3M FI M/C Polish vs DACP

S

stevet

New member
I thought DACP was more abrasive than 3M FI M/C Polish? I am out in the garage playing around with these two products and it is not working out like I expected it to.



I am working on a 1995 aqua colored Oldsmobile Cutlass. It has the typical swirls of a car that is driven through automatic car washes and some deeper scratches in a few places around the car. The 3M stuff is removing swirls and marks in one pass that DACP will not touch with multiple passes. I have tried this with a polishing pad and cutting pad , same results. The only thing I can think of is that DACP starts out more abrasive but doesn't stay that way very long before it breaks down to a fine polish. The 3M FI M/C doesn't seem to break down like DACP.



What do you guys think is going on. I'm very new to the PC and right in the middle of the learning curve.:confused:
 
I am using 3M Finesse IT- II Machine Polish, PN 39003. I just got hold of some today and was trying it out along side DACP.
 
I didn't find 3M Machine Polish 39003 to be any different than SMR 39009. DACP was noticeably stronger than both in my experience.
 
I've found machine polish to remove heavy swirling that could not be removed with SMR. But then again, this might have been because of the pad i was using (CMA yellow pad).. I didn't try using the yellow pad with SMR on my heavy swirls.



Machine polish takes much longer to break down, so it might be that my results came from polishing for a longer period of time. Machine polish sometimes leaves a hazing that can be removed only with SMR, though, but again, this could be more a function of the pad.
 
FI-II takes about as long as DACP to break completely when using a PC, but DACp breaks down to a finer polish quicker. Further, FI-II does not break down to as fine of a polish as DACP, using the PC, just my opinion. FI-II usually needs a follow up with a less abrasive product to produce a fine haze free finish, but this could be caused by pad choice. One last comment, DACP is less fickle about paint type than FI-II.



You are right, both break down differently and thus produce different results. Further I think FI-II is slightly stronger than DACP.



Question for Stevet:

In your opinion which looked better the DACP side or the FI-II side?



Eric
 
I don't think Machine Polish is all THAT abrasive. It might be two notches stronger than SMR, and one notch stronger than Menzerna IP. On my car, I had to use 3 passes with a compound pad on speed 5 or 6 to remove a light texture in my paint. At least with a PC, you should follow up with something else to remove the small haze that remains. I haven't used DACP, so I can't compare it to that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top