Which compounds/pad combos should I use?

[ramos617]

Alright I'm fairly new to detailing but the last couple of weeks I've been soaking up all the information I can on how I can make my car look better

My goal is to make my cars paint look better and remove some oxidation that the horizontal panels have currently

My car is a 1987 Ford Thunderbird turbocoupe with dark grey paint
It was repainted at some point with single stage paint the same color as stock

I've already ordered and received a bunch of stuff here and took advantage of the sales/blackfriday etc.

So in my arsenal I currently have:
Griots garage 6" polisher w/5" backplate
Griots garage 3" polisher w/hydrotech pads
5.5" LC hydrotech pads, two of each color
Meguiars m105, m205, scratch x 2.0
Mothers clay kit
Detailers rinseless wash and gloss
Wolfgang deep gloss paint sealant
And a good supply of microfiber towels

I did a test spot on the trunk lid where there was a bit of oxidation
For removing the oxidation m205 with the tangerine pad did an awesome job but there is still a bit of scratches that I want to buff out
From what I've heard the meguiars products respond well to different pads and such
So for a bit more aggressive combo I figure instead of going straight to m105 w/ a blue cutting pad I should go with a less aggressive combo, should I go with m205 and the blue pad or m105 and a tangerine pad?

Any other tips for a beginner would be awesome thanks

[jankerson]

I would go with M105 and the Cyan pad.... Although try M205 with the Cyan pad and do a test spot....

Least aggressive product that gets it done in a reasonable amount of time...

Then follow up with the Tangerine pad and M205..

[HateSwirls]

If the scratches aren't too deep the 105 will remove them then follow up with 205 using a white pad.
You'll stand back and say WOW!

1-2 punch is what this combo will give you!

[geekdout]

Some pictures would really help. If you could take pictures of the oxidation and some before and after pictures of your test spot.
Sounds like a cool car.

[Mike Phillips]

Since this was your first post....


Welcome to AGO!

My car is a 1987 Ford Thunderbird turbocoupe with dark grey paint

It was repainted at some point with single stage paint the same color as stock

In a way you're lucky.

• Oxidation can be fixed.
• Clearcoat failure cannot be fixed.

The key now is to undo the damage, (oxidation), and then regularly maintain the paint that is left and it should hold up till you're done with the car.


Like mentioned, don't try to remove the deeper scratches especially if this is a Daily Driver.

Removing scratches means removing more and more paint and daily driver's tend to just get more scratches via normal wear-n-tear.

After you remove the oxidation and all the light scratches and then put a coat of wax on the paint it will look a zillion times better.


If you haven't already, check out this article...


RIDS - The Definition of RIDS and the story behind the term...

[ramos617]

Thank you guys for the tips and yes it is my daily driver so I dont think I will make it a necessity to remove the deeper scratches

Ive been extremely bust with college finals and work so I was barely able to get some pics in decent light on my way home today
I did the test spot on the trunk on the drivers side





Tonight I had some time so I tried Megs Ultimate Compound with the blue pad followed by m205 on a orange pad
It came out awesome, I'll post pics tomorrow before work

So far I only did trunk lid and half of the bumper above the trim line but I'm taking my time with this as I learn
I'm getting the hang of these polishers and I'm definitely loving the GG6/GG3 combo though

Heres a couple of pics of my car from a while back

[Mike Phillips]

Thank you guys for the tips and yes it is my daily driver so I dont think I will make it a necessity to remove the deeper scratches

Ive been extremely bust with college finals and work so I was barely able to get some pics in decent light on my way home today

Thanks for the updates and the pictures....


Just keep working your way around the car and she'll look brand new again.

Then since it's single stage, stay on top of the maintenance.

Clearcoats swirls and scratch, single stage oxidizes.

And the oxidation takes place 100% of the time the car is exposed to the world. Scratches and swirls only take place to clear coats when the car is improperly touched.

I explain all the differences in this article,


The practical differences between single stage paints and a clear coat paints


Top: 1965 Mustang with single stage finish. Bottom: 2009 Mustang with a basecoat/clearcoat finish.

[Romans5.8]

My first car was a 1985 Mercury Cougar LS and I loved that car. Still have a special place in my heart for fox body T-Birds and Cougars. Just figured I'd throw that out there! Love the car!

[aim4squirrels]

Unfortunately, the oxidation hides the hail dings. Poor trunk.


Paint looks great on the test panel. Keep going and seal it up after you're done as previously mentioned. A clean older car will definitely turn heads.

Don't forget to trim too, that will really make her stand put.