NEED FEEDBACK on products I've acquired for a project. PLEASE HELP!!

[FUNX650]

This is my first post...

...to AGO.

POLISH:
Rag company 1100 GSM MF towels
for washing after polish so as not to
introduce any swirls.

Since I don’t wash vehicles after the
Polishing step(s), I don’t see the need
for you to do otherwise.

{’The fewer times one is involved in
“touching” the paint, equates to fewer
chances that one has to inflict swirls’. ~MP}

1. Have I really gone with a bad choice anywhere?

Not really, IMO.

2. Have i forgotten anything essential?

Being that it’s probably never been done
before: the use of a paint decontamination
product (such as IronX) after the initial
wash step.

3. Will what I have put together do the very
light correction, and nice shine that im after?

It should; but, if Ultimate Polish doesn’t do
the trick, move up to Meguiar’s M205.

(plus the one about the hardness
of that vehicles paint, plus the opinion
on the glaze).

IMO:
•Paint Hardness?:
-Performing the obligatory “Test Spot”
will give you a pretty good indication of
its “hardness”.

•Meguiar’s #07 Glaze?:
-Not necessary for this particular project.


Bob

[DoinitWright]

...to AGO.


Since I don’t wash vehicles after the
Polishing step(s), I don’t see the need
for you to do otherwise.

{’The fewer times one is involved in
“touching” the paint, equates to fewer
chances that one has to inflict swirls’. ~MP}


Not really, IMO.


Being that it’s probably never been done
before: the use of a paint decontamination
product (such as IronX) after the initial
wash step.


It should; but, if Ultimate Polish doesn’t do
the trick, move up to Meguiar’s M205.


IMO:
•Paint Hardness?:
-Performing the obligatory “Test Spot”
will give you a pretty good indication of
its “hardness”.

•Meguiar’s #07 Glaze?:
-Not necessary for this particular project.


Bob

BOB ... Thank you SO much for taking the time to reply to all my queries. I greatly appreciate it. One quick question for you, since you brought it up ... without washing after polishing ... what becomes of the polish residue? How much of that will there be? What will it look like? Dust? Pasty? I've never polished a car before.

[DoinitWright]

Anyone else out there care to chime in? If i dont wash after i polish, Will I need to wipe It? If so with what? And what will it look like? Will it be dusty?, or Pasty? Or just ready to wax?

[UncleDavy]

Anyone else out there care to chime in? If i dont wash after i polish, Will I need to wipe It? If so with what? And what will it look like? Will it be dusty?, or Pasty? Or just ready to wax?

Welcome to our group therapy brother. This is a great place to share ideas, ask for advice or just find a sympathetic ear. A separate soft, plush microfiber towel will pick up any wax or polish residue from the surface. It is better to change the buffing surface frequently to reduce the dust. The lambs wool pad definitely should be used as a leveling pad under the microfiber bonnet. A lot of guys like using a machine for applying waxes or sealants, I like to apply by hand and remove by machine.
I have said this before that detailing is evolutionary and not revolutionary. There are always new products and tools being developed. What you are using today may not be what you will be using in the future. Detailing is an obsession but for me it is also therapy.

[ClearVue18]

I don’t use Chemical guys to much. I like their butter wax. I mainly use a company called trans-mate and Pro car care I love their products. I’ve never heard of lake country so I can’t help you there.

[Vue to a kill]

Welcome!

I think all in all your plan of attack sounds great in addition to what others have contributed. If I may, I would like to make one suggestion. Before going through the whole wash and decon process only to find out the Ultimate Polish doesn't work out, maybe one day take a few minutes to do a test spot on a small panel. The reason I suggest this is that UP has very little cut. It may in fact be just fine, but this way you know for sure before getting to the polishing stage and then finding out you need M205. The good news is that M205 is usually easy to find at any good auto store. They even have it at Harbor Freight around here.

On a side note, you picked the best microfiber towels to work with in my opinion. The Rag Company is top notch and Levi Gates and the rest of the folks there are truly kind and caring people. I can't say enough good things about them.

[DoinitWright]

Welcome!

I think all in all your plan of attack sounds great in addition to what others have contributed. If I may, I would like to make one suggestion. Before going through the whole wash and decon process only to find out the Ultimate Polish doesn't work out, maybe one day take a few minutes to do a test spot on a small panel. The reason I suggest this is that UP has very little cut. It may in fact be just fine, but this way you know for sure before getting to the polishing stage and then finding out you need M205. The good news is that M205 is usually easy to find at any good auto store. They even have it at Harbor Freight around here.

On a side note, you picked the best microfiber towels to work with in my opinion. The Rag Company is top notch and Levi Gates and the rest of the folks there are truly kind and caring people. I can't say enough good things about them.

