Menzerna 300 experience

[SWETM]

Thanks for the reply. I understand the importance of minimizing the impact on initial spreading, as this is where you can begin to break down the abrasives. You can really take notice of this while hand polishing areas with a small pad, as you can see (and hear) the liquid break down with each stroke.

Additionally, I found myself using smaller working areas with not only 300 and 400, but 1000 as well (which claims to be non diminishing, but actually breaks down fairly quick IME).

I think the pad was also an issue, yellow lake country foam is not the most aggressive.

I have some CG v32 laying around, which I'm reluctant to use, but I will try that with my yellow LC foam as a comparison to the menzerna 1000 - as I still have 1 wet sanded area to polish on the same mustang I've been working on. Will report back.

By the way, I did just that : slow arm speed, smaller working area, higher speed and more pressure - that gave me the best results in terms.of removing 2000 grit wetsand marks. But it still required at least 3 applications of menzerna 1000 (3-4 passes each).

Wow that paint must be hard!
Have you looked at the Apex Detailing Channel on Youtube and his compound series? Think he got a playlist that you can find the testing videos on them. He wet sand with different grits from P3000 or P2500 down to P800. And he uses the Flex XFE7-12 mini polisher with an orange foam cutting pad from LC I think it was. And most fly through P2000 and some gets trouble on the P1500 and the really aggressive ones makes a great attempt on the P1000 and some even on the P800. But paint hardness of the clearcoat makes a difference. You may do a wet sanding with a P3000 grit on the sanded parts you have left. To get it easy to buff out with the polisher.

And it is oem paint you do this compounding on? Or is it on a repainted area?
Maybe the paint and the Menzerna don't play well together. Can happens in rare cases that you can see a difference between different compounds. Is it Meguiars M101 that some use on the DA with wool cutting pad or mf cutting pad. It's another abrasive technology that's easy to get and try it out. Also the Meguiars Mf Cutting Pad is a great cutting pad with compound. Could be interesting to test out and see how your results gets with something like that. Sonax Cutmax is another compound with a high cutting ability but it's a deminishing abrasive compound. The Menzerna HC1000 was one of the first compounds for the ceramic paints that Mercedes used. Did go with another name before. Didn't know it's a non deminishing abrasive compound. And even the non deminishing abrasives breaks down in the end or more like it's sharp edges degrades the more you work it.

About how much of the SHC300 do you apply on the pad?
Smart to work in smaller sections when you get the harder clearcoats. Do you have any Rupes Blue Foam Cutting Pads? Those says to be very aggressive for being foam pads. Thought since you have the Rupes 15mm polisher. And yeah try the V32 but many don't like their polishes. The easier way would be to get a couple of the Meguiars Mf Cutting Pads I think. Prime the mf pads thoroughly so you work in some compound on the mf and apply around 3-4 drops of pea sized. And work in smaller sections as you did. Keep a little pressure on the polisher until you see the compound clears up. Then less pressure and finishing it off with a pass or 2 after you that. Think this would work the same with the HC1000 if you don't have any more of the SHC300 left. Since the paint seems to be so hard a more aggressive pad is needed since you already have the high cutting HC1000 and maybe the SHC300.

[FurtadoZ9]

Yes very hard. I've been watching his videos, very informative stuff.

Yes it is OEM paint, and every panel is like this. The bumpers are the hardest, I would assume because the plastic doesn't want to absorb heat like metal / aluminum panels do (or perhaps different clear coat).

I have also noticed even though 1000 is non diminishing, it still breaks down. Not like 300 or 400 of course, but there is some refinement. And I think that is with most products.

I apply a good 4 pea sized drops. I've tried more, and less. But error on the side of greater product gave me the cut I needed for this paint, it just takes a bit longer to work down so I am able to effectively finish with 3500.

I don't have any other pads unfortunately, but like you mentioned I think MF cutting pads would make a world of difference. For what it is worth, I made a video here showcasing the difference between menz 1000 and CG V32 on this same mustang. A few notes:

Whole area was corrected prior to wet sanding.
Wetsanded with 2000 grit moderately.
Panel clean and wiped with IPA prior to cutting
Two different pads, one for menz 1000 and one for V32.
Each pad was fully primed with the respective product, no detail or spray wax used as a primer.

4 dots
2 passes, wiped product, reapplied 4 dots, 2 more passes. 4 total
Speed 3.5
Moderate-hard pressure
Slow arm speed

Also, assuming my Carfidant Milpro is accurate, after the wet sanding and compounding I don't even think I removed a total of .5 mils. Around .3 - .4

IPA wiped before video. Sorry it's an awkward angle, hopefully it transfers to video well.

YouTube

Menz 1000 pic :

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

CG V32 pic:

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

I am just about done with this car. It is leaving my driveway and never returning.

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

[Kdancy]

I just finished up a job on a Hudson that had been repainted in the 90's with single stage acrylic enamel.
Someone had tried to wipe off some overspray from another job that had settled on the car. They used abrasive cleaning pads on one quarter and had scratched the hell out of it. I used a clay bar mitt and got all the overspray off first, then I started with 400, and then went to 300 with a wool cutting pad, over the whole car. Came back with 400 with an orange light cut foam pad and will go over with the menzerna 2500. It has turned out very nice.