New ORANGE pads from CMA (& first PC experience)

S

StLB5

New member
Well, I finally got to use my new PC and what a godsend! I love it. I was only using the white pads with FI2 and SMR and it went just like everyone said. The FI2 cut a little better and left some hazing, but the SMR took it right out. It didn't get all of my scratches, just the fine swirls. I still have some deeper swirls left so I was about to order some yellow pads when I saw the new orange pads. I spoke to CMA and they recommended going with the orange ones. With the forum down, I could get on to see what everyone else thought about the new ones. I just did a quick search and nobody's said anything yet. Does anyone have opinions or tips? I should have mine today. Can't wait to get home! My black 02 Altima needs some TLC. From the little bit that I did, this car is going to look amazing!
 
I used them with the 3M SMR on my dark blue car. I have some Micro marring (swirls that I can only see under fluorescent lights and bright sun light). I thought the orange pads works well. I followed up the process with Meg #3 machine polish with the white pad. The car looked great in the sunlight but not under those darn lights (think the Meg #3 Machine Polish filled the swirls). Might try the FitII with the orange pad. But overall, I think they worked fine.
 
these orange ones are more agressive than the yellow??? I picture it fitting in b/t the Wool pad and the Yellow, a happy medium of sorts....



I've gotta go to work on a 1999 Lexus RX300 -- Black soon with crazy swirls and scratches everywhere (no clearcoat either). Makes me wonder if I should try these orange ones first, followed by the yellows with #9 2.0, followed by AIO with white or grey. However, judging by MTO44's post, they may be overkill...



Anyone else have some input or experience with these orange pads???



http://www.properautocare.com/orangepowerpad.html
 
Well, I used them last night with great results. They got everything the white ones missed minus some deep stuff. I hit each section twice with the FI2. It was kind of a PIA to remove the residue, though I wasn't using 50/50 water to alcohol to remove it, just water. After the FI2 on the orange, I switched to 3M SMR on a white and it went really easy. Took all of the hazing off with one pass. It took me about 2 hours to do just the hood. This is my first PC project so take this all however you want. I'm not sure where the orange is supposed to fall in the order of pad colors. CMA makes it sound like it's anywhere from just over yellow to just over white. Based on the results I've gotten with a decently swirled black car, I'm going to continue with 1-2 passes of FI2 on orange followed by 1 pass of SMR on white. I'll try and get some before and after pix of the sections I haven't done.
 
I just got mine, and plan to put it to use tomorrow. My understanding is not that it's MORE aggressive than the yellow....rather that it's a combo pad of the white and the yellow. IE, the same aggressiveness, yet won't leave any marring that you'll have to go over with the white pad. it's basically combining the two steps into one... Yellow+white = Orange...



:D



Someone correct me if I'm wrong!
 
Not exactly sure, but the FI2 left a lot of hazing. I think you may be able to just have Orange pads in you arsenal for use with compounding, heavy polishing, and light polishing, but I've already got the white ones and with just my little bit of experience, I like the feel of the softer pad with the SMR.
 
SMR with a white pad on my metallic black car did very little to remove swirls. Moved to the yellow pad with SMR....and ahhh, there were some results!!!
 
hmm, I didn't try just the SMR on the orange. I'll definitely try that on the fenders tonight. The hood was in much rougher shape so I probably would have ended up with the FI2 anyway.
 
StLB5,



Speaking to the hazing left by FI II, I always make sure to buff it out completely. When the product dries up, keep on it for a bit until the shine starts to come up. Stop and buff the residue by hand, if its difficult to buff out, work it with the PC a little more. Keep doing that until the residue can be buffed by hand without a lot of effort.



I had the same haxing you're talking about and it was because I didn't work the FI II long enough with the PC.



Just sharing my experience.



Darcy
 
I guess I just am a bit timid to work it too long. I thought read somewhere that you don't want to let the pad dry out and continue buffing. I could be wrong. The SMR knocks it out right away. I'm still experimenting with my technique, I'll try working it a bit longer.
 
I detailed a friend's Honda Accord this weekend and had to use the yellow pad with 3M PI Fine Cut Rubbing Compound to get the job done. The car is a '97 model with black paint. The paint had A LOT of scratches everywhere. It looked like someone washed the car with a steel wool mitt. I used Meguiars #9 SR 2.0 and 3M FI2 with the yellow pad but neither worked very well.



I decided to give the 3M PI Fine Cut Rubbing Compound a try and it did the trick. I had my PC set to 4.5 and had to work on the compound for quite some time. The compound removed almost all of the scratches. I topped it off with Meguiars #9 SR 2.0 and some OG Blitz wax. Both my friend and I were very happy with the result.



I didn't get a chance to take any pics. The good news is I only had time to detail half the car. I will work on the other half this weekend and will try to take some before and after pics.



Kenneth
 
it would be great if you could take a pic showing half the car completed and half not. good luck with the other side!
 
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