Finishing Polish For A Beginner

**Pchang978** · 03-22-2019, 12:31 PM

Also if some of the touch up paint/3000 grit sanding scratches are on the mirrors and you only have 5.5" pads, should you try to correct the mirrors with the polisher or just use an applicator pad with TLC and then the reflect? Just not sure if I would get the results I'm looking for with the applicator pad method. Same goes for the small lip on the front bumper minus any touch up/sanding scratches. I'm not worried about the rest of the vehicle. Smaller pads and polishers aren't really in the budget during this time. I've spent a lot of money on products these last couple of months.

**Pchang978** · 04-01-2019, 11:48 AM

Well finally got all of my supplies and started my first paint correction on a friends 98 silver C5 and it's going great. It was raining pretty hard on Saturday so we kept it inside and I spent most of my time cleaning the interior with Ultima Shampoo gel and interior guard. Excellent products. Used Shine Supply Cool Breeze Deodorizer as well.

As for the body I wanted to figure out a good pad combo so I just used Shine Supply Eco Shine waterless rinse to clean the hood off and then used it as clay lube to go with the fine grade clay magic. After drying it, I started with the least aggressive pad and TLC and kept working my way down. I didn't bring my husky 7000 lumen tripod light because I knew I was just figuring out what pads I'd need. But I was using a streamlight pen LED to read the paint. Really hard to see the defects in silver but I find using my phone's camera and zooming in helps a lot. People were not joking when they say that GM paint is HARD. Turns out I needed the MF HDO pad and to do 2 applications with the gg6 to get all of the fine scratches/swirls out. With JUST the TLC on the MF pad, the test panel looks incredible. But I am going back this Saturday to finish the entire body and ceramic coat it. I'll make sure to have some before and after pictures to post.

I decided to order 4 LC thin wool (purple) pads from autogeek. It should cut my time down on cutting and then I plan on using the white thinpro polishing pads (3) a long with carpro reflect to get the most out of the paint. Very excited with the results I've achieved for my first time ever. Thank you everyone on here for all of the advice.

**WRAPT C5Z06** · 04-02-2019, 07:37 AM

Optimum Hyper Polish is awesome and easy to use. Reflect isn't a great choice for a beginner, IMO.

**Pchang978** · 04-02-2019, 07:50 AM

We will see how it does on Saturday. I've been researching and talking to people who use reflect. I know it works well with very little product, 2-3 passes max and lower machine speeds.

**WRAPT C5Z06** · 04-02-2019, 07:56 AM

Since you’re working with paint on the hard side, Reflect shouldn’t stick to the paint. I think you’ll be good, actually.

Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app

**Belo** · 04-02-2019, 09:18 AM

I love menz 3500 and don't get the oily reference. However, when finishing I use a white LC pad, not orange. I don't see a need to use orange unless you're working on some rough spots, and in that case you're probably better with a compound like 400 too. Remember you want to start light with your polish/pad and work the other way.

**Belo** · 04-02-2019, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by Paul A.

Menzerna 3500 is an excellent final polish but does leave something behind you'll want to clean off before coating.

You mentioned a wipe down solvent. Is that meant to be used before the coating? What does Diamond Pro recommend?

Also, you might want to get more pads if you only have one of each

this is news to me. are you recommending something more than a mf wipe down? I've never done anything on the several vehicles i've polished with 3500 and then applied powerlock too and they all turned out great.

**Pchang978** · 04-02-2019, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by Belo

I love menz 3500 and don't get the oily reference. However, when finishing I use a white LC pad, not orange. I don't see a need to use orange unless you're working on some rough spots, and in that case you're probably better with a compound like 400 too. Remember you want to start light with your polish/pad and work the other way.

Yes, I plan on finishing this car with the white thinpro polishing pad and CP reflect. I even have black pads as well but I think the white with its little cutting abilities will work great

**Belo** · 04-02-2019, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by Pchang978

Yes, I plan on finishing this car with the white thinpro polishing pad and CP reflect. I even have black pads as well but I think the white with its little cutting abilities will work great

it does. It's the perfect pad in my opinion for a a ride that is in good condition and just needing a light polish.

**Paul A.** · 04-02-2019, 12:52 PM

Let me say, in my opinion, I have a bunch of the LC purple foamed wool pads and LOVE them for cutting. The problem I have is I can't get them to continue beyond one panel. What I'm saying is, 4 may not be enough to last an entire vehicle. They lay flat and fill with product quickly however are effective at cutting paint quickly when fresh. Even "on the fly" cleaning won't extend them much for me. I now have about 20 of those suckers and easily use 10 on a vehicle if cutting. I switch out to a fresh one to keep going.