Menzerna vs. Nissan Max.

Greg Nichols

Greg Nichols

New member
I got this beat to death black Nissan Maxima where their kids had taken a lava rock and drawn on the doors, see the pictures. It was a friends that is going to sell it, so I decided to try out some processes and product to see what I could do. Total time 6hrs just on paint. This car is 10yrs old and has 125,000 on it. During the first wash the hood was popped up and during a rise the water just stuck to the hood and did not run off.



Process:

Wash with CG CWG

Gunk the engine bay



Menzerna SIP 3.02 1000 - 1800rpms

BlackFire SRC compound 1000 - 1800

Presta Ultra cutting cream 1000- 1500 great for RIDS, but clogs up pad quick!

Rewash with CG Citrus Wash and Gloss



Orange CCS pad and Rotary



I did not need/feel to use 106ff or similar, because the finish down was downright amazing. In addition, this car is being sold ASAP.



Opti Seal the hood

CG acrylic Seal the rest of the car



I know it sounds like a hogepog of things going on here, but I wanted to try out different ideas.



Here are the befores:

Randy1.jpg


Randy2.jpg


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Randy7.jpg


Randy8.jpg


Randy4.jpg




During the Process:

Randy12.jpg


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Randy17.jpg


Randy19.jpg


Randy24.jpg


Randy21.jpg






Here are the afters:

Randy28.jpg


Randy29.jpg


Randy27.jpg


Randy26.jpg


Randy35.jpg


Randy34.jpg


Randy32.jpg


Randy31.jpg


Randy30.jpg


Randy36.jpg






I would love feedback or questions! I'm becoming really partial to the Menzerna or Blackfire for major correction in a short period of time........I earn money by using this stuff, because I save time.



I did not find the 3.02 or BSCR compound to be much of a learning curve? If you overwork it (dry buff), I noticed you will marr again, and if you start to dry buff the pad will JUMP all over the place, and if you try and kick your rpms over 1700's the product really starts to dry out quick, but if you stay under that, near 1500 you can really work it. I just have to say the finish down on this stuff is AMAZING. I tired to notice a difference between the 3.02 and the BSCR in the finish and cannot, the only diff was how long I had to work it to acheive the same results, the BSCR I had to work a 2x2 about 3min longer.



I also tried IP using the same set up of pad and speeds to see a comparison. The IP requires you to work longer and do a wipe down and then another pass, followed by 106ff to get the SAME results as a one pass BSCR or 3.02.



Now, I know this is all subjective to this car and my technique. Yes I know Nissans have fairly soft paint, and I could have used Optimum Hyper compound and sorts, but I wanted to see what Menzerna and Blackfire could do. The Presta UCC was for the RIDS from the lava rock, this stuff cuts fast and hard yet finishes down pretty darn good. I really like it for the headlamps.



Enough!



Cheers,

GREG
 
Great job Greg! When I use the Presta UCC, I found the best foam pad to use is the LC Green 8 inch (rotary version heavy polish pad). It is a different pad then the green 6 inch and has more cut and larger open pores. It is an amazing pad and is only available in the 8 inch that I am aware of. It cuts through RIDS great and will get those VERY hard to get scratches out. I have been testing this pad out lately and it is amazing! Also works super on harder clears using UCC, SIP, 3.02, and HTHC.



The UCC was designed for wool, but will work with a open cell pad like the green rotary version LC pad or yellow pad.



Again, great job!!!
 
Your welcome Bryan!

Lately I have been doing a lot of work for this dealer and after he had seen what I can do, he has been buying a lot of severly beat up cars and big diesel trucks. I am getting the worst of the worst and most of them have been buffed recently 10 times and are all faded badly or some cars that they sprayed tire shine or transmission fluid on them to make them shine. I have never seen cars so bad in my life. So, I got to REALLY use some stuff that has some real working capability results along with major grunt and has to be done fast. Between Presta and Menzerna for correction on different wool and heavy foam pads, I can pretty much correct almost anything and still leave a swirl free finish. All paints are not created equal, so you always need a plan of attack with different doses like Greg has done here.



As sick as it sounds, I love working on these pieces of craps.
 
ConglomrationAL said:
Rydawg, Would you say the green wool could also work well with UCC? Cause the green wool is my favorite pad to use, pretty much.
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You could, just make sure to stay away from edges as this compound really cuts fast on most paints and will leave marring. Also once you use your wool with UCC, do not use the same pad on other cars with other polishes unless you wash it out excellent or the grit stuck in the pad will get on other cars too. I only use UCC on badly beat paints where nothing else will work as it is a very aggresive mechanical compound on wool. It does work great though and on a green wool pad works great for cutting and smoothing paint to a glass like gloss.
 
White lexus 23 said:
nice job man how did you get the headlamps looking good again?
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The headlamps I used the Presta UCC and the orange pad. I could have done better but it only took 3 min per lamp, so the results are pretty good.



Thanks for the nice words.
 
rydawg said:
Great job Greg! When I use the Presta UCC, I found the best foam pad to use is the LC Green 8 inch (rotary version heavy polish pad). It is a different pad then the green 6 inch and has more cut and larger open pores. It is an amazing pad and is only available in the 8 inch that I am aware of. It cuts through RIDS great and will get those VERY hard to get scratches out. I have been testing this pad out lately and it is amazing! Also works super on harder clears using UCC, SIP, 3.02, and HTHC.



The UCC was designed for wool, but will work with a open cell pad like the green rotary version LC pad or yellow pad.



Again, great job!!!
Click to expand...





Coming from you, that means a lot. I have read your postings and tired your ideas so in reality you were part of the process. You got me to try the Presta stuff and since I can get it at the local paint shop I use it for headlamps and beat up cars.



Now you have given me another idea...........which means spending more money:hm



Do you think that the green works better, just due to the larger open pores? More cut then the orange with UCC?



Have you use the LC purple foam wool pads? I hear that 3.02 and them are like shaving your paint down.



Thanks again for the vote of confidence Ryan.



Cheers,
 
Excellent improvement!



The finish was absolutely trashed, and you made it look completely different.



Well done!
 
Greg Nichols said:
Coming from you, that means a lot. I have read your postings and tired your ideas so in reality you were part of the process. You got me to try the Presta stuff and since I can get it at the local paint shop I use it for headlamps and beat up cars.



Now you have given me another idea...........which means spending more money:hm



Do you think that the green works better, just due to the larger open pores? More cut then the orange with UCC?



Have you use the LC purple foam wool pads? I hear that 3.02 and them are like shaving your paint down.



Thanks again for the vote of confidence Ryan.



Cheers,
Click to expand...

UCC does not like the orange pad that much as it is an old school mechanical abrasive, so it needs an open pore. On softer paint like this 1200 rpms is all you would need via rotary. On hard paint the rotary green pad works excellent with UCC, 3.02, HTEC, HTHC. The purple wool is another great pad with Presta polishes and compounds. All paints are different so sometimes they require a different remedy to bring back to life. :think: It's the beginning process that takes time. I wish one polish and one pad would correct everything, but it's never that easy on beat up cars.



HTHC is another great polish I have been using lately and so far it works amazing on the rock hard beat up clears. 3.02 also works great on th green rotary foam pads too.
 
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