CQuartz UK 3.0 on new car - Need help with supply checklist!

[Bornin1992]

Hello!

I recently gave up on trying to make (and keep) clean my 2022 Corolla in Black Sand Pearl and sold it. I have managed to secure a new Corolla in Celestite (grey/blue) and want to apply Carpro's Cquartz UK 3.0. Unfortunately, due to some miscommunication, the dealership washed the vehicle, and, while I have yet to see the aftermath, I anticipate it will have swirls that need to be removed.


I have the following supplies (that might be suitable):
Lake Country Orange SDO pad x 5
Lake Country Blue SDO pad x 2
Griot's Garage Correcting Cream
Meguiar's Ultimate Polish


1. What pad-compound combination would you recommend? I am optimistic the damage done is minimal (and hoping the dreaded stiff-bristle brush was not used) such that I am concerned the Correcting Cream might be unnecessarily aggressive. I have considered purchasing Griot’s Garage Perfecting Cream as it along with its Fast Correcting Cream seems to be a viable M105/M2015 alternative.


Would any of my existing pads work or should I pick up several Lake Country Black SDO pads?
Given I anticipate minimal cutting required, would 2 be sufficient?




2. Which towels do you recommend? I read Mike Phillips’s GYEON Q2 ONE Enthusiast Ceramic Coating review with application guide where he recommends GYEON’s Bald Wipes. Several articles I have read use GYEON Q2M Suede Sheets or similar. I have a package of 320 GSM Detail Popo (made in S. Korea, 70/30 blend) weave towels (if I can find them!) and am wondering if these would work. I have no issues with spending the money to purchase the GYEON Suede Sheets if they will make a difference. In either case, would 10 be sufficient for the coating application stage for 2 coats?


3. Would the Scangrip Sunmatch 4 work well for this task? I seem to recall vaguely reading about diffusers: do these make that much of a difference, or will the Sunmatch 4 be good enough for detecting high spots in its own?


Thanks for the help!

[noorth]

1. i would try the orange SDO first and if your not happy the blue SDO. Correcting cream should be all you need. Using it with a polishing pad is not overly aggressive. A 1 step should come out great...i assume you have clay?

2. The detail popo towels you have are pearl weave. They don't have a lot of bite IME - i bought 12 from TRC they are not the best towels IMO and have 1 of the 320 detail popo pearl weaves - which are very similar. They don't have enough bite for anything except spreading something around....the towel that comes with cancoat for instance i believe is pearl weave or very similar.

I would use the pearl for initial wipe to almost spread/level the coating around and then follow up with something like the rag company 365 - which is my overall favorite detailing towel to date(Shout out to Mike G for the recommendation.). Not that i tried a bunch. The Rag Company apparently has over 100 different towels!!

3. Don't know much about lights...

[Desertnate]

Here are my thoughts to your questions/comments.

- Your pad selection should be fine. Toyota paint is REALLY soft and the orange pads should be just fine. You'll likely use them for most of the job, if not all of it.

- Because the Toyota paint is so soft, you'll likely not need the Correcting Cream at all. I've never used a compound or a mid-grad polish on our Toyota in the 10 years we've owned it. A finishing polish with a polishing pad is all I've ever needed to do any correction. Meguiars Ultimate Polish will work, but it's not my first choice of polishes. I love Optimum Hyperpolish on really soft paint (despite the messy application method) or Griots BOSS Perfecting Cream.

- Your missing a pannel wipe like CarPro Eraser or Gyeon Prep. You'll need to do a wipe down with that type of product after you're done polishing to make sure the coating will bond properly.

- I use the Costco yellow MF towels with success, and have for a long time. I'll just leave that there so I can start dodging all the in-coming spears....

- Lighting is pretty personal. I don't like to use small lights like the Scangrip you mention, or the LED headlamps, or even an LED flashlight. I prefer to use larger lights on a stand which allow me to light up entire sections at a time. I sit them at a steep angle to the paint and let the light wash down the side of the car. This highlights the swirls on a macro-level and it allows me to see the "big picture" as I work. You don't have to go too expensive. I prefer something that puts out a diffused lighting which is bright, but doesn't give hot-spots from the lighting element.

[noorth]

Griot's Correcting Cream is a polish. It's not much more aggressive than the perfecting cream on paper.

It's what he has why waste money on the perfecting cream? I doubt the eye will notice a difference from my experience playing around with different polishes with foam pads.

I've used compounds with foam polishing pads that finished out just as well as a fine polish right next to it. I can't see much difference, pad choice is hugely under rated.

[Desertnate]

My comments were based on the fact the Toyota paint is silly soft. A more aggressive polish/pad compound might not finish out as well and leave a little compound hazing or not be as clear/glossy. On harder paint, I agree, the difference may be negligible, if anything different at all if the swirls are light.

When I moved from Meg's Ultimate Polish to other finishing polishes on Honda and Toyota paint, I saw a noticeable improvement in gloss. Once I saw the difference (I did a side-by-side) I never turned back.

[Game]

The Rag Company pearl towels for coating removal. They have a 12pack for $23 on their site or the edgeless 300 will also do the trick and they're a bit cheaper.

[Bornin1992]

i assume you have clay?

I do have clay, but I am also wondering whether a NanoSkin Sponge might be preferable.

- Because the Toyota paint is so soft, you'll likely not need the Correcting Cream at all. I've never used a compound or a mid-grad polish on our Toyota in the 10 years we've owned it. A finishing polish with a polishing pad is all I've ever needed to do any correction. Meguiars Ultimate Polish will work, but it's not my first choice of polishes. I love Optimum Hyperpolish on really soft paint (despite the messy application method) or Griots BOSS Perfecting Cream.

Interesting! For my ’22 Corolla SE in Black Sand Pearl I found to make any meaningful correction required a Meguiar’s Microfiber Cutting pad with D300 or M105. What do you think of Menzerna Super Finish Plus 3500 or 3800?

- Your missing a pannel wipe like CarPro Eraser or Gyeon Prep. You'll need to do a wipe down with that type of product after you're done polishing to make sure the coating will bond properly.

I have Gyeon Prep in my cart to order, but I have some CarPro Eraser: Are they equivalent?

- Lighting is pretty personal. I don't like to use small lights like the Scangrip you mention, or the LED headlamps, or even an LED flashlight. I prefer to use larger lights on a stand which allow me to light up entire sections at a time.

Do you use regular lighting or specialty lighting made for detailing?

Griot's Correcting Cream is a polish. It's not much more aggressive than the perfecting cream on paper.

I thought Griot's Correcting Cream is a compound? It is advertised as eliminating moderate paint defects.

[Bornin1992]

Or, are there any others aside from the Hyper Compound and Perfecting you'd recommend?

[The Guz]

DIY Detail Gold Standard Polish. Pad dependent.
Invest in their waffle and wool pads. Use my code MIKEGDIY to order directly from DIY.

Skip hyper compound. Has a horrible finish.

[noorth]

Or, are there any others aside from the Hyper Compound and Perfecting you'd recommend?

Just get the perfecting cream if you want options. The correcting cream is a medium grade compound/polish.

Personally, i stick to sonax perfect finish most of the time..i've removed some heavy defects just using perfect finish with cutting pads.

In my opinion people get to hung up on polishes/compounds. The pads and techniques are more important IMHO.

But if you're looking for a great finishing polish with cutting ability Sonax Perfect Finish fits the bill. It's a true hybrid polish. It has both SMAT and DAT abrasives. And for me it doesn't dust...with a very easy wipe off.

I'm a 2-4 passes 8x my pad size guy. Speed 4-4.5 on my 15mm and 5 or 6 on my mini G8.