Abrasiveness Scale

[iulery]

Hello Everyone,



After a weekend of "compounding" and "polishing" my hood with my 7424 , I haven't made even a slight dent in the oxidation, acid rain spots, spider webbing, swirls, bird excrement indentations, or scratches in the paint.



I was using Meguiars Medallion Premium Paint Cleaner as the "compound," beginning with the yellow pad at the 3.5 speed setting, and eventually ending with the wool cutting pad at the 6 speed setting, alas, to no avail.



I'm hearing good things about DACP. Would DACP have more cutting power than MMPPC?



Otherwise, can you suggest a progression of products to try, of increasing abrasiveness? At what point is wet sanding suggested?



A post truly worthy for the "Autopia University" section.

 

[imported_jaobrien6]

MPPC is primarily a chemical cleaner. I'm not 100% sure whether or not there are any abrasives in it, but if there are, they are extremely mild. I would say the oxidation is the only thing on your list of complaints that the MPPC would be able to handle.



DACP is definitely abrasive, and would be a significant step up from what you're using right now. In conjunction with a cutting pad (yellow if you're using LC pads), it should be able to reduce most of your problems. Note: anything too deep (scratches you can feel, deep etching from bird bombs and acid rain), won't be easily repairable. With that kind of damage, you're mainly trying to minimize the effects, especially when you're not using a rotary.



If you have easy access to the Meg's line, the two products I'd probably recommend are DACP and SFP (swirl free polish). If you work the DACP long enough, you can sometimes go straight to a sealant/wax, but I've always found it helpful to follow with something.



If you're interested in trying other lines, there are a lot of good choices:



1Z: Ultra Polish, Paint Polish, Metallic Polish

3M: Perfect It-III Fine Cut Rubbing Compound, Perfect It-III Machine Glaze

Poorboys: SSR3, SSR2, SSR1

Menzerna: Intensive Polish, Final Polish



I personal find it easier to stick within 1 product line when polishing because it's easy to know the relative abrasiveness. That way you don't have to worry about whether 3m's PI-III FCRC is more or less abrasive than DACP. In the past, people have tried to assemble a comparison like that (here) , but it's not very complete or accurate.



Hope this helps,

John

 

[jfelbab]

MPPC is primarily a chemical cleaner. I'm not 100% sure whether or not there are any abrasives in it, but if there are, they are extremely mild. I would say the oxidation is the only thing on your list of complaints that the MPPC would be able to handle....

Really? Below is the autopia abrasiveness list. MPPC is a 5 on a scale of 10. DACP (#83) is a 6 on that scale. I've used MPPC for 9 years and have removed lots of swirls and light scratches with it. Of course, I use it with a PC.



Here is a 14 year old MR2. Notice there are no swirls. I use MPPC on this regularly.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=



