My first "detail" w/lots-o-pics... :MS6 Content:

[VIP Reflections]

like the rims man! you did good for the first detail. good idea on the coilovers, i made the mistake of going with springs on my G.

[2K7MS6]

Wow, car looks great and as others have said the wheels are excellent. Pulling them off the car is going the extra yard in my book.

Thanks! I've always been a fan of that extra length to get stuff clean. I think the next "length" I need to go to in my detailing arsenal is detailing the wheel wells... I never knew people did that until I came here. I also never realized what a difference it makes!!! Really completes a car that's been detailed.

yes i am.

Glad to see another MS6-er here!

like the rims man! you did good for the first detail. good idea on the coilovers, i made the mistake of going with springs on my G.

Thanks! I've thought about springs... but if I do that, I'll need shocks in like 10,000 miles... and by the time I've bought springs and shocks, I could've bought proper coils and had the full adjustability! I want to do it right and I only want to do it once.

[bova80]

Thanks! I've thought about springs... but if I do that, I'll need shocks in like 10,000 miles... and by the time I've bought springs and shocks, I could've bought proper coils and had the full adjustability! I want to do it right and I only want to do it once.

FYI....I've had my springs on my ms6 for about 30k miles with the stock shocks and they are fine. As long as you get good springs your shocks will be alright.

[Pagani Zonda R]

My "friend", if this is your first detail, you will be a master of detailing soon!

Wow, your Mazda Speed 6 is one impressive car, the last images are f****** insane! This car seems to be made of glass, not paint! Near a pool, I would jump in the car thinking it is water!



Just wow!

[detailer25]

Nice work, . . . . nice wheels too!!

[zilla]

SSR 2.5 will dust a little, especially if the pad is not primed properly. That's been my experience with it (using it since '05 with a PC). It will remove quite a lot of swirls (especially with a rotary), but the key with a PC is multiple passes and using the proper pressure (Mike Phillips has some awesome write-ups and videos on here on that subject) to get the most out of the tool and the polish used.

SSR1 has never dusted for me unless I used it after it was broken down too much. For me though, it finishes awesome. Here's an example from my old car....



That's probably 2 passes of SSR2.5 and then on to SSR1 followed by EX-P and a coat or 2 of Natty's Blue.

[2K7MS6]

My "friend", if this is your first detail, you will be a master of detailing soon!

Wow, your Mazda Speed 6 is one impressive car, the last images are f****** insane! This car seems to be made of glass, not paint! Near a pool, I would jump in the car thinking it is water!



Just wow!

Thank you for the kind words!!

Nice work, . . . . nice wheels too!!

Thanks! I appreciate it.

SSR 2.5 will dust a little, especially if the pad is not primed properly. That's been my experience with it (using it since '05 with a PC). It will remove quite a lot of swirls (especially with a rotary), but the key with a PC is multiple passes and using the proper pressure (Mike Phillips has some awesome write-ups and videos on here on that subject) to get the most out of the tool and the polish used.

SSR1 has never dusted for me unless I used it after it was broken down too much. For me though, it finishes awesome. Here's an example from my old car....



That's probably 2 passes of SSR2.5 and then on to SSR1 followed by EX-P and a coat or 2 of Natty's Blue.

Your ///M looks GREAT!
So how do you properly prime the pad with the PB SSR pair? For 2.5, I started with a brand new pad. I used XMT pad conditioner and put about 2 or 3 good sprays directly on the pad. Then a big X of 2.5 across the pad and worked it around with my fingers a bit. Once I felt the pad was set up, I used about 1/3 to 1/4 that amount for each ~2' x 2' section. The dust was more like small pieces of dried polish, rather than a fine powder... the SSR 1 did the exact same thing, just not as much. Probably after about every panel or so, I would take a soft brush and lightly brush the pad off and spritz it with XMT conditioner and use my regular amount of polish. The dust was by no means terrible... just a lot more than I expected.

And by "passes," what do you mean? Are you working the polish over a section until broken down, reloading the pad and going back over the same section again? I wonder if I would've done that if I'd gotten better results...

[dougaross]

Personally I didn't find PB 2.5 very effective. You might want to try Megs 105 or Meg UC (which is available locally).

[jkk7479]

Nice job! Always loved the Mazdaspeed 6!

[zilla]

Your ///M looks GREAT!
So how do you properly prime the pad with the PB SSR pair? For 2.5, I started with a brand new pad. I used XMT pad conditioner and put about 2 or 3 good sprays directly on the pad. Then a big X of 2.5 across the pad and worked it around with my fingers a bit. Once I felt the pad was set up, I used about 1/3 to 1/4 that amount for each ~2' x 2' section. The dust was more like small pieces of dried polish, rather than a fine powder... the SSR 1 did the exact same thing, just not as much. Probably after about every panel or so, I would take a soft brush and lightly brush the pad off and spritz it with XMT conditioner and use my regular amount of polish. The dust was by no means terrible... just a lot more than I expected.

And by "passes," what do you mean? Are you working the polish over a section until broken down, reloading the pad and going back over the same section again? I wonder if I would've done that if I'd gotten better results...

SSR2.5 with a PC will need two passes to remove most defects. It's not as strong as M105 (which is ultra popular on this forum and many others) but it does a great job especially after multiple passes.

The amount you used sounds about like what I would do. SSR2.5 will dust some times, never had SSR1 dust too much though. If it was really hot when you were doing the work that will contribute to more dusting (less of a work time for the polish is how to think of it).

And you're exactly right about passes. I'll go over a section and then examine my work after buffing the section clean. If I'm happy with the results, then I move on. If I feel there are still more defects I'd like to remove then I'll go at it again. With SSR2.5, you're not likely to remove every single defect out there but you don't need to do that to get one hell of a shine. And thanks for the compliment on the M, it was a peach for sure. It's gone though, had to sell it.

Personally I didn't find PB 2.5 very effective. You might want to try Megs 105 or Meg UC (which is available locally).

Compared to those two, it doesn't cut as much. But you'd know that just from the compound chart that Meghan posted a while back. SSR3 is more similar to M105 from a cutting power standpoint. I don't have any experience with SSR3 though. M105 is nice, dusts like hell though and the work time is short but it cuts like a s.o.b. for sure. Seems to finish nice too though I've only used it on a white car so far.