Polishes for Cyclo

K

kmayer

New member
I’ve just ordered the Cyclo Polisher and Edge pad system, and now need to figure out what polishes are a good match for that machine and my cars. I’ve been using Griot’s 1-4 machine polishes, but I’ve concluded most of their waxes and polishes are only “ok�, and not the best available. Most all of my cars are German, and range from an 85 911 to an 03 996. All have been cared for by me, and are in very good shape with only minor wear and tear. I typically clay, polish, and wax once per year, and clay and wax every 3-6 months. What polishes or other products would you suggest for me?



Thanks for your help.
 
Take your pick! I've been using Megs #80, #83, Optimum Polish, Optimum Compound, Optimum Hyper Compound, various 3M products, various Menzerna polishes, Chemical Guys polishes, Autoglym polishes, Hi-Temp, etc. For the single stage paint jobs, I really like Megs #80 and that may be a nice candidate to try on your older 911's. I haven't yet tried Optimum Poli-Seal with the Cyclo, but that might be another good candidate for some applications. Heck, just get the Menzerna line of polishes and you'll likely be quite happy.



I haven't yet tried the 4" Edge pads with our Cyclos. Perhaps someday...
 
kmayer- Welcome to Autopia!



Oddly enough I found that the griot's polishes work a lot better with the Cyclo than I ever would've imagined (I was pretty disappointed with them with the PC). You might want to just give them a try since you already have them on hand. MP#2 with the green pads is a whole 'nother animal compared to how it works with the PC and Griot's orange pads!



But I don't really like those Griot's polishes either, so I can see your wanting to try something else. I'd recommend the 1z polishes. They're *VERY* user-friendly, work great before waxes (as opposed to sealants), and IMO would be a perfect step up from the Griot's. There aren't many *bad* products out there these days (some might say the Griot's are ;) ) and I don't think you'll go wrong with whatever you choose. But with a wide range of products on the shelf, if you were here in my shop doing the work I'd steer you towards the 1z.
 
The Cyclo Polishes and Compounds work very well but you don't see many people talking about them.
 
Danase said:
The Cyclo Polishes and Compounds work very well but you don't see many people talking about them.
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I second this. But Menzerna PO85RD3.02 works great with a light cutting or polishing pad as well.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. I will use the Griot’s polishes to start with, then order some of the Einszett, Optimmum, and Menzerna products to play around with.



I am just a hobbyist that loves cars and finds a big part of the enjoyment is in “bonding� with them during the detail process. As a result, I don’t t have anywhere near the background and experience that many of you have, nor the wealth of experience to draw from. Because of that, I must ask this question. How do you compare polishes and what do you look for? Let’s take Griot’s number 4 which is their finest grit polish. I assume all companies have what they consider their finishing polish which is the last step prior to sealing or waxing. If you compared Griot’s with some of the other products mentioned in this thread, what things would you expect to observe that would make you choose some of the other products over Griots?
 
kmayer- Good question about comparing polishes. I'll take the Griot's MP#4 as a perfect example:



The MP#4 is *AFAIK* just the MP#3 with some wax mixed in to further reduce the cut even further (correct me if I'm mistaken about that). So I'd pick a product that fills a similar niche- perhaps 1z Metallic Polish or their WaxPolishSoft. See if the 1Z a) does more correction while still finishing out well, b) leaves as good/better a finish, c) is more/less user-friendly, d) lasts longer if not topped with wax, and e) is more/less compatible with your last step product (LSP, i.e., "wax" or sealant).



FWIW I find polishes I like and then I pretty much stick with them. I'll *occasionally* try new stuff but not all that often and it's pretty rare for me to find something that really outperforms the stuff I've been using forever. The new scratch-resistant clears are a wildcard, requiring some different product technology, but unless those are an issue there just aren't all that many different things you need to have to get good results.



Some people enjoy playing around... uhm, I mean "experimenting with and broadening their knowledge base" ;) with a lot of different products though, and there sure are a lot of good ones on the market these days. There's an oft-repeated quote from a guy who worked in the autopaint division of PPG: "Find something you like and use it often". It's really about as simple as that.



Oh, and I'd expect to use different polishes (and perhaps different LSPs too) on your two Porsches. I have different regimens for my '80s cars compared with my more modern ones, not that the same stuff wouldn't be *OK* on both. You sorta stumble across combinations that *work* on certain cars. One of the benefits of this website is that somebody's almost certainly done a given car with a given product and you can consider their experience; you're not just flying blind.



