Maximize Your Product's Full Potential

[CM8 6MT]

Since many of my friends on here have recently posted great results from recent details, I figured its time toshow off some of my own. Using 2 of the most underrated products IMO on the market today...M205 & M21

Below I'm going to show a hood, fender & door correction on my San Marino Red 05 Accord V6 6MT, using only M205. Because I work such a busy schedule as is, I don't have the time a day to fully correct my entire car at once. Which is why I only have a few pics.

Now before we start, your probably wondering M205? The 1-2 punch of M105/M205 works well for many people. The problem I see is that for the average detailer doesn't have the skill to MAXIMIZE the potential of M105/M205 let alone M205 by itself. It's labeled as an Ultra Finishing Polish. What I absolutely love about Meguiar's products is that they are so versatile, by upgrading to a more aggressive pad, and with a little bit of SKILL you can turn M205 from a Ultra Finishing Polish to a great cutting polish that finishes down to a high gloss finish. Other brands work great, but I find that you often require 2 or more products to achieve what M205 can do on its OWN. Paint type, pads & skill (especially skill) play a huge role. I have a saying that I live by, and that is "A product is only as good as the user using them"-CM8 6MT. That applies to everything from your DA, pad type, condition of pad, arm movement etc. IMO people dont take in consideration talent & skill when it comes to detailing. You cant expect your DA & product to make magic happen for you, you gotta guide it yourself and make it happen. Thats like driving a sports car, and wiping out in a tight turn. The car didnt wipe out, YOU did. Enough talk, lets get down to business.


Below is a fender shot. Fairly swirled. The previous owner did not use proper washing techniques obviously.


Heres a shot of the hood. These type of swirls are basically all over the car. The hood though, is by far the worst of all panels.


Ill be using a GG6 with a Meguiar's Yellow cutting pad


Below is an after shot of the fender, fully corrected. Take note though, that I did this using a GRAY LC pad, which is known for little to no cutting ability. Merely using M205 on its own. It did take me 6-7 passes however, VS the yellow cutting pad which only took 3-4 passes. I have two light sources on it, an LED light and a standup light I have in my garage.


Below is a picture of my hood, as you can see it came out nice. This however was done with a yellow cutting pad.


Now that where done correcting, lets get ready to seal. For this I chose M21.



The second most underrated product IMO. What about NXT 2.0? Many dont know that M21 2.0 is the "professional" version of the sealant with minor differences. While many people disregard OTC products and have the false impression that they are somehow "inferior" to other brands merely because they are available OTC , the opposite couldn't be any more true. NXT 2.0 is M21, with the exception that NXT has a stronger berry smell, very mild cleaners, a "cool" looking bottle and not recommended to use with a Rotary. M21 on the other hand, is purple in color, has a very slight berry scent and a slightly thicker formula. It is also designed to be used with a Rotary if desired. I cant count how many threads I read of M21 or NXT "streaking". This is because non-experienced detailers apply it too thick. The same type of people that think M07 is a pain to remove, when in fact its not. If you dont have access to M21, pick up a bottle of NXT. I personally prefer M21, just because I like the color, slight scent and most of my products from Megs are the pro line anyway.

Meguiar's made a great job of marketing by designing this NXT bottle to appeal to the average joe. All in all, NXT is derived from M21.


Even as far as calling NXT a wax when in fact its a sealant, to appeal to the average joe.


The Results

Heres my hood. It was early in the morning, and theres a tree next to my driveway so no sun shots for this one.


Below is a shot of my door. Full sun early morning. Do take note, those 2 lines at the top of my door are NOT scratches. They are airplane trails in the sky. I sent this picture to a friend, and he replied back "did someone scratch your car?" That was great.



What about for all you water breading freaks? Hows this? After 3 weeks on a cloudy rainy day, its holding up well.


While not an indication of protection, this does show a great example of the beading ability of M21. I can drive the car and the water will just slide right off. Durability you ask? Im in the business of making MY car look its best. If I was concerned about durability, I'd slap on some Collinite 845 and call it a day.

So there you have it folks, just a little example of the type of work you can achieve with 2 products. No need for expensive German polishes, no need for 50-60-70-100+ dollar LSP's. Some detailers like to follow up M205 with Menzerna 4500 (P085RD), but IME, the difference is very very small, if at all only measurable with a digital gloss meter. The extra step would be worthy if you where doing a show car, but for my daily driver...looks descent enough right?

My main goal of this thread was to show people that you have to maximize the potential of your product to its FULLEST capability.

Sure, Honda paint is known to be "soft", yet I read thread after thread of it supposedly hazing or marring on them. Again, not every paint type is the same, and just because a particular car brand is known to be "soft", doesnt mean YOURS will be the same. Do a test spot. Test spot sucks? Consider your technique.

Let me know what you guys think. Stay tuned gentleman...M21 VS Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0. Will you be able to tell the difference? Find out when I put these two head to head. Coming soon.

[JSou]

The correction looks amazing. With enough skill, anyone could use any product and make the car shine. Waiting on the comparison. Please continue to make these type of threads, it saves me money.

[ElWichaco]

Just an amazing article!!!

[tuscarora dave]

Nicely written thread!!

I have had many instances where m-205 (fully maximized) would cut enough and provide a gloss just as nice as that of PO85RD (fully maximized).

Forrest@mothers once said to me..."All abrasives will diminish eventually, even non-diminishing abrasives." That was when I started my quest to fully maximize the polishes that I had on hand. I learned a lot about my shortcomings in the area of technique as I attempted to squeeze every little bit of correction and gloss out of the products on my shelf.

Keep the great threads coming...TD

[BobbyG]

This is a great post illustrating two fine products from one of the oldest names in the business; Meguiar's!

The before and after shots are amazing, it's as if you went from 2D to 3D, there's that much improvements. Your results show just how nice a finish can be achieved with a cutting pad and for most folks this would be sufficient!!... Thanks for reviewing both!!

[tuscarora dave]

So was it a Meguiar's yellow pad or an LC yellow pad?? I didn't realize Meg's had a yellow cutting pad...thought their cutting pads were burgundy and yellow was a polishing pad?

[Mike Phillips]

Nice article on the M205 and M21, thought you might find this interesting...

NXT also has an interesting history, I wrote the concept paper for this product and included it in a 65 page report I wrote called, "The Zaino Case Study" back in 2003.


In my collection I have a signed bottle of the original Lab Sample D used for the NXT Auction where a bottle of NXT was sold for $500.00 to raise money for one of Barry's charity's.





I think I still have the paste wax lab sample too...





Lab Samples are made and poured in the Lab, not the production facility in Nashville, Tennessee. They are made in small batches, kind of cool to get to use some products while they're being created.

I still have these bottles...

[Caleb@ImpeccableImage]

Great writeup and I couldnt agree more with you. I think alot of people get the impression that just because it may be an otc product it automatically means its crap. I have several otc products that I use in conjuntion with my pre series of products with great results. How are you able to capture your swilrs and defects so well though lol? Silly question I know but I have a dual 500w tripod light and an led and I have a hell of a time trying to capture my swirls on camera. Great job .

[Hammondc]

I agree. I have been going to more and more OTC stuff lately. I have never found the 16oz bottles of 105/205 in a store though.

[Qusai]

Nice article on the M205 and M21, thought you might find this interesting...





I still have these bottles...

Oh yea thanks Mike. Now im just jealous, good way to start my day