3M Perfect It RC

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Bikerdude

New member
I used this on my dad's 87 T-Bird. It worked awesome with the PC. The car literally looks brand new. It is in very good shape though too.



My question is, will this be too agressive for my black 02 VW? It has some nasty swirls left by the body shop. I couldn't get them out with SMR, and the PC. So I def. need something more aggresive. Is this stuff too aggresive for a black finish? It really needs some work. If I can't fix it, I may need to get it resprayed. I could kick the dumb shop workers.:mad:
 
What pad did you use with SMR?



I don't know since I have no experience with the Perfect It RC (Rubbing Compound on an entire car? That scares me for some reason), but in my somewhat unknowledgeable opinion, I would definitely try to get something less aggressive than that. I'd hate to hit a new clearcoat with compound like that. Bleh. ;)
 
I used a white cutting pad with the SMR. I wasn't planning on hitting every pannel with it. Just the pannels that the body shop chewed up. What is inbetween SMR and PI II? All I know is the SMR didn't even touch it. The Perfect It did wonders for my dad's old paint. But I am sure that my new paint is a lot softer than that. :nixweiss
 
Well, that's why I was asking. You said "a white cutting pad"... if you're referring to the stock pad or the ones from CMA, they're not cutting pads. They don't have a whole lot of cutting ability to them and are better suited for AIO and such. If this is the case, then you will want to try SMR with a yellow pad, which is a cutting pad. Wool is, too, but that'd definitely be a last resort.



As far as the product itself: well, I dunno. Guys?
 
Put it this way: If using SMR doesn't do the job, then by all means step up to FCRC. There's no reason to be apprehensive about stepping up to a stronger polish because it's what you need to level off the scratches.



Whether you spend 20 hours slaving away with SMR or 2 hours (made up numbers) with FCRC doesn't matter - you're still doing the same thing and polishing away paint until it's smooth.
 
Cool. So this should be ok? Or should I try a step inbetween SMR and PI2RC? I looked through all the search results for like 2 hours and couldn't come up with an answer. I just don't want to really damage the paint.:)
 
Well, DSC knows more about it than I do.



I still think you might wanna try the yellow pad and SMR. If that doesn't work, then sure, what he said. It's getting the same thing done, it's just that it's better to take off as little paint as possible, you know?
 
Thanks for the help. I will see what I can do next weekend. I'll give the SMR one more shot, then maybe move up to something more abrasive.:xyxthumbs :bow Thanks to all.
 
Bikerdude- That SMR/white pad combo you've tried is SOOO mild. You might want to try FI-II or Meg.'s DACP/#83. Those are in between the SMR and the FCRC. I usually use the yellow pad to remove the serious swirls, then follow up with a quick pass using a white pad if need be.
 
Cool, I will have to pick up some other products and give them a try. After all, if it doesn't work, I can always move up right?:D Thanks for the info.
 
I have a bottle of DACP sitting in the garage. I guess I will give that a try. Thanks for the suggestions, this forum is a life saver. Or a sanity saver at least. :xyxthumbs :D
 
Because I live in a hirise condo with out access to a hose, I need to use the best automatic car wash I can find. When it gets above 40 degrees, I'll use one of the coin operated self service wash places. But its been cold, so Ive used one of the automatic places a couple of times this winter. You could see the results on the hood, and on the side panels where those rubber strips whip the paint into a frenzy. This weekend, I couldnt stand looking at teh scratches anymore, and since the weather is beginning to turn here (NY Metro area) so I decided to attack the surface damage that the winter hath wrought. After analzing the surface, I brought the following out to the car, after the automatic car wash had washed it clean: Porter CAble, Yellow Meguiars Polish pad, Orangey Meguiars Finishing pad, Cotton Terry removal bonnet, 3m FC Rubbing Compound, 3M Finesse It Finishing Material, and Blitz Carnauba.



Ive always taken real good care of the finish, so the only damage I had accumulated was that from the winter. Still, there were a number of clearcoat layer scratches and swirls from the car wash. I dont think I incurred any deep scratches this winter, so those that were there were the ones I had minimized as much as possible already over the years. Since its an entire winters's worth of damage, I deciced the Polishing pad with the FCRC was called for. I attacked all the horizontal surfaces first, starting at a speed of 4, but always jacking it up to a speed of 6, as the FCRC was worked in with the polishing pad. I would stop after a few minutes to remove the product and examine the results. I proceeded this way whereever I saw evidence of clearcoat scratching or swirls. I then moved on to the upper parts of the vertical panels. I finished off with some FI over some of the marks which remained.



When the car was in good shining condition, I applied the Blitz with the finishing pad, and removed it first with a MF towel, and followed up with a cotton terry bonnet on the pC.



Results were sensational. It looks like it had been kept in the garage all winter! It certainly feels good when you can effectively remove all the damage the season had introduced as though it never was there. Ive gotten myself to the point where I have 3 different regimens to use, depending on the seriousness of the damage.



LIGHT SWIRLMARKS

PC with SMR, FI, DACP, or FCRC in order of agressiveness with Polishing pad



TOUGHER MICROMARRING

PC with FCRC and Wool pad, or Cutting foam pad



TOUGHEST SCRATCHING

If PC wont do it, turn to ROTARY, and go through above chemicals and pad progressions.



I havent found a regular surface problem yet which hasnt been solved by following this regimen.
 
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