Looking for some direction

S

SilverSubie2.5

New member
Well, with spring beginning to settle in within the coming weeks (hopefully), I’ve gotten the urge to start looking into what I’m going to need to get my work done this spring. I will be doing at the least a black Mercury Marauder, green Lincoln LS, and a silver Subaru Impreza. While I know this is a wide range of paint quality/thickness and obviously color, I’m looking for something that will work equally well in all 3 applications.



Here’s what I’m thinking so far. I already have my PC 7424 that I used last year to take my work to a new level over doing things by hand. I was unable to find the perfect combination of polish/compound and wax, especially with the black car. After 2 days of working with it, I just couldn’t get it to come out satisfactorily. Whether it was the pads I was using, or the polish, I don’t know. The most impressive results I’ve seen so far on black, has been with the Optimum products, the combo of their compound and polish. This is the route I’m looking to take with the three cars this year, with the goal of removing as many of the swirls/scratches as possible. Would this be a good path to take with this goal in mind? Right now, as far as pads go, I have orange, white, and grey. Should I go with a LC yellow for swirl removal, or would the orange suffice with the OC? These are the two biggest questions I would like to clear up before I get things going for the spring.



Thank you for any and all advice. I couldn't come up with much in my searches, so figured asking some questions was the best course of action!:thx
 
Real quick, I haven't found Optimum polishes to be the best choice when using a PC. They don't breakdown quickly and they really dont 'cut' the paint much. You might try some Menzerna polishes or Meguiar's with the PC for a bit quicker results.



And as far as pads, I only use LC 5 and 5.5" low profile, ccs pads. Green, white (mainly), and blue for applying my lsps. I love autogeek's 5.5" white ccs pads, very nice, and VERY affordable.
 
Good to know. I did read that they kind of rely on heat to break them down, and I know the PC doesn't produce much heat at all. Must be why they don't work so well. How would something like the Menzerna Power Gloss Compound work? Claims it can work with 1000-1500 grit scratches, and from last year, I know that nothing in the 2000 grit range really did much for me. Would this be an acceptable choice?
 
PowerGloss via PC tends to leave a mess and take a while to clear up. You best bet via PC is Meguiar's #80 or Menzerna Intensive Polish... but if I were you, I would pick up a rotary and pm Rydawg about lessons, he lives in NH.



For 3 cars, the time saving from learning a rotary is >15 hours, and the final finish will be much better.
 
SilverSubie2.5- I haven't had one for a while, but the clear on my Subies wasn't all that hard. I did OK correcting it with a PC using 4" pads. I was using the discontinued 3M PI-III RC 05933 (fairly mild stuff) but an equivalent product would be Hi-Temp's Extreme Cut Leveler (which works OK via PC/4") or their milder Heavy Cut Leveler.



Oh, and I'd take any "grit removal" specs with a grain of salt ;)



But if you're near rydawg I'd sure look him up! Heh heh, second time I've posted that today :D



On, and neat batch of cars..besides having had some Subies I'm a fan of Ford's Panther platform cars and I like the look of LSes too, especially in green.



I polished an LS by PC once and its clear was harder than I'd expected, I'd go with the 4" pads if you decide to do it that way. IMO the #80 would be too mild, at least for that car.



FWIW, I'm not a huge fan of Optimum polish either...it really does take a long, long time to break down.
 
SilverSubie2.5-





Try the PC with the 5.5" LC pads yellow - orange -and a green in that order of abrasive to less abrasive and 1Z Einszett Pro Line Intensive Paste 1Z Einszett Pro Line Intensive Paste Pasta Intensiv� and the 1Z Einszett Pro Line High Gloss Polish . This line is made to work at lower RPM on a rotary 800-1000 compare to other polish that work around 1500-1800 . They work very well via PC. Also you can increase the cutting power of the PC by using 4 " pads.





Cheers , Jean Paul
 
jpochile- Heh heh, sorta funny...for once *I wasn't the guy recommending the 1Z approach :D :xyxthumbs



Their polishes always work well by hand for me too.



I bet I recommend 1Z topped with Collinite wax more often than all other approaches combined; not the one I always use, but it is the one I'm most likely to recommend.
 
Wow, big thanks to everyone for the assistance so far! Definitely helping clear up some confusion.



timmah- Thanks for the help. Not sure if I'm ready/willing to jump into a rotary at this time, as I'm still fairly new to working with a machine.



Accumulator- I'll look into this rydawg, sounds like the one to talk to around here. I worked with Hi-Temp products last year, and loved the way they worked, just never ended up with anything aggressive enough to do what I needed. Maybe I'll give the extreme leveler a shot, if it's worth it. And yes, it is a fun bunch of cars. Maybe I'll post up my results when I get around to doing all this.:)



jpochile- That sounds like it will be my best option, with the 1Z line and those pads. Will this best be the best bet for working with all 3 cars?



cshorey- Good to hear, I'll be working on my '00 as well. Did you follow up with the polish?
 
jpochile- That sounds like it will be my best option, with the 1Z line and those pads. Will this best be the best bet for working with all 3 cars?
Click to expand...