I have read alot about 205 vs UP. From what I've gathered the main difference is that UP has "diminishing abrasives", so you work it, and as you do, it loses its cut, and as you continue to work it, it finishes off nicely because it, in essence, transforms Into a finishing polish with hardly any cut, but does contain oils.

In comparison, M205, with its standard abrasives give a longer work time to do correction, because the abrasives do not diminish. Also why it's considered more versatile, cuz changing pads, and technique will yield definite different results, as opposed to working with a ticking clock, so to speak, with the UP as the abrasives diminish no matter what you do. You can of course get some.different results with varied technique and pads, but not as easily.
<-Have I got all that right?

As a side note, i plan to have both on hand at the time so no matter what I can get the correction I need.

[The Guz]

I have read alot about 205 vs UP. From what I've gathered the main difference is that UP has "diminishing abrasives", so you work it, and as you do, it loses its cut, and as you continue to work it, it finishes off nicely because it, in essence, transforms Into a finishing polish with hardly any cut, but does contain oils.

In comparison, M205, with its standard abrasives give a longer work time to do correction, because the abrasives do not diminish. Also why it's considered more versatile, cuz changing pads, and technique will yield definite different results, as opposed to working with a ticking clock, so to speak, with the UP as the abrasives diminish no matter what you do. You can of course get some.different results with varied technique and pads, but not as easily.
<-Have I got all that right?

As a side note, i plan to have both on hand at the time so no matter what I can get the correction I need.

M205 and UP are actually non-diminishing (aka SMAT) polishes. UP is derived from M205 with the difference being M205 offering more cut and UP offering more polishing oils.

Both good polishes.

[DoinitWright]

Just thought I'd post back, as so many people don't, and leave us hanging!! Lol I went out and did a test spot today on the project vehicle. I guess im lucky I didn't have to be nervous in the least doing it, as I have a built in test panel on the vehicle. My right front fender is dented from a parking lot swipe-and-run. No way it can be worked out as the impact rumpled the entire circumference of the fender flare around the wheel well. I'm in the market for a new fender, but I'm waiting til I can come up on a take off from a wrecked vehicle so I'll have oem paint and metal.

Anyway, I hit a section of that fender and washed it, and clayed it. I don't have the ironx yet, I will on Tuesday, so I had to skip that step. I went at it on setting 5 with the UP, and after 4 section passes, I still had light swirling. So I kicked it up to 6, and made another 2 complete passes. At the end of that, there were no swirls left in the middle of my section, but still extremely light swirls on the top and bottom third. A testament I'm sure to my amateur technique. Test panel is curved and I'm guessing I didn't do a good enough job keeping it level and following the curvature, resulting in more pressure in the middle.

By this time it was getting dark and I had to call it. This left me thinking that maybe with 205, I wouldn't have needed as much elbow grease. Anyone agree with that since I came so close? Or would a more aggressive pad be the ticket? ( I was using An LC white CCS pad).

And also ... does anyone think the lack of ironx could have caused the little bit of swirling I had left? From the iron that's probably on the paint?

Thanks to everyone here for the encouragement, and advice!!

[SWETM]

This is the hard bit when dialing in the polishing step. And it's hard to say if the recommendation will get you there with the excact spot. If you like the ccs pads I would get the orange pads also. The thin pro pads from lake country has at is seems a little more cutting ability and still finish good. It's the orange pads that is the step up for you. But the thin pro pads you have a higher spinning from so maybe the white pad get you there also but it's a big maybe. I would ad a compound to your setup also if you some deeper defects than on the fender panel you are doing. Do you think that it was the technique that keep the pad spinning. Or is that the swirls is deeper where they are still left. Have you marked your backing plate so you easy can see when it slows down or stop spinning. This is very helpfull to do and look at the backing plate on the flat part of the panel which speed the backing plate has and try to keep that speed up. On curved panels you are trying to have the DA leveled at the center and if it's bogs down you release on the pressure and sometimes even lift it up a little. This is where the thin pads comes in cause they are better at keep spinning. As for the pads when useing compound I think you are fine with white and orange pads either the thin pads or the ccs pads. If you need more cut I would go up to mf cutting pads lake country or buff & shine uro-fiber mf pads. The uro-fiber has a good finishing ability for a mf cutting pad. As for compound I would test Sonax Cutmax or Sonax Cut and Finish or meguiars d300. Cutmax as the most cutting one and then d300 and the Cut and Finish as the least cutting of them. Maybe you get it with the m205 but you are so close to be go over to more cut. Menzerna has a medium cut polish also pf2500 in 8oz bottles and pf2400 in 32oz bottle. That is not a compound or a finishing polish. But smack in the middle. And if you go with that and you after the test spot go with megs UP I don't think you will be notice a bit difference to the finish. At last think of to use clean pads and not use them with other polishes before you have cleaned out the old one you used before.
Just some thoughts from me and you will be recommended other brands. But go with what you are being sold on to try and it will work out great.

Does the defects on the fender represent the defects on the whole car?