What do I look for when polishing??

A

Altimazzz

New member
I did a test on my Grand Caravan today. Just did the hood with M205/white pad via the PC7424. Did the 50/50 thing in the middle of the hood---I could see no difference at all. How long do you polish in one location?? And what is "flash"?? I may need to use M105 first, but not really sure. Guess it cant hurt huh...I passed over the area for maybe about 2 minutes, then wiped away the left overs.....Am I doing it wrong or ????:cursing::cursing::confused::confused::confused:
 
I'm probably the last guy that should be answering this... but what the heck!

First off, what are you seeing on the hood? Is it swirled, are there random scratches all over the car?

"Flashing"... instead of answering it myself, I'll quote what Mike Phillips once wrote on Meguiars.

The word flashing is usually used to describe the way a thin solvent evaporates quickly.

M105 is not a thin solvent so my guess would be it's people trying to describe the product drying?
Click to expand...

So, in lay-speak, when people say "flash" it means when the particular product has gotten to the point where it is no longer properly performing its intended function (so maybe it has dried up - or is no longer present on the surface).

Back to your issue...

M205 is not a very aggressive product but can certainly correct swirls, but it is very contingent upon many factors, such as pad choice, pad size and the paint itself (is it hard or soft).

If say you used your PC on speed setting 4 or 5 with a 7 inch Meguiars polishing pad, you probably aren't going to have too much success with correction work. On the other hand, if you use M205 in conjunction with a 4" flat pad on speed setting six, you *might* see more correction.

You'll see that many pros here will mark out a test spot so that they can dial in on a combination that works for on a particular paint. It sounds like you are working in the right direction, you just need to find out what combo is going to work for you.

You could jump right to M105 (which has much more cut) or you could try something in between, like swirlx or scratchX 2 (or many of the Menzerna polishes which I don't use so I won't talk about).

As for working time...

Again, this varies from one situation to another and is dependent on other factors as well. For example, if it is super hot and the surface of the car is hot, I find M105/M205 dry up really quickly (M105 in particular). If however, you've primed your pad and you are using M205 on a clean cool surface, you should be able to polish an area for 3 minutes (or possibly more).

I hope this helps.
 
:iagree: with what he said!:biggrin:

One thing you need to consider is pressure.

This combination will do very little for paint correction:

PC, M205, white pad, NO pressure, few passes.

Correction requires cut, pressure and time.

Try a little more polish, speed 5 or 6 and about 10-12 pounds of pressure. (place the PC on your bathroom scale to determine pressure... it weighs about 5.5 pounds)...

Take some pictures of your hood in direct sunlight to find swirlmarks, micromarring, etc. Then tape off the 50/50 and do your polishing... Sunlight pic again should reveal some differences.:biggrin:
 
Wow great response User Name, I didn't know you had it in you! :hurray::smile:

A couple points.

The purpose of a test section is really to test a small area to make sure that you can a) remove the swirl marks and b) restore the luster to the paint and create a show room shine after removing the swirl marks.

The fact that we can remove the tape, compare the difference, and even take photos of it is cool and worth the pat on the back, but it isn't the purpose.

In this case, the test spot worked for you. Imagine you would have spent three hours polishing the whole car, only to realize there was no difference.

When you inspect the test spot, make sure to use a bright light, preferably the sunlight, to ensure you are getting the results you want.

What results to look for? That depends on your goals, but in most cases this would be the removal of swirl marks and scratches.

As mentioned M205 is a pretty mild polish, and the white pad is a moderate polishing pad. While it might be necessary to step up to a more aggressive polish/pad combo, I would try again and focus on technique. Make sure to work a small section, no larger then 2 foot x 2 foot. Work with moderate pressure and slow armspeed in over lapping passes. Don't pressure so hard the pad stalls and stops rotating, but not so light that it doesn't spin.
 
I used the pads that came with the machine which were the 6.5 inch Lake Country pads. I think that I put plenty of pressure on the pad. The paint is in very good condition. The clear coat seems to be very hard, but there are some fine scratches, but nothing to worry about. It is white so hard to see them, even in the sun. I have tried to get some pics but they just dont show up very well. I think before I try my own car, which is a Nissan Altima-gray, the scratches show well on it, I am gonna get some of those smaller flat pads and give them a run.....Thanks for the input. I will try to get some pics to post so I can show you what I am dealing with.......:thumbup::thumbup::hurray:
 
Like I said, sounds like you are moving in the right direction and just might need a polish with more cut.

I think many people jump to M105 which might be premature because there is a lot of room (in terms of cut) between M205 and M105.
 
Altimazzz said:
I used the pads that came with the machine which were the 6.5 inch Lake Country pads. I think that I put plenty of pressure on the pad. The paint is in very good condition. The clear coat seems to be very hard, but there are some fine scratches, but nothing to worry about. It is white so hard to see them, even in the sun. I have tried to get some pics but they just dont show up very well. I think before I try my own car, which is a Nissan Altima-gray, the scratches show well on it, I am gonna get some of those smaller flat pads and give them a run.....Thanks for the input. I will try to get some pics to post so I can show you what I am dealing with.......:thumbup::thumbup::hurray:
Click to expand...

As stated before try to get your pictures on direct sunlight... you'll get the most dramatic before/after shots like that...:biggrin:
 
I was going to throw in with the pressure topic but as usual Luster beat me to it! When I was still attempting correction with my PC any number below 6 was useless to me and with that I still applied lots of pressure with very slow passes. Work time for me has always been product dependent but other than M105 I don't think I worked too many products for 2 minutes or less. I was usually in the 3-5 minute range but it comes with familiarity of what you're working with.

Lots of great advice for you that I can't add much more to. Keep pluggin' and good luck.
 
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