.
The cleaning:
I did buy some of the Megs Hyperwash D110, but I have a crap load off other crappy soaps that I want to use first. So I pressure rinsed the car with my Karcher, washed with two buckets, and rinsed clean. It was a little sunny so I pulled the car into the garage and plugged in my Home Depot lamps...
http://silvercreekyoga.com/detail/img_0006.jpg
Even in the sun the scratches are hard to see. I had to get my camera and the lights at just the right angle to get these scratches to show.
I used a old ball of Mother's clay, which I've learned to hate. The clay is very temperature sensitive, so it either feels like a rock, or like jelly filling. Since my paint was in good shape a little claying was all I needed to take off the old Meg cleaner wax. Since I ran out of the Mother's detailer that came with the clay kit I got to try the D155 Last Touch as a clay lube. The smell of this stuff is intoxicating. I'm so tempted to taste it. After I finished the Civic I wiped down my Jeep with it just to smell it. I digress...The 155 cleans great and does leave a deep gloss behind. It didn't seem to mess with the wax as I was going along, the Mother's clay didn't mind it, and it wipes off easily. I've always bought the big bottles of Quick Detailer to use on cars and my motorcycle, but I'm so glad I found this stuff. And it's a great deal!!
The Flex:
I'm impressed with the build quality of the machine. With the machine off if you turn the backing pad with your hand you can hear the whine of the gears and motor. The rotation and orbital movement seems to come from gears, instead of a spinning counterweight like the PC. I haven't seen a PC in person, but looking on line it seems the movement of the counter-weight makes the movement. The Flex feels solid and beefy. The ergonomics are okay, the machine is heavy. After breaking my arm in a motorcycle accident the vibrations did start to fatigue my weak hand. Shake it off!
After masking the car, which I didn't photograph since it looked so horrible, I masked the hood into 3 sections:
Meg's D151 Paint Reconditioning Cream
This stuff is a little thicker then toothpaste. If you turn the bottle upside down the air bubble doesn't rise. If you shake the big bottle the bubble doesn't move. If you tap the bottle on the shelf the heft of the big bottle might crack. Pretty thick stuff! There's no significant smell to it, and between the fingers it feels like a cleaner wax.
Since this was my first try with the Flex, and first try with LCC pads, and my first try with D151 I was a nervous wreck. So I started with D151 on the white LCC pad. I used a little too much product and after spreading at speed 1, then buffing at speed 3 the stuff was too thick to break down. I had to break out the D155 to wet it down and wipe if off. After I scraped the pad clean, and rinsed with water I tried again. The result was smooth paint, but not aggressive enough to get at those scratches. I moved on to the second panel with less D151 and used a yellow LCC pad. I worked the area at speed 1 to spread the product then started over at speed 3. It was obvious when the product was done and wiped off easily with a mf towel. You almost have to use too little product. Using what would seem a normal amount (dime size per panel) resulted in too much dust or too thick to remove by hand.
The result? Pretty dang good! Paint was really smooth, scratches were gone, and color was really deep. I didn't spray with water to test beading, but I have no intention of using the D151 as the topcoat. As a mild cleaner and polish in one this product is GREAT!
Here's the post D151 and prewax:
http://www.silvercreekyoga.com/detail/img_0003.jpg
I was going to wax by hand, but I was ancy to continue using the flex. So I loaded some Mother's Gold Carnuba wax (I hate this stuff too, but want to use it up) onto a white pad at speed 1. When buffing I worked small sections, went slow and tried to make my buff marks like welding beads (like a roll of quarters tilted over). I was going to use the blue pad to buff, thought I should quit while I'm ahead and used a MF to remove and buff.
I took off all the masking tape, wiped down with D155 again, just to enjoy the smell.
Here's a shot of the final product:
http://www.silvercreekyoga.com/detail/img_0008.jpg
You can actually see my whole neighborhood in the reflection. The paint really looked "jeweled". A friend who came over couldn't stop touching the paint to feel how smooth it was. He might just be my first customer (I charge pizza and some help with the clean up).
