Plan of "attack" let me now what you think

[Bluefan]

My first order from autogeek should arrive tomorrow (at least this is my hope. UPS site says my order is still in Florida but is on time to be delivered tomorrow?) I am hoping to get an hour or 2 tomorrow evening to browse through Mikes book. I am debating on what vehicle to start on since both vehicles are in pretty good shape. Due to this thinking about using white LC Flat pad with 105 and seeing how it does. If it is not enough I will go down to an orange LC Orange flat pad. Does this sound reasonable? Also ordered 205 which I will use either a grey or white pad with. Since vehicles only have minor scratches and swirls should I start with the 205 or is going with my thoughts on the 105 better? Will be sealing everything with collite 845. The 2 vehicles are a 08 F350 black and a 2012 Explorer black. Which from what I have read have med to hard paint. Thanks for the help. You folks are awesome.

[umi000]

I would still start at 205 with white - it's easy enough to step up to 105 if needed, but you'll never know if 205 with white will be enough unless you try.

[Meticulous-Detail]

I would start with a dawn or citrus wash, then clay and then 205 with a white pad. Remember 205 and 105 have DAT, so they have to be worked until the product is broken down and then they start to work their magic. Also do a test spot first.

Post pics when your done, GL!

[SonOfOC]

I think you meant 105/205 has "SMAT" that does not break down.


I would start with a dawn or citrus wash, then clay and then 205 with a white pad. Remember 205 and 105 have DAT, so they have to be worked until the product is broken down and then they start to work their magic. Also do a test spot first.

Post pics when your done, GL!

[Spiney]

As a newbie reading this thread please explain DAT and SMAT and how to tell when product is broken down. Thanks, Spiney-Dave

[SonOfOC]

From "Mike Phillips":

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/23561-smat-pack-everything-you-ever-wanted-know-about-meguiar-s-smat-products.html

[Meticulous-Detail]

I think you meant 105/205 has "SMAT" that does not break down.

You are correct! :doh:

Typing while watching the baby.........lol

[tuscarora dave]

As a rule of thumb, never assume anything in the world of paint correction. While most later model Fords may have paint that is on the harder side you can't always be 100% sure of that until you do a test section with your M-205/white pad. M-205 surprises me often in it's ability to reduce or eliminate swirls and lighter scratches.

What polisher will you be using and what other pads do you have besides the white and gray pads? As mentioned, claying is a very important step in any paint correction. You want to have your black paint (or any paint for that matter) 100% clean and free of any type of industrial/environmental fallout such as brake/rail dust, bird poo, tar, tree sap etc.etc. which on black paint will be hard if not impossible to see so you'll want to clay an area until you "feel" the clay glide very smoothly over the paint without any tic sounds or no feeling of anything rolling around on the paint underneath the clay. If there are any contaminates present on the paint after claying you'll likely yield less than desirable results working with black paint.

If there are a lot of contaminates present before claying you'll most assuredly inflict more scratches and or marring in the claying process and this in and of itself may change the way you'll need to approach your paint correction. I like to pre-soak the paint with my wash solution allowing a bit of dwell time to soften up or aid in the releasing of any contaminates before the initial wash to ensure that I am removing as much of the bonded contaminates in the initial wash process. The less contaminates you have to clay off/out of the paint the less damage you'll inflict in the claying process, the easier it will be to correct the paint and the less material will have to be removed to achieve your best results.

You may want to look into Iron-X as this will save you time and also save you from having brake/rail dust scratch up your paint in the claying process. This stuff is definitely $20 well spent on any paint correction.

Iron X Iron Remover, CQuartz IronX, Paint Cleaner, paint decontamination (http://www.autogeek.net/carpro-iron-x-cleaner.html)

Confused yet?

Simply put, the most critical steps (especially with black paint) will be the pre compounding preparation/cleaning steps. On black paint, nothing ensures failure as much as poor prep work which equals getting gritty contaminates imbedded in your compounding/polishing pad.

Going too aggressive with pad/product selection will also create a situation where you'll be doing more work than necessary to achieve your desired results and when you're doing more work than necessary, you're removing more paint than necessary so always start out with your least aggressive method first because you may just find that this is all that is needed to satisfy.

Good luck and have fun with it. TD

[BobbyG]

You overall correction plan is good!



Pick out a good test spot and follow your plan.
Do 3 or 4 passes then gauge your progress.
An orange foam pad is considered for medium to light correction work so starting out it's a nice choice and isn't overly aggressive.

Collinite 845 is a great product and provides optimum protection and shine.


OH, and don't forget to report back! :props:

[Bluefan]

Thank you everyone, I will try and answer all the questions that have been asked. I forgot to add that I do plan on claying the vehicle before starting. I will be using a GG polisher with 5.5" pads. I am getting orange, white, grey and blue pads. Anther off topic question. How do you post pictures? Everyone on here has been great and many have asked for me to post pictures. The problem is I am unsure how to do this. I do not have a personal computer at home and most of my post have been on my Droid phone. Any tips or instructions would be appreciated. I have decided to practice on my Kubota B2630 tractor since I do not want to mess up the paint on the F350, explorer or camero (I know it is out of place). Thank you again all.

[Bluefan]

Lets try this. This ismy last attampt with a rotary buffer on the 350.

[S2K]

Thank you everyone, I will try and answer all the questions that have been asked. I forgot to add that I do plan on claying the vehicle before starting. I will be using a GG polisher with 5.5" pads. I am getting orange, white, grey and blue pads. Anther off topic question. How do you post pictures? Everyone on here has been great and many have asked for me to post pictures. The problem is I am unsure how to do this. I do not have a personal computer at home and most of my post have been on my Droid phone. Any tips or instructions would be appreciated. I have decided to practice on my Kubota B2630 tractor since I do not want to mess up the paint on the F350, explorer or camero (I know it is out of place). Thank you again all.

I don't know if this will help you with your Droid (I don't have one) but maybe it will:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/tips-techniques-how-articles-interacting-discussion-forums/21295-how-upload-photo-into-your-autogeek-photo-gallery.html

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/tips-techniques-how-articles-interacting-discussion-forums/21313-how-insert-image-your-photo-gallery-into-your-message.html

And there are a lot of good articles here that might help you too:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/23722-articles-mike-phillips.html

[Bluefan]

Picture of the Explorer with the orbital buffer.

[Paul A.]

There ya go! Good job, that truck looks awesome.

All great advice up to this point and i like the idea of 205/white first just to see if that's all you need. Remember that if that combo does reduce them 40-50%, do it again for 90-100% results. I like doing that rather than seeing a 40% result and switching over to 105 too fast and getting maybe 125%! I like to remove just enough of the clearcoat to remove the problem and not getting impatient and ripping it down for immediate results. It may take a little longer but i don't like to unneccessarily remove more than i need.

[Bluefan]

I am just trying to think of questions that the Book might not cover later. With the 205 if I would use a white pad and all defects are removed, would you follow it up with another coat of 205 with a grey pad? Would it increase the depth at all? I know some polishes the more times you apply it the better the vehicle looks. Thanks again. Also with the Collinite 845 do you folks usually use 1 coat or 2?