Por2geezSupra said:
With the #66 from meguiars, what pad is best? Would a white LC pad be best? What pads and sizes do you guys prefer?
It depends on what steps you want to replace.
If you apply #66 with a finishing pad the abrasives will not remove any imperfections but the wax and oils will hide minor swirls and add gloss and protection. This is good if you've already corrected the paint and want to use #66 as a glaze/wax.
If you apply with a cutting foam pad and work it well the abrasives will cut and remove imperfections in the paint. The wax and oils will then help hide any marring produced and add protection. This is good if you want to use #66 as a finishing polish after using a heavy compound.
If you go with a really strong pad or use a rotary then you run the risk of marring/holograming the surface. The oils and wax temporarily hide these so when the oils and wash wash away you may see some marring.
I've found that a light cut foam pad is best as it doesn't marr the surface so it looks good. On paints that i know are hard or faded i'll use a cutting foam pad.
I'd only use a white foam polishing pad on soft black paint. You should use the strongest pad you can get away with as it helps give the highest amount of correction in a single step.
If you are using a cutting compound to remove swirls first up then you dont need the cutting power of #66 anymore so you'd use a white pad to remove any marring from the first step.
For example on bad paints i use Menzerna powergloss with a heavy cut wool pad on a rotary buffer. I can then go straight to #66 on a random orbital with a yellow edge cutting foam pad. The random orbital helps remove the holograms created from the rotary step.
On softer paints or with less imperfections i use Menzerna SIP with a light cut wool pad on the rotary i then go straight to #66 with an edge blue polishing pad on the random orbital.