If the '85 is single-stage paint (and isn't white), it'll probably be a lot softer than the clearcoat on the '03.
 
Thanks Accumulator. I think I just realized where you name came from, and I have a sneaky suspicion you have a few cars in your garage.



I am similar to you in that once I settle on good products that I can achieve consistent results with, I won’t switch to something else unless there is a very compelling reason to do so. Judging by some of the other threads I’ve seen, I’ll probably first try the Menzerna line of polishes as it appears they are pretty user friendly as well as effective. I know you use the Einszett products, but I have not heard too much about them.
 
kmayer said:
.. I’ll probably first try the Menzerna line of polishes as it appears they are pretty user friendly as well as effective. I know you use the Einszett products, but I have not heard too much about them.
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You won't go wrong with Menzerna though *IMO* the 1Z is more user-friendly by far. I'm just not a big Menzerna fan but my painter (who's very good and knows his stuff) swears by it. Heh heh, I do find I get an improvement when I follow Menzerna FP with some 1z metallic though ;)



Either way you sure won't go wrong but I wouldn't buy a huge quantity until you're sure you've found something you like.



If the '85 is single stage you might want to consider a glaze after polishing with menzerna. Menzerna leaves a "clean" finish and on single stage I kinda like something more than that before I apply my LSP.



And, heh heh, yeah, I have a few cars- at present I'm down to seven, and even that leaves things a bit crowded.
 
Accumulator: Thanks for your help. Where do you buy your 1z products? The 85 is single stage, and while in very good condition does have a few scratches from washing that I'd like to hide a bit more. Sounds like the iz metalic might be a good candidate for that duty. Is that considered a glaze or is there something else I shold get too?
 
kmayer- If you don't mind my asking, what's the '85 (model/color)? I had Porsches back in the day before I basically switched to sedans.



I get my 1z stuff (and all sorts of other things) at Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing Supplies & Accessories . VERY nice people, good to do business with, and they ship reasonably (don't let the location give you pause).



The 1Z MPW sorta skirts the borders between polish, glaze, and wax. It's not a "real" glaze like the Meguiar's #3/#5/#7/#81/Deep Crystal step #2 but it's still very nice.



I do like the Meguiar's approach on some single stages, but I don't want to needlessly complicate this stuff, you could go nuts thinking and rethinking what do do. I'd just polish with the 1Z and then wax and see what you think.



If you *do* go with Menzerna on the '85 (I'd really go with 1Z on the b/c car) then I'd put some Meguiar's #5 (or one of the others I mentioned above) between the polish and the wax. But again, I'd just 1Z 'em both.
 
Ah, nice cab :xyxthumbs



I somehow figured it was Guard's Red when you said it was single stage ;)



Note that you might have a little trouble getting the Cyclo to do the inner slope of the front fenders, where they come down to meet the hood. I couldn't get the Cyclo to fit the contours all that well when I did my only 911-type Porsche with it ('91 C4). Not a big problem as the same products that work by PC/Cyclo work by hand, but something to consider.



Nice garage too, heh heh, it looks even more like a Griot's ad than mine does :D



If you don't already have one, pick up some kind of incandescent light to check your progress when polishing. I find these work even better than halogens for meticulous inspection (something for which I find fluorescents truly unsuited).



Seeing what a nice finish you already have on the '85, I'd get that MetallicPolishWax. I think you'd appreciate the final finish it leaves (as opposed to just quitting after something more aggressive). While I don't really find this stuff all that fun these days, I think that comparing a few products on the red ss would be interesting.



I'll be very interested to hear how other products compare with the Griot's stuff you've been using. I never reach for my Griot's Machine Polishes any more (I have three different "generations" of them on the shelf too!), having found so many other products that I like so much better. But that's just me and I'll look forward to hearing what *you* think.



Note that you can always mix-and-match with the various products. I wonder what kind of final finish a mix of 1Z Metallic and Griot's #4 would give...that'd be one mighty gentle final polish :think:
 
Hi Accumulator,

Thanks for the complements. I have actually remodeled the garage since those pictures were taken, and added two more stacked Lista cabinets to house most of my detailing toys. Also added a bunch of flush mount T5 fluorescent lights to replace the old Home Depot specials. Griot’s was one of our first clients (Web Site Design), so I reciprocated by buying stuff from them whenever possible. The lista cabinets came from Steve at Ultimate Garage as he know this product better than anyone.



