3M Perfect-It II and me getting a bad rep

I

imported_themightytimmah

New member
A buddy of mine asked me to help prep his car about 3 weeks ago, so I came on down to his shop. I brought my rotary, PC, pads and towels, but he hooked me up with products. I used 3M's rubbing compound with a wool pad and he followed with Perfect-It II FP on a PC @6 with a white LC. The car looked *perfect* when we finished, no holograms or swirls under halogens or natural lighting. I didn't think to do an IPA wipedown (it was a favor, and the car was going to sell soon or so he thought).



Fast forward 3 weeks later, he washed it with the harsh soap at a coin-op wash and I saw in full sun - it looks like I buffed the car when I was drunk! The entire car was covered in holograms and micromarring - to the point where I offered to re-do it with P0106FF. I cannot over-emphasize how bad it made me look - this has led me to believe that a lot of shops don't realize their work is bad, because it passes inspection when it leaves the shop and they never see it again. I knew their dark car SMR and IHG contained significant fillers, but I didn't realize that PF2 would hide hologramming in full sunlight. I know some guys here swear by 3m and do excellent work - Totoland Mach comes to mind. Do some 3M polishes not contain fillers, or do you guys always do an IPA wipedown after polishing?



I'm not trying to start anything but WOW - I was really surprised by this.
 
IIRC the PI-II polishes have fillers, while the PI-III don't. Also IIRC, the PI-III has been replaced by the Trizact line...not sure if anyone has done a comprehensive evaluation of them.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
IIRC the PI-II polishes have fillers, while the PI-III don't. Also IIRC, the PI-III has been replaced by the Trizact line...not sure if anyone has done a comprehensive evaluation of them.
Click to expand...





PI-III was replaced by PI-3000, the trizact stuff is a differnt competing line.
 
Dunno, when my friend did my trunklid with the Trizact compound while I was waxing the front of the car, it worked fast and I was amazed how easily it corrected the scratches. By my standards it was just a quickie job, but nevertheless, it looked perfect. And after 1.5 months, I was terrified.



A bit later we did a test-session with the Trizact again and we did a very thorough wipedown with Acrysol and - tada! - the swirls were lessened but still there. 3M's fillers are pretty tough and they can lie to you. OP corrected the problem.
 
A bodyshop I worked at several years ago had the same problem. The 3M PI-III Compound seemed to work very well, however when you washed the car most of the sand scratches returned.

We started using 3M PI-III "Extra Cut" #05940 which worked wonders on wet sand jobs. California banned the stuff but I was able to find it in gallon size on ebay for $40. Stuff works great for wetsanding.
 
I don't know about the products you mention in general; but I sometimes use the older formulation of PI-III.



MOST all of the 3M line has HEAVY oils in them that most definitely hide things.
 
Um....Accumulator swears by a couple of the PI-III polishes that they don't make anymore, which I picked up some of before they went away but haven't used (running to cabinet to get them, they need a shake anyway) which are 05933 Rubbing Compound and 05937 Machine Glaze. My recollection is they are supposed to be free of fillers.
 
For a body shop application, there's no better option IMHO. Their system consistently works great for finishing out sanding scratches on fresh paint. Their Perfect-It 3000 system is designed to fully correct and not fill the finish. If filling was the case, there would be 1000's of unhappy body shop customers complaining when the oils washed away and the surface looked like crap. The 3M rep I recently spoke with did say that alot of body shop aren't using their system correctly and that's caused come backs, but that's user error. For non-fresh paint, I've found their Glazes to be 1 dimensional for filling/correcting compared to what I'm use to. I've have products that work easier and create better depth and reflection. As far as compounds, I love their Extra Cut and Regular Cut Compound.
 
I have used 3M PI II RC and MG since I first became a member of this forum, and there aren't many polishes that I find more effective or easier to use.



I don't know about the rest of the product line, but PI II RC and MG do NOT have any fillers in them, and if I remember correctly, neither does the PI III line, which is supposed to be even better than the PI II line. Now, this is only for the Rubbing Compound and Machine Glaze because the "Swirl Remover" products definitely do have fillers.



It is the fact that the 3M line that I use (RC and MG) don't have any residual oils or fillers to deal with that I like them so much. No need for alcohol wipedowns or anything during a detail to see where you stand. With 3M RC and MG, what you see is what you get.



Absolute awesome products, imo, and I will never have a garage without them in it.
 
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