What's next:
I did touch up some of the trim with the D170 Hyper Dressing. It works great on rubber door gaskets, but didn't seem to make the tires look right, maybe I diluted a little too much (4:1).
I still have Meg's Quick Interior to use up, so I haven't had a chance to play with the D103 APC+. When I mixed the bottle it did smell good, but more like a degreaser then a gentle cleaner, even though I diluted 10:1.
I didn't get to use the D110 Hyper wash, I'll write a review when I get the chance.
I'm waiting for another 15% off sale so I can get some M21 or NXT2.0, a gallon of D140 wheel brightener, and M80 and M82 for a few very oxidized projects.
I'll be writing reviews for the following hell projects:
My wife's Infiniti FX35 with major water spots
My friends 2001 Prelude that has only been washed in drive thru washes and has major oxidation.
My cousin's 2003 Ford Explorer which has lots of swirl marks and haze.
My friends 1999 Saturn that has major oxidation and was washed only once with paper towels and windex. Ewww!
Thank you again to Meghan for the great customer service and to fellow geeks for the education write ups!
:buffing:
Preface:
After lurking on the forums for such a long time I decided to get serious and buy a machine. I've always been pretty happy with the Meg 3 step system, doing it all by hand, plus the clay kits when needed for my cars. After my wife's FX spent a couple weeks getting sprinklers I tried Meg's Ultimate Compound by HAND. This was the dumbest idea I've had in some time and by the end of day two I decided it was time to invest in a machine. After reading everything I could on the Porter Cable I decided the Flex was worth the extra money...
The Purchase:
I searched high and low for the best deal on a Flex unit, and I was undecided the on the pads. I thought I found a good deal and asked Meghan a few questions. Let me tell you: Meghan was the nicest person to deal with. She went back and forth to answer all my questions and helped me pick out a great set of LCC 5.5 pads to go with my Flex. I ended up getting great deal, plus took advantage of the free shipping. Beyond that I bought a ton of Meg's chemicals with the 15% sale. I'm VERY happy with the customer service!!
Chemicals all unpacked, after a day of cleaning the garage to make room and reorganize-
http://silvercreekyoga.com/detail/img_0002.jpg
The first victim:
My daily driver Honda 2007 Civic. The paint is in great shape, but I did get dealer installed scratches. Actually I bought the car on Mother's Day a few years ago after making a great deal on the car and went home to get the checkbook and when I came to pick it up the salesman had just finished wiping it down with gawd-knows-what cleaner and bathroom PAPER TOWELS. So there was some hazing that came right out with Meg's cleaner and polish. But to date there were some very minor webs from drying and washing.
The cleaning:
I did buy some of the Megs Hyperwash D110, but I have a crap load off other crappy soaps that I want to use first. So I pressure rinsed the car with my Karcher, washed with two buckets, and rinsed clean. It was a little sunny so I pulled the car into the garage and plugged in my Home Depot lamps...
http://silvercreekyoga.com/detail/img_0006.jpg
Even in the sun the scratches are hard to see. I had to get my camera and the lights at just the right angle to get these scratches to show.
I used a old ball of Mother's clay, which I've learned to hate. The clay is very temperature sensitive, so it either feels like a rock, or like jelly filling. Since my paint was in good shape a little claying was all I needed to take off the old Meg cleaner wax. Since I ran out of the Mother's detailer that came with the clay kit I got to try the D155 Last Touch as a clay lube. The smell of this stuff is intoxicating. I'm so tempted to taste it. After I finished the Civic I wiped down my Jeep with it just to smell it. I digress...The 155 cleans great and does leave a deep gloss behind. It didn't seem to mess with the wax as I was going along, the Mother's clay didn't mind it, and it wipes off easily. I've always bought the big bottles of Quick Detailer to use on cars and my motorcycle, but I'm so glad I found this stuff. And it's a great deal!!
