Trusty Old Meguiars #83

It was one of these days for the Menzerna polishes again - flashing instantly on spreding, clumping up, and just generally nor smoothly breaking down and being a nuiscance to get to finish properly...



So, on today's detail (will write it up when its completed tomorrow), I decided to revisit an old friend. :) Meguiars #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish.



On a Jaguar S-type with general swilrs and many RDS, I was needing a medium abrasive polish to remove the marks and ideally finish down LSP ready on its own without the need for following - knowing how well Menz can perform, I am now extremely fussy about the clarity of finishes - the finish has to be crystal sharp, the flake has to ping. The vast majority of the qulaity of the finish comes from the polishing stage, so for me, this *has* to be spot on, no question. When Menz plays up, it doesn't *feel* spot on even though it may look it, and the feeling of the rotary performance throughout the set does for me have a big impact on how happy I am with the resulting finish.



So, it was out with #83 today... Here's the paint before hand:







So, a line of product on the pad to get it started, and spread at 600rpm, then a couple of passes at 1200rpm and then for me up to 1800rpm. I find the steady breakdown of #83 to work better at this slightly higher speed personally. Mid set, the rotary gliding happily and easily and feeling great, me happy, and as you can see, the polish working nice and evenly:







After about four or five minutes at 1800rpm (yes, that long), the residue was nearly all gone, so reduce to 1200rpm for a couple of finishig passes - the residue nearly completely vanished:







What was left there buffed away with ease (unlike the fussy Menz residues when the product is playing up). The set certainly felt "right". The results:







Spot on under the gun! Very happy with the clarity of the finish, the flake was alive and the finsih looked crystal clear. I was happy, but the real test was genuine sunlight:











No hint of a hologram, and a finish that looked crystal sharp. I was very pleaqsed and all with great ease as well - no need for spritzing or mixing, just a polish which worked from start to finish and performed well.



On its day, when its on song, there's Menzern ceramiclear products are superb and they work so very well.... But when they go off, they are just a nightmare compared to other polishes - for me, the #83 ws just so easy to use, and has proven reliable in a wide variety of conditions. As a product to look too if the Menz plays up, or in fact just as a damn good polish that works well and performs well, Meguiars #83 is right up there with the best of them. Look out for more details by me using this polish now, as I reaffirmed my liking for it and confidence in it today. :thumb:
 
what? somebody actually promoting a megs product here ?! what gives !! JK.





i've had years of success with #83, but for general polishing i've 'graduated' to #85. i think its slicker than #83 and less gummy. its not too harsh either, especially with a white polishing pad - try it if ya havent already !



nice to see a good result from other than a 'botique'.



real nice work btw.
 
Dave KG said:
On its day, when its on song, there's Menzern ceramiclear products are superb and they work so very well.... But when they go off, they are just a nightmare compared to other polishes - for me, the #83 ws just so easy to use, and has proven reliable in a wide variety of conditions. As a product to look too if the Menz plays up, or in fact just as a damn good polish that works well and performs well, Meguiars #83 is right up there with the best of them. Look out for more details by me using this polish now, as I reaffirmed my liking for it and confidence in it today. :thumb:



I have always had good luck with DACP as it leaves a very nice finish. A follow up with #80 works wonders for me. The only real downside is not able to use it in the sun and that it will dust and gum up after awhile. I've currently been using Optimum Compound as I prefer it now, but their are times that DACP is necessary.
 
I agree completely. Despite all the #83 hate here, I have found it to be an excellent, dead reliable medium grade polish. Plus, it works on single stage paint like nothing else. :)
 
Scottwax said:
I agree completely. Despite all the #83 hate here, I have found it to be an excellent, dead reliable medium grade polish. Plus, it works on single stage paint like nothing else. :)



Just yesterday I had to pull it out of the closet and back in to my arsenal as I had some severe water spotting on the decklid of my black Mustang. Optimium compound with a yellow pad just wasn't able to get the most severe out so I gave it a try with DACP and zapped them out after a few good passes. For some odd reason, I keep trying to go away from it, but it keeps impressing me every time I use it. The only drawback is that it will dust and can't be used effectively in the sun, but minor problems compared to the results that are achieved. Plus it's available locally.
 
mikebai1990 said:
I've still had a lot of dusting and gumming up with my #83. Do you guys think that the type of paint may influence this?



Those are two traits that have made me try and get away from it, but the gumming can be reduced by not using as much product and the dusting can be reduced by not over working to long. It's a product that takes a little more finessing than most but I find the results are more than worth the little extra time to follow up with a QD to eliminate the dusting.
 
I used #83 for the first time last weekend and I loved it! You don't need a ton of product and it didn't dust bad for me.....no more then the SSR line!



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mikebai1990 said:
It's actually designed to be used with a dual action polisher, hence Dual Action Cleaner Polish.



haha,, all these years i thought 'dual action' meant there was two types of cleaners in the product.....chem cleaners and abrasives... hence 'dual action' !



i've already learned somethin today...



:idea actually whats on the bottle, the same dude with the rotary or is their a dA polisher on the front label....actually forget it, who cares:waxing:
 
Well, I don't think it means chem cleaners and abrasives, but now that you mention it: The 83 also has diminishing abrasives, meaning that the abrasives become finer and finer as you work the product. Maybe this is what it means by dual action? I'm not so sure now :)
 
Scottwax said:
I agree completely. Despite all the #83 hate here, I have found it to be an excellent, dead reliable medium grade polish. Plus, it works on single stage paint like nothing else. :)





I haven't been around this forum much lately. People here hate #83? I don't understand why. I love that product. Its my go-to polish when all else fails... my ever reliable friend, etc.
 
The name "Dual Action" refers to the fact that it has a diminishing abrasive as well as some gloss enhancing "pure polish", in Meguiar's terminology.



The idea is that you can use the product for both paint cleaning/polishing and adding shine all in one use. The "Dual Action" is paint cleaning/abrading/polishing and adding gloss.



Since it's been one of my favorites from when it was introduced, I'll give it another vote of confidence. I have used gallons of the product personally and went through cases when I had my shop. I almost always use the Meguiar's W8000 yellow foam polishing pad. On occasion, I'll use the W7000 burgundy cutting pad. I use it with a rotary polisher.



Dave, good work with the product.
 
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