Suggestions for Products

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Cody40691

New member
Now that I purchased my (cheap) rotary and it's getting warm... i need some product suggestions for some corrections. There are so many out there to choose from! I have looked at O'Reilly's and I am thinking about going with the Meg's 09 swirl remover and the ezbuff polishing pad... but I want to make sure there's even a chance it will work.



The main vehicle I will be using it on is a single stage white and blue... its a very hard paint. There are light swirls and a couple of deeper scratches that need taken care of that I'm not sure the 09 will take care of on it's own.



I will also be using the product on a 08 Dodge Avenger and a 99 VW so I will be working with fairly hard paints on all of it.



What is your suggestion of the 09 and pad at O'Reillys? I preferrably want something OTC but I may be able to get ahold of some 3M compound, polish, and Ultrafina easily since thats what we use at the body shop. Any other suggestions out there for me? I have never done a full correction just light stuff and detailing... never had to worry about products before when buffing at work either.
 
The Menzerna Power Gloss and Super Intensive Polish combo has worked very well for me, you can finish it up with Final Polish II or 106FF.
 
The Menz line is good. I have never used it so I can't really help with those.



If you are really new to Machine polishing I suggest Optimum polish and compounds. The have almost unlimited work time, they won't dust or sling. I like them because they stay wet.



3M UF is really is a good polish for the same reasons as the Opt line.



M09 has very little cut, even by rotary. UF would be much better IMO. M80 is a good intermediate polish and can be found locally.



My advice is to take it slow if you are a rotary noob. Stay with a polish and a polishing pad. Don't go real aggressive at first until you have some time running the machine. Take your time, don't rush the job. Split it into few sessions if needed. Don't push for 100% correction, tape edges and trim; that can save you some burn marks. Keep it moving.



I don't enjoy using foam cutting pads, if I need heavy correction the I use a PFW pad. Wool runs cooler, cuts more and is easier to control. I also like LC foam pads; white and blue.



Have fun.
 
Some more advice, never go past 2000 rpm with a rotary, I hardly go past 1800, keep it moving and always start with the least aggressive pad/compound combo and you should be good. Practice picking up beads, to do this tilt the pad 10 degrees and pick it up at the 10 o'clock position on the pad, there are numerous videos on youtube showing this, good luck.
 
I'm not a noob with a rotary, just the one I own. I use a rotary all the time on fresh paint jobs at the body shop with a dewalt and 3M compound, machine polish, and ultrafina. Really the only thing I'm confused with now is pad selection... and I will probably go with optimum products since I want to try some ONR anyways!
 
Do you have any specific questions on pad selection? What system do you use, Edge, Lake Country...? Optimum has some great polishes, I still have their Hyper Compound along with 2 other bottles of finer polish but never got to start using them as the Menzerna has worked so well. For Edge I use a wool or yellow pad with Power Gloss, or the Hyper Compound for Optimum, a orange or green pad for SIP, I'm not sure what Optimums equivalent of that is, blue to white pad for Final Polish II. I have a ton of Lake Country pads but I haven't used them in a while as the Edge system has been doing it for me also.



I know you said to recommend a pad from o-reilly but I have no idea what they carry, also if you can tell us what kind of defects you plan to remove that would help. Is it mostly swirls you plan to correct?
 
VW paint is some hard stuff....



IMHO get lake country pads, they make the PFW pads :)



And I am hearing good things about their Gold Pads. Lake Country hands down has a great selection of pads to choose from....I dont care much for the Edge products they work just fine, but I dont like them....
 
Well for pads I am just totally unsure on what to look for. I know there are cutting pads, polishing pads, and finishing pads but other than that I don't know what to think! Will the same pad do just as good of a job on single stage as it does on a 2 stage paint? I will be working with both



Yes I mostly want to correct swirls, and mainly want to achieve an almost 100% swirl free finish on my truck and the other cars can be 70 or 80%.
 
GS4_Fiend said:
CCS pads 5.5" and 4" is the best for correction. They don't absorb the product as much as the regular foams.
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He's using a rotary, going to a 4 inch pad will burn through paint a lot easier than a 6-8 inch pad. I would only use a 4 inch in spaces where a larger pad won't fit.
 
Cody40691 said:
Well for pads I am just totally unsure on what to look for. I know there are cutting pads, polishing pads, and finishing pads but other than that I don't know what to think! Will the same pad do just as good of a job on single stage as it does on a 2 stage paint? I will be working with both



Yes I mostly want to correct swirls, and mainly want to achieve an almost 100% swirl free finish on my truck and the other cars can be 70 or 80%.
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No need for a cutting pad to remove swirls, I'd stick with polishing and finishing. Under the edge system I would try Super Intensive Polish with a green pad and follow up with Final Polish II or Super Nano with a Blue pad, then if you want apply a glaze with the white or go straight to your LSP.
 
dan46n2 said:
He's using a rotary, going to a 4 inch pad will burn through paint a lot easier than a 6-8 inch pad. I would only use a 4 inch in spaces where a larger pad won't fit.
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That's DA advice, rotary is less agressive with a smaller pad. Has to do with surface speed and pad circumference.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
That's DA advice, rotary is less agressive with a smaller pad. Has to do with surface speed and pad circumference.
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Good catch there, that makes sense since a pad rotates fastest at the outside edges compared to the inside. I thought the DA rule applied to the rotary as well, thanks for correcting me.



Even so it would be a pain to do the whole car with a 4 inch pad, it would take forever.
 
its a very hard paint. There are light swirls and a couple of deeper scratches that need taken care of that I'm not sure the 09 will take care of on it's own.
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How about attacking the "deeper scratches" by hand, and then using the rotary to buff out the light swirls? :xyxthumbs
 
If the deep scratches are few, you may just want to polish them to make them less noticeable vs removing lots of clear for a total correction. Start with a light polish and see if you like the results.





Also, very important, do you have a maintenance routine already? No use correcting a car that will get demolished after a few washes.
 
GoudyL said:
How about attacking the "deeper scratches" by hand, and then using the rotary to buff out the light swirls? :xyxthumbs
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That is probably what I will do!





scary bill said:
If the deep scratches are few, you may just want to polish them to make them less noticeable vs removing lots of clear for a total correction. Start with a light polish and see if you like the results.





Also, very important, do you have a maintenance routine already? No use correcting a car that will get demolished after a few washes.
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I have a maintenance routine on my truck already. It gets washed about once a week, 2 bucket method. I haven't corrected it in the 3 years I've owned it but I do apply a cleaner-wax every couple months. I just want to take it up a notch and begin a more autopian approach to it!



The other cars I will be working on get washed by me also unless my dad does it before me but in a less frequent amount. They are never taken through the swirlomatic and if they are taken to a carwash its the touchless kind.
 
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