Which Polish? 105/205 or others?

T

topspin2006

New member
Just ordered a GG polisher and wanted to know what is the best value in a polish. I'm looking to remove swirls on some cars and just polish out newer cars. Is the 105/205 combo the best value? It seems it gets good reviews, although some say it does dry and dust a bit. I've also read that it does the job quickly and that you should not let it dry out. 4 or 5 section passes are supposedly enough.



Am I better off getting something in the Pinnacle line or others?



I was going to go with Chemical Guys scratch n swirl remover but it seems no one really uses it much and the Meguiars combo is sort of a standard. So I'm leaning towards that one.
 
I'd stick with the M105/M205.



Only products I'd consider instead would be Menzerna (or the stuff they make for others).



But I'd go with the M105/M205 first.
 
Accumulator said:
I'd stick with the M105/M205.



Only products I'd consider instead would be Menzerna (or the stuff they make for others).



But I'd go with the M105/M205 first.
Click to expand...



+1 to this. I personally would go with Menzerna, but 105/205 is a great combo.
 
I'm surprised at the mention of Menzerna. I've read through quite a few threads and read some comments that were not too favorable. Oh well everyone has their preference. I just hesitated to order the Megs because I know they sell a lot of over the counter stuff and I even bought their scratch x (not a fan). I hope 105/205 are a lot better.
 
The M205 doesn't dust near as much as the M105. You can always get Megs Ultimate Compound to use as a replacement for the M105 as it doesn't dust near as much and has almost the same cut.
 
topspin2006 said:
I'm surprised at the mention of Menzerna. I've read through quite a few threads and read some comments that were not too favorable. Oh well everyone has their preference. I just hesitated to order the Megs because I know they sell a lot of over the counter stuff and I even bought their scratch x (not a fan). I hope 105/205 are a lot better.
Click to expand...



105/205 is as good as they come. So is Menzerna.
 
105/205 are great depending on the way you polish as well as the finishes you work on. They tend to work a bit shorter for me, which sometimes I like, other times I just need to finish up with 85RD from Menzerna if working on dark colors
 
I'll mostly be working on a 2002 Acura MDX. I'm not sure how the paint compares to others. It's pretty badly swirled though and I get the impression it has a hard clearcoat, but I'm really not sure.



If I do go with Menzerna instead of Megs, which products should I get that are comparable to the Megs? Menzerna sure has some funny product codes.
 
I would get the Megs Ultimate compound instead of 105 as it does not dust and is great for a OTC product, but certainly m205 and I have Menzerna 85rd for the dark colors to really stand out. I have a lot of other polishes but I seem to go to UC/205 more than not
 
An other vote here for the Ultimate Compound. I was in the same boat as you, topspin. Just got a GG polisher and was wondering where to start. I'm just an enthusiast, so I wanted to start cheap with OTC stuff. I got Meg's Ultimate Compound and the SwirlX (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE SCRATCHX!!). Have had really impressive results for OTC, not to mention my first time with a machine. I'm in the process of upgrading my pads (red pad seems to absorb too much liquid, but it's a great pad to work with other than that), and I'm interested in some more aggressive cutting pads and different sizes than the GG orange. Then I will either move to M105/205 or do some more research on Mezerna cause I have heard lots of good things about it on this board.



I don't know anything about paint/clear coat thickness/hardnesses. But FWIW my first detail was a '99 XJ Jag, with this interesting black metal flake color. It was stolen, beat the **** out of (mechanically speaking--the paint needed very little correction, even for a '99) and then miraculously recovered. It has been garaged for half its life, and kept in a carport for the other half its life (except for the 6 months after it was stolen and MIA). Anyways, this was the car I got to test detail, and like I said, very impressed with the Ultimate Compound and and to an extent the SwirlX. I even restored my friend's yellowed headlights with the Ultimate Compound :)
 
Ive been polishing for years, but have just started paying attention to what the Autopia community is saying. I've always used Poorboy's products on the cars I refinish, namely SSR2.5 > Pro Polish > EX Sealant.



I've been hearing about this Meguiars 105/205 combo a tonne lately! Am I in the completely wrong boat using Poorboy's stuff? I've only stuck with it because of it's ease of use and amazing smell, it's performance has never really knocked my socks off.



Will I be faster and more efficient using M105 and M205 with a sealant on top?
 
ThrillHo: Sounds like you are having fun with your GG. I'm looking forward to trying it out. I went ahead and ordered the 105/205 combo. I asked Matt at Autogeek if I was better off with the Ultimate Compound due to less dusting, but he said the new 105 DA dusts less than the old one and is just fine. I was about to go with Menzerna but I just can't justify the price based on the car I'll be working on. If I was detailing high end cars for a living, then I'd just go with Menzerna. BTW, I still have some other polishes in stock. I have a pack of Cargroom polish that I've used by hand for many years. It will be fun to try it with the GG. I also have a light compound from Chemical Guys. It's not the best one, but it will be good for light corrections. I also have some Scratch X. I'm not a fan of it but I'm sure it will be decent with the GG.
 
topspin2006 said:
ThrillHo: Sounds like you are having fun with your GG. I'm looking forward to trying it out. I went ahead and ordered the 105/205 combo. I asked Matt at Autogeek if I was better off with the Ultimate Compound due to less dusting, but he said the new 105 DA dusts less than the old one and is just fine.
Click to expand...

I think that was a smart call man, in restrospect I probably should have done that, but given that I was detailing a jag as my first car, I was pretty nervous and since it was female owned (NO SEXISM INTENDED) she really didn't care if I got the car looking showroom quality or not.



topspin2006 said:
I also have some Scratch X. I'm not a fan of it but I'm sure it will be decent with the GG.
Click to expand...

The Scratch X comes in that 7 oz upside down squeeze bottle or something right? Please don't confuse that with the SwirlX which is what I was talking about. The ScratchX is more for spot correction. The SwirlX is basically an OTC version of M205, albeit probably not quite as good since it is OTC. By all means use it for serious spot correction if the M105 can't handle it, but I don't think you'll be needing it, plus I just wanted to clarify the difference between the ScratchX and the SwirlX which I myself confused until I actually looked at the bottles and bought the SwirlX.



ScratchX for spot correction

p84695z.jpg




SwirlX. The poor man's OTC M205 :woot2:

p93566z.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top