What’s a safe yearly Polish product to use on a daily driver. Considering the integrity of the clear coat

[dlc95]

Yearly? Anything reputable!

This paranoia over removing clear coat is way overblown in my opinion.

I agree.

When I took the advanced Rupes sanding and polishing class they sanded the hood of a late 90's / early 2000's Poltiac Sunfire a bunch of times the day before. Todd (Helme) said is was fifteen times. During our class it was finally broken through. That's repeated 1500, followed by 3000, followed by Rupes Zephir on microfiber pads using the LHR15 MK2. That's a lot of sanding.

One of the guys I went with - and saw that works with me at my part time gig and all but refuses to do paint corrections because he's paranoid he's going to strike through.... Then the owner gets upset and tasks him with actually correcting the paint (doing his assignment). This place is fully licensed and insured up th wazoo. Literally no reason to kot do your job.

But.

There have been reports of new cars shipping with very thin paint.

[DUBL0WS6]

I agree.

When I took the advanced Rupes sanding and polishing class they sanded the hood of a late 90's / early 2000's Poltiac Sunfire a bunch of times the day before. Todd (Helme) said is was fifteen times. During our class it was finally broken through. That's repeated 1500, followed by 3000, followed by Rupes Zephir on microfiber pads using the LHR15 MK2. That's a lot of sanding.

One of the guys I went with - and saw that works with me at my part time gig and all but refuses to do paint corrections because he's paranoid he's going to strike through.... Then the owner gets upset and tasks him with actually correcting the paint (doing his assignment). This place is fully licensed and insured up th wazoo. Literally no reason to kot do your job.

But.

There have been reports of new cars shipping with very thin paint.

Sanding through the clearcoat and sanding through the UV protection are two different things from what I've read.

[Loach]

It took me hundreds and hundreds of finishing polishing sessions to break through the clear on the test cars/panel. Factory Nissan and Honda paintwork, 130microns thick. M205, Perfect Finish, Perfecting Cream, M210, Menzerna 3800, 3M Perfect-It, etc. I specifically avoided compounding to try and maximize the usage of the paintwork.

The one thing that you have to worry about are your edges, and aggressively convex panels, even using a DA polisher. Think about how the polishing pad attacks the convex surface when you have it compressed, attacking it and digging in on both sides of the rotation.

These edges on the hood were the first to strike through, and I'd call that a fairly mild edge:


This edge on the test panel first to go, mild angle:




And this convex surface towards the nose of the panel, very mild angle:


Eventually, even using the lightest polishes you can turn this:


Into this:


Rounds the edges of white scratches out so much you can't tell they're still there unless you really dig with the light.

So if you've got a car you're planning on keeping and maintaining for 20+ years, definitely pay attention to how you're approaching your edges even without rotary usage, especially during the compounding steps. I'd actually be curious to see how well Essence could hold up under prolonged usage, wondering if that as your base to your SiO2 coating could be the sweet spot in thickness maintenance over time.

[Loach]

Sanding through the clearcoat and sanding through the UV protection are two different things from what I've read.

This is key. You'll blow through the UV protection way before the strikethrough, and there's not a coating I've used that will fully prevent premature UV failure when it gets to that point. They might slow it, but the UV protection paint offers is better than anything any coating offers.

[theTown]

What if you have not induced any major marring? Are folks still grabbing one of these finer polishes to clean things up or would a 'paint cleanser' be more appropriate?

Disclaimer, I'm a total beginner, but I also think the decision here is paint system contextual - what if your paint is super soft? For example, on my black acrua Menzerna 3800 will remove defects beyond what I'd expect an ultra fine polish to achieve. Unsure if polishing that car yearly would be wise.

[BlackCarBlues]

I’m all for Essence or Griots Perfect finish.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Another vote for GG Perfecting Cream from me. Love that stuff.

My car is well maintained, but GG PC with LC CCS white pads on my PC 7424XP takes out pretty much any marring, spider webbing, light swirls I incur on my paint throughout the year on my daily driver. Mike Philips actually has an article about paint correcting a car with the exact same paint I have (2012 535i in non-metallic Jet Black) and he claims it's middle of the road as far as paint hardness.

I have also been pleased with GG CC (not FCC... just haven't bought any yet) with a LC orange pad, which I use when there is more significant swirling... say after I might have botched a waterless wash. It seems to finish down as well as GG PC, but in the spirit of using the least aggressive method I like to use GG PC on the whole car, then GG CC if necessary to spot treat some slightly deeper defects.

[Paul A.]

Good question, theTown. Here's my opinion...

Anything that drives on public roads picks up crap on the paint. As a minimum road film accumulates but you don't really notice it. If, after washing and decon once a year, you take to buffing or " machining" your paint, do 2 test spots. One with a very light mechanical abrasive (Menz 3800) and another with a chemical cleaner. My favorite chemical cleaner is Duragloss 501.

Which area looks better?

And to answer the thread question and, in my opinion, Menz 3800 even on soft Acura paint is fine to use once a year. It removes such a super tiny itty bitty amount of paint you don't need to be concerned if you own the vehicle 10 years. There are several YT vid's showing PTG readings before then after that documents it well.

I like your expression "paint system contextual". Yes, every job I do i consider it's paint "system", the paint's condition and finally the owner's expectations. Considering all of those and then removing as little paint as possible to achieve that is my goal. In your case you are the owner so do some test spots and see what works best for you.

Again folks, mild polishes really don't jeopardize the life of your paint.

[theTown]

If, after washing and decon once a year, you take to buffing or " machining" your paint, do 2 test spots. One with a very light mechanical abrasive (Menz 3800) and another with a chemical cleaner. My favorite chemical cleaner is Duragloss 501.

Which area looks better?

This sounds like a very logical approach. Thanks for the tip.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk