Spring Clean with DG105, Meg Ultimate Polish

[JonRC]

Last year i polished my weekend car with Meg Ultimate polish. I was pretty happy with the results but i did notice a few weeks later that i hadn't got out as many swirls as i thought with the ultimate polish. I also thought it took a long time to apply.

Now that winter is behind me i want to hear what you guys might use with my arsenal on my weekend drive with fairly decent paint. I feel like the paint is kinda soft. its a scion FRS (painted by subaru) with Hot lava mettle-flake. I don't care if i fill the swirls as long as they stay sealed in for 4 months.

I have a PC 7242xp with Buff & Shine Pads

Products:
Meg - ultimate compund (will replace with HD adapt when on sale)
Meg - ultimate polish (will replace with HD polish when on sale)
mothers Stage 1 (never used it)
OP Poli-Seal (never used it)
DG 105 & 601 (i bought a gallon during winter 501 wasn't on sale)
ultimate wax (it was pretty good, didn't last thaaat long, great on rims)
collonite 915 - (really loved the dark deep look of this wax)
collonite 845 (i got this because i loved the 915)

Just wondering if you guys have some experience with these products and can recommend an ideal plan of attack for a nice looking weekend car that i could try on a few test spots?

My ideal approach is to polish some key areas above the wheels, hood and trunk where its easier to see potential swirls. clean & seal with 105/601 and finish with 915.

1) I don't want to get duped by the ultimate polish again it looks great on test spots but i need 4 months out of it. do i have better options as a finish in the mother or poli-seal?

2) Does 105 fill light swirling well? will it get rid of the oil the meg polish lays down? will it seal the meg polish in for 4 months?

Any help would be awesome.

[JonRC]

I guess that was a bit long-winded.

I guess i really just want to know if my test spot will be an accurate reflection of my surface for the next 3-4 months if i use dg 105 over meg ultimate? Or should i use something else?

[wing commander]

I think you have enough good stuff to use. You may just need better lighting to see that your section passes are really complete.Before I upgraded my garage lights I polished my truck thinking wow what a great job only to pull out in the sun the next day and see it was only half done.

[JonRC]

I actually bought a couple of led lights i plan to use to check my paint this time :)

[FUNX650]

IMO:
Since Meguiar's Ultimate Polish wasn't abrasive
or aggressive enough to remove all of the paint
blemishes to your satisfaction...

You'll need a little more aggressive product like
Meguiar's M205. Try that on your "test spot"
before moving up to an even more aggressive
product like Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.

Note:
If the Ultimate Compound would become
necessary, you can then go back to the M205
as the finishing polish.

•For an LSP:
1.) I consider Duragloss 105/601 combo an AIO
2.) I consider Optimum Poli-Seal an AIO
3.) That leaves choosing either of the Collinite Waxes

-I personally would opt for the Collinite #845


Also:
I would currently leave the Mother's Phase 1:
(California Gold Pure Polish) out of the equation.
However: Keep it in mind to use as an excellent
paint cleaner whenever you want to "freshen up"
the paintwork in the future.


Bob

[JonRC]

Thanks a bunch bob. I might try to change the pad before making an order first!

I believe M205 has a similar strength cut as HD polish, the later being a bit more pocket friendly. If what i have wont worki might just clean the paint with the DG105 until just before summer and then take care of the correction, when i get a polish that doesn't fill as much as the meg. The only other problem i have with the meg ultimate polish is how long you have to work it in. I wish i had something that was a bit faster like a wax.

I agree, the ultimate compound might be overkill. I've used scratch x on some trouble spots last detail and it took a few applications to get the correction i wanted. My paint might be a bit harder than i thought.

So in your opinion the mothers stage 1 has hardly any cut at all. i read somewhere that it had the same cut as meg #2 but that means it would be a very similar cut to M205. any ideas?

[dlc95]

You mentioned that UP looked great, but you need 4 months out of it.

If it looked fine, at first, and didn't after a few months, what did you seal it with, and how did you wash the vehicle?

Ultimate Polish is a fine cut abrasive finishing polish + glaze, meaning it does some refinement, and some filling. There is no protection going on there.

If you need more cut out of it, you could try it on an orange or green B&S pad. I normally use UP on the blue pad for both "one step" polishing and finishing.

[JonRC]

You mentioned that UP looked great, but you need 4 months out of it.

If it looked fine, at first, and didn't after a few months, what did you seal it with, and how did you wash the vehicle?

Ultimate Polish is a fine cut abrasive finishing polish + glaze, meaning it does some refinement, and some filling. There is no protection going on there.

If you need more cut out of it, you could try it on an orange or green B&S pad. I normally use UP on the blue pad for both "one step" polishing and finishing.

It was my first time so i probably did a bit to much, i started to notice some swirling before my next wash

I used Ultimate polish followed by mothers stage 2 glaze it looked fantastic before i glazed, even better after. i tried to seal it with Autoglym EGP but i found that this dried it out and it didn't look wet anymore. I put Meg ultimate wax overtop that which made it look wet again. But it didn't really make the paint look dark and deep. later last year i put down some collinite 915 which gave me the finish i was looking for on slightly less than perfect paint.

In terms of washing i try not to touch the paint and use the 2 bucket method with grit guards. i have an electric blower that gets most of the water off, then i use a waffle weave to finish it off with a little meg quick wax if it drying faster than i can wipe.

i used to use fabric softer on my microfiber towels it's possible i was marring the surface a little i upgraded my drying and finishing microfibers recently.