CG Product/Pad match up

[smotta]

Hi Everyone,

I have a "Stealth Grey/Blue" metallic paint (factory paint - I call it a slate blue) 2011 Chevy Silverado 1500. I have what I consider to be light to medium swirl marks but what I think is *horrible* orange peel (I have almost no detail experience, will post photos ASAP).

I'm pretty certain that there is little to nothing I can do about the orange peel, as I am *not* going anywhere near my paint with a rotary pad.

Using a PC 7424 DA Polisher I think I finally understand after all my research here that the following is the correct order for the products I have been given.

Wash (2 bucket method w/ grit guards)
CG Clay Bar
CG V36 Polish
CG V38 Polish
CG Blacklight
CG Butter Wet Wax
CG V07 Sealant

My question is, I have been given the following CG hex pads, and I don't know how to match them up to the correct product

(1) Blue "Glaze" pad
(1) Black "Finish" pad
(1) Gray "Polish" pad
(1) Orange "Scratch/Swirl" pad
(1) Red "wax/sealant" pad

I'm sure that I wouldn't want to use a pad for more than one product right? So given what I have to work with what would be the best combination? Is there another pad that I really should be using instead? Is my order of operations correct?

Thanks to everyone who has contributed here at AGO. I have spent more time lurking and studying than I could imagine. What a wonderful wealth of reference material!

I see a lot of :buffing::buffing::buffing: in my future.

-S

[davidg]

Orange pad-v36
Grey pad-v38
Red-blacklight
Blue-butter

It actually probably won't matter on the red and blue.

Please clarity if you are using the 7.5 inch pads. That was the only grey I saw from them, but if you're calling black grey then you'll be missing a pad you "need."

[smotta]

Davidg,

Thanks so much for the information. Do you think that the order of operations is appropriate for a nice deep (but reasonably sturdy) finish?

-S

[davidg]

Yes, I would personally do an IPA wipe after v38 just to ensure no polishing oils remain.

Do a test spot, I thought your post said 01 instead of 2011. If it has been well taken care of you might get away with grey-v38. Always start with the least aggressive method.

[smotta]

Your timing is impeccable. I was *just* reading how CG V polish line has a lot of oils and that it is recommended to do an IPA wipe-down afterwards. I will definitely add that to my plan of attack.

Thanks again!

[davidg]

Revision: it looks like blue might have a little tiny bit of cut to it. Use this for your black light and red for wax. Next order pick up a black pad. I have about 5 of them (from LC) easily my most used pad.

[smotta]

I do have one black pad. Should I use that for the butter wax then instead? Appreciate your time and effort in this. I'm off Tues and Wed this week, so I'm hoping to go at it. I'll have swirl pictures up before that to make sure my "eh, it's not very bad" diagnosis is accurate.

Cheers
-s

[davidg]

Don't know how I missed that! Skip the blue pad. Both the red and black say acceptable for wax and sealants so mix em up however you like.

If you ever use the black light as an AIO for very light duty use the blue. Or grey....

[smotta]

Ok, I've got:

V36 - Orange
V38 - Gray
IPA Washdown (10% mix from my research...)
Blacklight - Red
Butter Wet Wax - Black
V07 - Spray then wipe w/ best/perfectly clean MF towels

I think we've got a plan of attack here.

I knew night shifts were good for something...

[smotta]

Now a question about the application. I've watched the CG videos for every product I have to use. Twice. I've watched a bunch of Mike's videos, and I've read just about everything I can.

That said, I'm STILL terrified to take a power tool to my paint!

But, from what I hear, doing it right with good product, the PC 7424 DA and good pads there's not much chance at all I can do much damage. This is factory paint, and I'm the only owner, so I know no corrections have been attempted before.

My plan is:
- Light spray of V07 on the pad to "prep" it.
- "Pre saturate" the appropriate pad with some of the product using my finger and massaging it into the pad. I read this is to make sure we don't have the pad absorbing too much of the initial dose of product and causing a dry abrasive rub on the paint.
- Apply product to pad in amount specified in CG youtube videos
- Tab DA pad lightly on small section of panel to spread material
- Apply 5-7 lbs of pressure and go slow and take my time using a snake-like motion.

You've been most helpful, David.

[BlackHawk]

You're gonna need more than one of each pad dude....a lot more

[smotta]

Blackhawk,

So even using Mike's "clean it on the fly" or whatever that terry-cloth cleaning technique of his is called, I will need more pads for this project?

Is there a specific step (like the V polishes I'm guessing) where I would need the most pads? I was given a lot of this stuff (though the pads are brand new), so investment is minimal, but I don't want to buy 15 extra pads if I only need 3 or 4.

Thanks again for chiming in. It's great to get customized feedback.

[af90]

Blackhawk,

So even using Mike's "clean it on the fly" or whatever that terry-cloth cleaning technique of his is called, I will need more pads for this project?

Is there a specific step (like the V polishes I'm guessing) where I would need the most pads? I was given a lot of this stuff (though the pads are brand new), so investment is minimal, but I don't want to buy 15 extra pads if I only need 3 or 4.

Thanks again for chiming in. It's great to get customized feedback.

Definitely at least 2 pads per step. This is due to the pad getting oversaturated with product and losing cutting ability. Compounding and polishing require the most, applying a wax or sealant by machine 1 is more than enough for a car.

[CDot]

Ok, I've got:

V36 - Orange
V38 - Gray
IPA Washdown (10% mix from my research...)
Blacklight - Red
Butter Wet Wax - Black
V07 - Spray then wipe w/ best/perfectly clean MF towels


Switch up the red and black; Red is CG's softest HexLogic pad and needs to be used after black at the very end.




My plan is:
- Light spray of V07 on the pad to "prep" it.
- "Pre saturate" the appropriate pad with some of the product using my finger and massaging it into the pad. I read this is to make sure we don't have the pad absorbing too much of the initial dose of product and causing a dry abrasive rub on the paint.
- Apply product to pad in amount specified in CG youtube videos
- Tab DA pad lightly on small section of panel to spread material
- Apply 5-7 lbs of pressure and go slow and take my time using a snake-like motion.


If you have it, use a pure QD (or a Rinseless at QD dilution) to prep the pad, otherwise you'd be wasting the sealant properties of V7 for pad prep. Use 2 light sprays max to prep pad. You want it to be moist, not saturated.



So even using Mike's "clean it on the fly" or whatever that terry-cloth cleaning technique of his is called, I will need more pads for this project?


There's no rule for using more pads on one step vs. another.

You need at least 2 of the same pad type per polishing step depending on the vehicle. You will see as you use the polishes how they begin to dust the more saturated with polish they get.

For the wax, you can get away with using one pad for the whole step. Just remember that machine waxing spreads more even thin coats, so it allows you to use less product. Ignore the temptation to soak the pad with the Butter Wet as you go.

[CDot]

Forgot to mention the order of CG's HexLogic pads, in order of cutting ability:

Yellow - Heavy Cutting
Orange - Medium-Heavy Cutting
Green - Heavy Polishing
Gray - Medium Polishing
White - Light-Medium Polishing
Blue - Light Polishing/Finishing
Black - Finishing
Red - Ultra Light Finishing