Thoughts on LSP following Presta workout

rydawg said:
haha Tom...don't be scared. It's not the wool that is bad it's the compounds some use that are dangerous. Presta was designed for wool with the best results. You will or should get great results and the gloss will pop out of your paint. That is my well kept secret that I have used for 10 years and I am sharing with you and most here.
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Yeah, no doubt! I am done and CANNOT believe how smooth the Makita runs with these two pads...it's friggin' amazing. A complete pleasure to work with.



I've only worked on the old jalopy tonight. Paint has a clarity and smoothness I've never seen before and I've had this buggy for about 7 yrs. The Ultra Cut Creme was good, I suspect I could have used the more aggressive version with a coarser pad. I got a lot of the scratches out...one or two severe scratches remain, but are greatly improved. The clarity of the paint is really impressive.



Pictures to follow in a few mins...I am waiting for the 1Z Glanz Wax to cure. ;)



Process this evening: UCCL (green pad)>#1500 (blue pad)>Z*PX (blue Propel on PC)>1Z Glanz Wax (grey finishing pad on PC)



Again, these Presta pads are remarkably smooth.:xyxthumbs I wounldn't hesitate recommending them.
 
Here's my rolling test bed. 1995 Buick, approx 160k miles. Medium Garnet Red Metallic still looks very decent when cleaned up. I washed this afternoon with Meg's #00.



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All pictures intentionally taken with harsh lighting. Deck lid and roof of this car are hurtin'.



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First step. Presta UCC Light on green Presta pad. Big improvement, I could have used the more aggressive product if I had it. I normally don't deal with stuff like this and am not going to worry about it.



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next step was the Presta #1500 on the blue Presta pad. Nice odor ;) Much finer product compared to previous stage. All these products finish up with virtually no residue, very clean to work with.



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Z*PC on a blue PROPEL pad via Porter-Cable. Another very pleasant smelling product, I thought I was in a spa :hm



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Glanz Wax applied with grey pad + Porter-Cable...got it on kinda heavy.



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These are all finished shots:



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Looks great tom. Are you working the 1500 in till it dissapears into a deep gloss?



Funny part is I have done so many of those cars in that same color with presta 1500.
 
Rydawg was not kidding when he said the wool cleans and levels the surface better than anything else. It's amazing how smooth the surface is. Paint looks clean and fresh....I guess like a brandy-new car.



My only concern is that the UCCL is not going to have enough bite for my real project which I plan to attack tomorrow. The Benz clearcoat is so hard that the UCCL may not get the job done. I guess I'll do only one panel and see if I am getting adequate correction. Otherwise, I'll go ahead and get the next coarser polish and work on it later.



I'm real pleased with this investment. Any power PC user would be thrilled with the results. This setup gets the job done in short order! Ryan wasn't joking when he said it's the "next level". NICE !!
 
rydawg said:
Looks great tom. Are you working the 1500 in till it dissapears into a deep gloss?
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Thanks. Yes, I am having absolutely no trouble with the pads or the polishes. They are truly a pleasure to work with.



I'm just concerned that the UCCL may not take care of the Benz car wash marks. I'll determine that in the AM.
 
looking good!!

Tom if you concerned about UCCL not having enough bite you could try doing a panel 2 times and see how that goes
 
Yeah, I'll probably have to do that. Thanks for the suggestion.



It's strange, when you rub the UCCL on your fingers, it feels quite coarse. I suspect I'll get more action once the pads break in a bit.
 
Like I said Tom, Presta and edge have nailed it with this combo.



For much deeper scratches, I use the yellow wool or black. The black is a 100% twisted wool and that probably what you need on the MB. Try the 1500 polish on the green pad and work it in. I have had great results removing scratches with it.



The UCCL has the self diminishing abrasives which break down fast. Sometimes the 1500 polish removes scratches better.

When I did that black pontiac, The best combo on that tough paint was swirl remover on a yellow pad. Try different things.



The 1500 polish does smell very good, but the zpc is the best smelling stuff ever. Nice kiwi smell. Your garage will smell good.
 