COMPOUNDS, POLISHES AND GLAZES SORTED BY CUTTING ABILITY



10 – MOST AGGRESSIVE - COMPOUNDS

3M SUPER DUTY RUBBING COMPOND HEAVY CUT 39004

MEGUIAR’S BODY SHOP PROFESSIONAL DIAMOND CUT COMPOUND 2.0 VERY HEAVY CUT #85



8

MEGUIAR’S BODY SHOP PROFESSIONAL COMPUND POWER CLEANER HEAVY CUT #84

3M PERFECT-IT III EXTRA CUT RUBBING COMPOUND 05936

MEGUAIR’S MIRROR GLAZE HEAVY CUT CLEANER #4



7

3M IMPERIAL MICRO FINISHING COMPOUND MEDIUM CUT 39001

MEGUIAR’S MIRROR GLAZE MEDIUM-CUT CLEANER #1

3M PERFECT-IT III RUBBING COMPOUND 05933



6

MEGUIAR’S BODY SHOP PROFESSIONAL DUAL ACTION CLEANER POLISH MEDIUM CUT #83



5

3M PERFECT-IT II RUBBING COMPOUND FINE CUT 39002

MEGUIAR’S MIRROR GLAZE FINE-CUT CLEANER #2

3M ONE STEP CLEANER WAX, MEDIUM OXIDATION REMOVER 39066

MENZERNA INTENSIVE POLISH

3M PERFECT-IT SWIRL MARK REMOVER DARK CARS 39009

3M PERFECT-IT SWIRL MARK REMOVER LIGHT CARS 39109

MEGUIAR’S MEDALLION PAINT CLEANER #97

MEGUIAR’S SCRATCH-X #108



4 - POLISHES

MEGUIAR’S BODY SCRUB A10

MEGUIAR’S DEEP CRYSTAL PAINT CLEANER #30

MEGUIER’S QUICK DETAILER #66

MEGUIER’S SPEED GLAZE #80

BLACK FIRE DEEP GLOSS POLISH



3

MEGUIAR’S BODY SHOP PROFESSIONAL SWIRL FREE POLISH LIGHT CUT #82

MEGUIAR’S MIRROR GLAZE SWIRL REMOVER #9

3M FINESSE-IT II MACHINE POLISH 39003

3M FINESSE-IT II FINISHING MATERIAL 05928

MENZERNA FINAL POLISH



2 - GLAZES

MEGUIAR’S BODY SHOP PROFESSIONAL HAND POLISH VERY LIGHT CUT #81

MEGUIAR’S MIRROR GLAZE MACHINE GLAZE #3

3M PERFECT-IT III TRIZACT MACHINE GLAZE 05930

3M PERFECT-IT III MACHINE GLAZE 05937

3M IMPERIAL MACHINE GLAZE 05991

3M ONE STEP CLEANER WAX, LIGHT OXIDATION REMOVER 39006



1

MEGUIAR’S MIRROR GLAZE SHOW CAR GLAZE #7

3M PERFECT-IT III FINISHING GLAZE 05941

3M IMPERIAL HAND GLAZE 39007

BLACKFIRE ALL FINISH PAINT PROTECTION

 

[stevet]

jfelbab,



That is not "the Autopia abrasiveness list". That list is somebody's attempt at creating a list to compare the abrasiveness of different products. It is by no means an official list. It has mistakes in it.

 

[jfelbab]

jfelbab,



That is not "the Autopia abrasiveness list". That list is somebody's attempt at creating a list to compare the abrasiveness of different products. It is by no means an official list. It has mistakes in it.

The list was a collaborative effort if I recall correctly. Nevertheless, MPPC has been removing swirls and light scratches nicely for me. I would also rate it a 5 on the abrasiveness scale from my 9 years working experience with it.

 

[imported_jaobrien6]

I haven't used MPPC much, but I didn't get much in the way of swirl removal from it. Sometimes different products work differently for different people on different cars. :nixweiss



As for the abrasive list, that's the one in the thread I linked to. It's far from official, complete, or accurate. I take issue with a lot of entries on that list. For example, Menzerna IP and 3M SMR are both 5's? And 3M PI-III MG is a 2? I don't think so. That list has been posted several times, but never fixed up, and never really agreed upon.



If MPPC is working well for you, that's great. However, in my experience, it's too mild to fix the damage described in the original post.



My $.02,

John

 

[jfelbab]

I haven't used MPPC much, but I didn't get much in the way of swirl removal from it. Sometimes different products work differently for different people on different cars...

I agree completely. The only reason I even posted in this thread is that it seems more and more common with many autopians lately to jump to the most aggressive product too quickly. I'd rather use a less aggressive product a couple times than a more aggressive product once.



It's also true that some paint is just softer than others.



Keep it shiny.:up

 

[imported_jaobrien6]

I'd rather use a less aggressive product a couple times than a more aggressive product once.

That's a great point, and something important for the original poster to keep in mind. Only practice and experience will allow you to easily tell when you should step up to a more aggressive combination. Until you get a feel for it, you should definitely start slowly so you don't unnecessarily polish too much clear.



John