I Believe the PC with the 1Z polishes and the 5.5 and specially the 4" pads can cut very very well . Actually with the 4 " pads you have to be a little careful since you could do damage . Then again with just a little common sense you should be OK . You can can do all 3 cars with that combo . I have a Makita Rotary , a Makita Dual action /Force Rotation and a PC so I know where I ´m coming with the suggestion . :up





Cheers ,

Jean Paul
 
Here are a few Pics of my personal Suby pumping around 400 + HP .



IMG_1067_2_1.jpg


IMG_1068_3_1.jpg


IMG_1070_4_1.jpg


IMG_1071_5_1.jpg


IMG_1078_6_1.jpg






Cheers , Jean Paul
 
jpochile said:
I Believe the PC with the 1Z polishes and the 5.5 and specially the 4" pads can cut very very well . Actually with the 4 " pads you have to be a little careful since you could do damage . Then again with just a little common sense you should be OK . You can can do all 3 cars with that combo . I have a Makita Rotary , a Makita Dual action /Force Rotation and a PC so I know where I ´m coming with the suggestion . :up





Cheers ,

Jean Paul
Click to expand...



Cars looks great man! So would you say there's a fine line when working with the 4"? And is it worth it to go with those over the 5.5"? Thanks for all your help so far, looking to get something ordered by next week or so.
 
Usually you can get the 4" pads at very low price . So it is an item good to have around in case you come by a harder type of paint . For the Subaru paint that is in the soft department the 5.5 should be OK.



Cheers ,

Jean Paul
 
I haven't tacked my RS yet. I have been working on the 02 Legacy. I will agree 4" pads on a PC are very aggressive (did burn through the clear in one spot. it was user error as I was testing my limits and fell into that one more pass). For a 4" I wouldn't go any more aggressive then a green pad. If I guy an orange or yellow it will be a 5.5 pad.



I did a lot of research and then discussions with Accumulator and choice to follow is suggestions (and I couldn't be happier). The products recommended worked out better then I could have expected.



Here is my high level process:

Wash - 2 bucket with Meg's GC

Clay with Mother's/Meg's claybar kit (with Quick detailer)

Polish using 4" Green CCS with 1z PP

Polish using 4" White CCS with 1z MP w/W

Wax using a 6.5" pad with #845 (including trim and plastics)



I am going to switch over to #476s for my LSP. My cars are both daily drivers and live outside. Also I bought my Legacy used off a dealer lot and have come to understand that it had a lot of scratches and had been aggressively polished prior to my ownership. So even though I did burn through the clear coat, I didn't have much room and now understand that, I didn't at the time I first started out learning last fall (I am still new at this).



chris
 
cshorey said:
...Wax using a 6.5" pad with #845 (including trim and plastics)



I am going to switch over to #476s for my LSP...
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Be careful with that 476S around your trim. Apparently some people's trim isn't as 476S-friendly as mine is, and I'd sure hate for anybody to get *that* stuff on someplace they didn't want it!
 
Accumulator - Thanks for the warning. I think you gave me this one before. Actually I am going to still use #845 as my first wax pass so I can use it on the trim. Then I was going to add two more layers of #476s. And maintain with 476s. Though I will probably test it on the trim somewhere out of sight.



chris
 
cshorey- Yeah, I do remember warning you before but I'd rather repeat myself than have somebody get 476S on something that got stained white. I sure never expected that to happen for anybody though, not my experience at all :nixweiss



I'm still a little surprised that you went through the clear, but OTOH my MPV has never been aggressively polished and I did it on that one with the 4" green pads too. Live and learn :o
 
yeah I never expected to burn through that clear. I never sat on that spot, or worked that spot. I had only gone over that spot 3 times total. while doing the whole fender, so it was only that spot that burned the clear, which is where a scratch is. etc...



Regardless it still bothers me when I see it, but its also the reason I worked on this car first. I learned. I don't know the history of the Legacy (nor do I own one of those fancy paint measuring tool). But I have learned and I know the history of my RS, which is the car I care about. Though my hood, front bumper and mirrors and chipped to hell. I still care about this car. Now that I know and have confidence and learned some limits, albeit the hard way, I am waiting for spring to get here to detail the RS. I can't wait.



chris
 
Sorry to hear that you went through the clear . When I use to use the PC with the 4" I just lower the rpm to say number 4 and always worked perfectly. Then again I got a little experience with the Force rotation and Rotary polishers so I tend to check my work more often .



Cheers ,

Jean Paul
 
SilverSubie2.5 said:
Wow, big thanks to everyone for the assistance so far! Definitely helping clear up some confusion.



timmah- Thanks for the help. Not sure if I'm ready/willing to jump into a rotary at this time, as I'm still fairly new to working with a machine.



Accumulator- I'll look into this rydawg, sounds like the one to talk to around here. I worked with Hi-Temp products last year, and loved the way they worked, just never ended up with anything aggressive enough to do what I needed. Maybe I'll give the extreme leveler a shot, if it's worth it. And yes, it is a fun bunch of cars. Maybe I'll post up my results when I get around to doing all this.:)



jpochile- That sounds like it will be my best option, with the 1Z line and those pads. Will this best be the best bet for working with all 3 cars?



cshorey- Good to hear, I'll be working on my '00 as well. Did you follow up with the polish?
Click to expand...

Welcome!



If you would like me to come over and atleast do the correction part and you can do the lsp. I can make that Subie look different from all the rest.



PM me if interested. I live right in Hudson, NH.



Thanks

Ryan
 
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