Also, the regular UCC compound is very coarse. Using that stuff you need to use heavy caution. It's used on show cars after painting/wetsanding or restoring gloss to the beyond beat paint finishes. It's desinged for the black 100% twisted wool pad mainly. Will remove almost every scratch and will restore gloss to the fullest. It's like Powergloss but a tad stronger with less dust. I have done tons of cars with it and it works. But like I said it's really gritty and needs to be used by someone with exp. Cuts very fast, but does break down pretty fast. Does need to be followed up with some 1500 polish or swirl remover.
 
atticdog said:
how long did it take to do the trunk?

both polishing steps?
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The polishing took only a couple of minutes per step. I think I could have been running the machine faster, but was trying to minimize the flinging.



The car is covered with fur right now from the new pads. I'll roll it outside, it'll probably blow away in the wind. I'd like to get some pictures in the natural light.
 
rydawg said:
Also, the regular UCC compound is very coarse. Using that stuff you need to use heavy caution. It's used on show cars after painting/wetsanding or restoring gloss to the beyond beat paint finishes. It's desinged for the black 100% twisted wool pad mainly. Will remove almost every scratch and will restore gloss to the fullest. It's like Powergloss but a tad stronger with less dust. I have done tons of cars with it and it works. But like I said it's really gritty and needs to be used by someone with exp. Cuts very fast, but does break down pretty fast. Does need to be followed up with some 1500 polish or swirl remover.
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OK, thanks for the warning. I'll try to make do with what I've got. I am not in any rush today and can spend several hours with it if needed.



The only other "aggressive" products I have are Meg's #83 and the Optimum Polish. I've tried both of those before (not with wool) and didn't get any correction. However, the Optimum did leave the surface very glossy - - no surprises there.



These Presta polishes are easier to work with than I would have imagined. There is the downside of having to clean up the material from adjacent panels and the accumulations from cracks and crevices...that I don't like. I will say the result is smoother than anything I've ever achieved before. I was hoping this would give me a new "tool" and I feel it has. Time permitting, I am going to do the front fenders and hood on the silver car. I suspect the big gloss on silver paintwork could be dramatic. I'll likely do #1500>SMR> and use AJT for my LSP since that's already on the car.



It's a little painful to do this since the cars were done very late fall and appear to still have excellent protection and a nice gloss. The white car is coated with AJT followed up with CG 5050....that is still beading like mad. Well, all in the name of science and experimenation! Right, guys :chuckle:
 
I suspect many of us could get away with just the blue pad (+adapter) and the Presta #1500 polish.
 
atticdog said:
looks great!

did everything come out?
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Well, no. However, I can report these polishes are a pleasure to work with - - they provide excellent indication when they’re done and there’s essentially no residue left. I’ve never had an experience like that before when using a direct drive polisher.



I had a revealation while doing the trunk lid which is quite scratched on the white car, too. I had finished the UCCL>1500> SMR sequence and realized there were still a ton of scratches. My patience was wearing thin and I decided I'd better have another go since it’s a small area. I'm glad I did. This time I exerted a lot more force on the Makita and cranked the speed higher (to 3 1/2). I repeated the (UCCL>1500> SMR) sequence and can report that 95% of the scratches and car wash damage are now gone. I was very pleased to see this.



I've spent a bit of time this evening inspecting the hood of the white car and see that I've improved the scratches by 50%, but I will need to repeat the job using more pressure. Same deal on the Buick. The Buick has a lot of acid rain damage and the etch marks are tough to address. I don't think I am going to spend any more time on that car...I believe I was starting to see red (paint) on one of the pads.



This certainly was a trial 'n' error session for me. A good learning experience and one that tells me the PC, on its own, leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to thoroughly cleaning the paint and leaving a supreme gloss. Clarity, surface smoothness and luster are remarkable- - there's just no comparison between the two techniques. I would have little reluctance recommending the Presta pad (+adapter) and the #1500 polish to folks here assuming they have a conventional polisher.



I did do the nose (front fenders + hood) of the silver car; UCCL>1500> SMR>AJT. While I didn't see a dramatic change, it looked good and left a glossy finish like I've never seen before.



The #1500 polish is the heart of this system. I hope most folks won’t need the UCCL…I will not need it in the future once correction has been achieved. I really don’t know what level of "correction" others are dealing with. Both SMRs (Z*PC or Presta SMR) were fine, but probably not needed. Don’t most of us have one or two comparable products sitting on the shelf already? I know I’ve got a bunch.



Enjoy.
 
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