I don’t have an incandescent light other than an old 100 watt trouble light. I don’t even have a halogen light, so I’ll probably need both. What kind of incandescent do you use?



I’m afraid I have one more question. Given that most of our cars are in similar shape to the 911 (except our 99 Super Duty Truck), what pads would you suggest and how do you typically decide which pad to match with which polish? I’m thinking about getting two sets of the white and green, and one of the orange and yellow. Perhaps the microfiber suede and terry pad cover too. I wash them after the end of each day, but perhaps I should get more. Do you think I’ll even need the orange and yellow? For tight spots, I have both of the Griot’s pneumatic orbital’s.
 
kmayer said:
I’ve just ordered the Cyclo Polisher and Edge pad system, and now need to figure out what polishes are a good match for that machine and my cars. What polishes or other products would you suggest for me?
Click to expand...



Auto Magic in conjunction with Cyclo & EDGE just came out with their "Risk Free" line of products. Their system includes a compound, polish and wax that's exclusively designed to be used with the Cyclo. It's basically idiot proof and from what I've heard is amazing stuff. A friend of mine helped out with the R & D work and swears by it's performance. He's a die hard rotary user and claims this system can achieve similar results. Just my 2 cents.
 
kmayer said:
Griot’s was one of our first clients (Web Site Design), so I reciprocated by buying stuff from them whenever possible. The lista cabinets came from Steve at Ultimate Garage as he know this product better than anyone.
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Ah, OK. I'm all for reciprocal relationships and while I bash some of Richard's products mercilessly, I've done business with him since the days when he answered the phone himself and I think he's a good guy.



And I always regretted the way some members here made Steve/UltGar feel unwelcome; I think it's great that he can give his customers what they want.



I don’t have an incandescent light other than an old 100 watt trouble light. I don’t even have a halogen light, so I’ll probably need both. What kind of incandescent do you use?
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I have some incandescent ceiling mount fixtures over each section of the shop but otherwise I just use a hand-held trouble light, the kind with a spring-clamp handle. Mine is rated for high wattages and I use 200W or 300W bulbs in it.



I do think you might want to get the halogens, you might be shocked at all the marring you never saw under the fluorescents.



I’m afraid I have one more question. Given that most of our cars are in similar shape to the 911 (except our 99 Super Duty Truck), what pads would you suggest and how do you typically decide which pad to match with which polish? I’m thinking about getting two sets of the white and green, and one of the orange and yellow. Perhaps the microfiber suede and terry pad cover too. I wash them after the end of each day, but perhaps I should get more. Do you think I’ll even need the orange and yellow? For tight spots, I have both of the Griot’s pneumatic orbital’s.
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I always have a *scad* of them on hand so I'll have whatever is called for.



I'd always buy at least two pairs of *any* color pads. Things happen, and usually at the least convenient moment. I do think you can just go with the orange pads and not the yellow for most things though. Used with the right product the orange seems to do OK correction. It's hard to say if you'll need the aggressive pads. I'd tend to say "not" because of how nice the '85 looks in the pics, but I'd want them on hand anyhow. Again, if you experiment with the lighting in the shop (incandescent light in an otherwise dark shop is very unforgiving) you might find you need/want to do more correction than you currently think.



I use the green pads the most, but a follow up with the white pads is a good idea on many paints. I'd get a few sets of the green so you can experiment with different products (without fears of cross-contamination) and at least two sets of the white- one for final polishing (and I'd rather have *two* sets for this) and one for applying LSP.



I sure wouldn't want to be caught short, so buy more pads than you think you'll need. They don't go bad so I don't see much downside in having extras.



I would *not* get the terry bonnets, I would never have any use for them. I do like the suede-style MF bonnets for buffing LSPs (I use them over yellow pads, so that's a good reason to get the yellows).



The little Griot's orbitals oughta work fine in the tight spots. Sounds like you'll be all set.
 
David Fermani said:
Auto Magic in conjunction with Cyclo & EDGE just came out with their "Risk Free" line of products. Their system includes a compound, polish and wax that's exclusively designed to be used with the Cyclo. It's basically idiot proof and from what I've heard is amazing stuff. A friend of mine helped out with the R & D work and swears by it's performance. He's a die hard rotary user and claims this system can achieve similar results. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...



This sounds extremely interesting! How can I get more information on the "Risk Free" products directed at the Cyclo?

I really believe the Cyclo can achieve the same (?) results as a Rotary, the big question is how long will it take to see rotary results from the Cyclo.

Changeling
 
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