Need some help

R

RustyBumper

New member
I finally got my Flex last week (thanks Angelo for all your help, buddy! :thumbup: ) and tried it out yesterday on an '07 Cadillac CTS. At first I used a green pad with 205 at setting 2. I did nothing for removing the swirls and light scratches. So I then switched to a white pad and repeated the process. Again, it did nothing for removing the swirls, etc. My question to you is this, should I use the white pad in conjunction with 105 and maybe bump up the speed or should I go to the orange pad with 205 and bump up the speed? I had it on the number 2 speed setting because I didn't want to take a chance of using a speed that might be to fast. Would it have been ok to bump it up inbetween 2 and 3 or maybe just 3?

If I get up early enough I'm going to experiment on my painted pickup bed cover, before the day gets too hot.

BTW, my Flex rocks!! It's so much quieter than a PC I tried a couple of weeks ago. :cornut:
 
RustyBumper said:
I finally got my Flex last week (thanks Angelo for all your help, buddy! :thumbup: ) and tried it out yesterday on an '07 Cadillac CTS. At first I used a green pad with 205 at setting 2. I did nothing for removing the swirls and light scratches. So I then switched to a white pad and repeated the process. Again, it did nothing for removing the swirls, etc. My question to you is this, should I use the white pad in conjunction with 105 and maybe bump up the speed or should I go to the orange pad with 205 and bump up the speed? I had it on the number 2 speed setting because I didn't want to take a chance of using a speed that might be to fast. Would it have been ok to bump it up inbetween 2 and 3 or maybe just 3?

If I get up early enough I'm going to experiment on my painted pickup bed cover, before the day gets too hot.

BTW, my Flex rocks!! It's so much quieter than a PC I tried a couple of weeks ago. :cornut:
Click to expand...

Hey Rusty!

M205 is a finishing polish, but I have found it polishes quite well if you use a lot of pressure and enough power.

The green pad is too soft (too much deflection under pressure) to have any cut with M205, so it is not suprising that you did not see any defect reduction. However this combo will amp up the gloss!

The white pad is firmer, and thus, can withstand more pressure with out defection. Remember that pressure is key, make sure to apply about 10 lbs or so and work the polish in slow over lapping passes. Because the abrasives in M205 (or M105) do not breakdown, the longer you work the polish, the more results you will get. However don't go to a dry buff!!!

I have seen a good amount of correction using just M205 and a white pad, but remember it is still a 'finishing combination.'

You will be fine using M105 UCC with either a white or orange pad, dialed into the amount of cut you want. If you keep the pad's clean, you should be able to remove serious defects with the orange pad and only need a light follow up step (M205/green) for maximum gloss!

Best of luck and PM me if you have any questions!!!

Todd
 
Update: A hack's shattered dream

Today I finally got a chance to use my Flex on my truck along with M105 and M205. Here are the steps that I took:
1. Wash and strip any LSP that I had left on the hood of my truck. I used a citrus based wash to accomplish this.
2. Sheet and dry using my Absorber. (I know, I should get a MF drying towel)
3. Used a white pad in conjunction with 105.
4. Wipe off any product that may have left behind with a MF buffing towel.
5. Used a green pad in conjunction with 205.
6. Refer to number 4.

As I was working it was really hard to see what sort of progress I was making because the sun was hidden by clouds. I worked the product into the paint, to the point where it had diminished. I stopped at the point where it almost became a dry buff. (I had forgotten if I was supposed to work the product to the point where only a thin layer had hazed or if I was supposed to work it until it deminished. Please correct me if I was wrong.)

As I was wrapping things up on the hood, the sun poked out from behind the clouds and I was able to see that I still had some defects in the paint. I could still see some spider webs and some scracthes, but not very many swirls. I used a speed of 3 on the flex and applied pressure when using the white pad. With the green pad I used very little, if any, pressure on a speed setting of 4.

It's a learning process, one of which is driving me nutts, but in the end all of the frustration and aggrevation will have been worth it. The combo of 105 and 205 left a very impressive finish on the paint, despite the fact I couldn't get out the imperfections completely. The reflection was deep and the paint almost had a wet look to it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I suck at this! lol. At least for the moment I do. How long should I wait before trying again?
 
One thing to keep in mind is that the few Cadillac's I have worked on had pretty 'hard' paint. While M105/Flex is a pretty aggressive combo, it is worth noting that are car's that I work on that have very deep defects, I usually start with a wool pad/rotary/high speed. It may take 2 to 3 passes to fully get out the deeper 'rids' (random isolated deeper scratches).

You noted that the swirls seem gone (light swirls) but you still see some (deeper ones). If you elect to continue to chase the deeper defects, I would step up to an orange pad.

Keep your arm speed slow and use a fair amount of pressure. Bump your speed up to 4 (or 5 if you can control it). If the paint is hard/defects are deep, it may take 2 to 3 passes with M105/Orange to fully level them out.

Don't get discouraged, we will help you get through this. Worst case scenario, PM me, and I'll shoot you my cell phone.
 
lol...I forgot that I have a orange pad. Guess I should try that. Thanks for reminding me Todd.

I forgot to ask another question. From everyone's experience, are paints from GM hard? I noticed a similarity in both my GMC truck and the Caddy that I was working on. Just curious.
 
Try the Flex on 3.75 to 4.0 speed. Really don't need as much pressure as some think. Don't let the product go dry. If it is water based, use a fine spray of distilled water (if you are married, ask your wife if you can have her empty fine spritzer from some body potion) to keep it moist until you are done

Regards,
GEWB
 
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