The Flex:
I'm impressed with the build quality of the machine. With the machine off if you turn the backing pad with your hand you can hear the whine of the gears and motor. The rotation and orbital movement seems to come from gears, instead of a spinning counterweight like the PC. I haven't seen a PC in person, but looking on line it seems the movement of the counter-weight makes the movement. The Flex feels solid and beefy. The ergonomics are okay, the machine is heavy. After breaking my arm in a motorcycle accident the vibrations did start to fatigue my weak hand. Shake it off!
After masking the car, which I didn't photograph since it looked so horrible, I masked the hood into 3 sections:
Meg's D151 Paint Reconditioning Cream
This stuff is a little thicker then toothpaste. If you turn the bottle upside down the air bubble doesn't rise. If you shake the big bottle the bubble doesn't move. If you tap the bottle on the shelf the heft of the big bottle might crack. Pretty thick stuff! There's no significant smell to it, and between the fingers it feels like a cleaner wax.
Since this was my first try with the Flex, and first try with LCC pads, and my first try with D151 I was a nervous wreck. So I started with D151 on the white LCC pad. I used a little too much product and after spreading at speed 1, then buffing at speed 3 the stuff was too thick to break down. I had to break out the D155 to wet it down and wipe if off. After I scraped the pad clean, and rinsed with water I tried again. The result was smooth paint, but not aggressive enough to get at those scratches. I moved on to the second panel with less D151 and used a yellow LCC pad. I worked the area at speed 1 to spread the product then started over at speed 3. It was obvious when the product was done and wiped off easily with a mf towel. You almost have to use too little product. Using what would seem a normal amount (dime size per panel) resulted in too much dust or too thick to remove by hand.
The result? Pretty dang good! Paint was really smooth, scratches were gone, and color was really deep. I didn't spray with water to test beading, but I have no intention of using the D151 as the topcoat. As a mild cleaner and polish in one this product is GREAT!
Here's the post D151 and prewax:
http://www.silvercreekyoga.com/detail/img_0003.jpg
I was going to wax by hand, but I was ancy to continue using the flex. So I loaded some Mother's Gold Carnuba wax (I hate this stuff too, but want to use it up) onto a white pad at speed 1. When buffing I worked small sections, went slow and tried to make my buff marks like welding beads (like a roll of quarters tilted over). I was going to use the blue pad to buff, thought I should quit while I'm ahead and used a MF to remove and buff.
I took off all the masking tape, wiped down with D155 again, just to enjoy the smell.
Here's a shot of the final product:
http://www.silvercreekyoga.com/detail/img_0008.jpg
You can actually see my whole neighborhood in the reflection. The paint really looked "jeweled". A friend who came over couldn't stop touching the paint to feel how smooth it was. He might just be my first customer (I charge pizza and some help with the clean up).
What's next:
I did touch up some of the trim with the D170 Hyper Dressing. It works great on rubber door gaskets, but didn't seem to make the tires look right, maybe I diluted a little too much (4:1).
I still have Meg's Quick Interior to use up, so I haven't had a chance to play with the D103 APC+. When I mixed the bottle it did smell good, but more like a degreaser then a gentle cleaner, even though I diluted 10:1.
I didn't get to use the D110 Hyper wash, I'll write a review when I get the chance.
I'm waiting for another 15% off sale so I can get some M21 or NXT2.0, a gallon of D140 wheel brightener, and M80 and M82 for a few very oxidized projects.
I'll be writing reviews for the following hell projects:
My wife's Infiniti FX35 with major water spots
My friends 2001 Prelude that has only been washed in drive thru washes and has major oxidation.
My cousin's 2003 Ford Explorer which has lots of swirl marks and haze.
My friends 1999 Saturn that has major oxidation and was washed only once with paper towels and windex. Ewww!
Thank you again to Meghan for the great customer service and to fellow geeks for the education write ups!
:buffing: