Right, I have done some searching and I believe ultimate compound is a paint restorer and is a step up from polish so it should be quite good at paint correction.

I also understand that ultra cut compound is very aggressive and is not really necessary for a first time DA user.

My question now is what products can I use from my current collection and what else do I require? I am not sure if any of the products I have are capable of polishing the car prior to a final wax, am I correct?

 

Products I used on my Leon were
Hex pads orange and black
Autobrite restore and final finish
Autobrite cherry glaze
Autobrite project 32
Poorboys nattys paste wax

Not sure about the products you have got as have never used them especially the t-cut,megs ultimate compound is quite a good one from what I have heard,maybe go over the car with 205 after uc.what pads you got?

 

If you are wet sanding you will need to buy the megs ultra cut compound especially as you're using a DA.

I wet sanded at the weekend - http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=311523&page=2

Used the DA to begin with using a compound which is a very heavy cut and it still took ages to buff up, in the end I went to the rotary using the same pad and compound but it corrected the sanding marks in a few minutes.

If using the DA with polish to remove sanding marks you will be there all day/week, use a compound at very least once compounded a couple of passes with fine polish will give you the desired results.

You could try using AG paint renovator as I used this on my test panel on both rotary and DA and it did work surprisingly well.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I have a few Meguiars Soft Buff 2.0 Finishing Pads and a few Meguiars Soft Buff 2.0 Polishing Pads.

I have seen your wet sanding thread already and it is really good. I read a thread which said if you use 2000 grit followed by 2500 and then 3000 the sanding marks are reduced enough to be able to polish out quite easily using products such as menzerna intensive polish or meguiars 83 (dual action cleaner polish).

I am guessing that I could use the Farecla G3 scratch remover to remove the sanding marks followed by a less aggressive product that I already have. I am not 100% sure of that though.

I have read that some autoglym products have fillers which I do not want, I would rather remove the scratches properly. I don't think I have a polish in my collection and would like some advice on a polish that will not break the bank but will work well on black cars. Any ideas?

 

Thank you, I was aiming to give it one hit with the paper and straight to compound as I did this on a test panel and I could quickly remove the marks using the rotary but not so quick with a DA but yes as you say if you go up the grades less effort will be required when polishing.

You could use megs 105/205 and they come in a smaller size for about £30 I believe for both or the 1litre bottles both come to about £60-70, they will leave a brilliant finish.

 

Ok so would something like Megs Ultimate Compound do the trick followed by a polish or not?

 

Meguiars names can be very confusing but I think the Ultra Cut is 105 and the Diamond Cut is 85. If it is 85 then this is really aimed more at the rotary than DA. If you do have 105 then this is a very nice compound which will work well on most paints. I have not used the Ultimate Compound but this seems to be a milder version of 105, I have no idea how well it finishes so you may or may not need something softer eg Megs 205

I would gain experience and become comfortable with the DA before trying out the sandpaper. Always start with the least aggressive combination first.

 

Wow, the wealth of knowledge on this forum is incredible, there is so much to read!

I think I am going to get some ultimate compound and some ultimate polish and I will use 3000 grit to finish the sanding procedure. Apparently the UC and UP are more friendly to first time users.

I will probably get the megs stuff unless people can recommend products that can compete in finish and price when used with a DA polisher.

My question now is which pads should I be using for what? I have Megs 2.0 soft buff polishing and finishing pads.

 

You could use the UC with the polishing pad and the UP with the finishing pad. One alternative to the Megs Ultimate products is Optimum, no dusting, near endless work time and very easy to clean up with a damp cloth plus they are very smooth products to work with. I do not doubt the abilities of the Ultimate range but the Optimum polishes are lovely to use.

One thing to bear in mind with the Megs pads, they are larger than normal and this means they will have less cut than a conventional size pad. I would also consider some spot pads for small areas such as door frames, oh, I whilst I am spending your money, get some masking tape.

Edit. Just a quick thought on the Megs Ultimate Polish, is this a glaze as well as polish

 

Ok that is good information to think about. You are definitely right about the masking tape, I know that is a must. I will look into smaller pads but do I need a different counter weight for the machine for the smaller pad?

Also I do not know what you mean by glaze? I would be applying a sealant or polish after.

 

I did a quick search and it seems the Ultimate Polish appears to be a polish/glaze http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/glazes/meguiars-ultimate-polish/prod_874.html which means it will have some polishing (cutting) abilities and will also hide minor swirls. There is obviously nothing wrong with a glaze but it may not be what you want

 

I am leaning towards getting Megs UCompound and Megs UPolish as I think they will give good enough results for what I am looking for.

I will only be correcting swirl marks and minor paint defects on most cars and then will want to add a deep gloss followed by a wax.

On the few cars with stone chips and scratches that will require any wet sanding I will get some 3000 grit (or higher if possible) to reduce the sanding marks, I will use the Farecla G3 Scratch removal paste to remove the worst of the scratches and then finish with UC then UP and finally Wax.

Does this combination of products sound capable and realistic or am I just talking rubbish?

(as for the glaze I think it would be good as it will help to bridge the gap between the UC and UP)

 

Not used any G3 products but I would expect the Ultimate Compound to easily remove 3000 grit marks. If the Ultimate Polish sounds like the product you want then just finish with a wax

 

These are the results I got from using G3 scratch removal paste with the waffle applicator. I only did one pass and used a little water spray near the end. I am extremely impressed with the results. It is not a scratch however it has done very well in my opinion.

I will hopefully get some polish soon and when I have a little more time I will get to work on my car and see what I can do.

 

These are the results I got from using G3 scratch removal paste with the waffle applicator. I only did one pass and used a little water spray near the end. I am extremely impressed with the results. It is not a scratch however it has done very well in my opinion.

http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s453/aymen_a22/photoshake_137235805151801_zpsa69c4750.jpg
I will hopefully get some polish soon and when I have a little more time I will get to work on my car and see what I can do.[/quote]

Sorry I've only skim read this thread, but G3 is more of a body shop compound product used to bringing wet sanded clearcoat (fresh) back to a gloss. the next logical step in the farleca series would be G10, and then a finishing polish like Menzerna R85 or FF#### (I say this because Menzerna is bodyshop safe so it would be a logical choice since the previous products are body shop orientated too)

You say you're going to follow up with some megs products though so you should be okay (I'm not familiar with the megs stuff though) I think you might be starting off a bit too aggressively though to be honest. Does your car really need wet sanding then polishing back? Most people would tell you to start with the least aggressive solution first then work backwards to see what you really need. Not sure why no one has mentioned this yet. You could also consider an all in one product like Sonax perfect finish, or others which will do a lot of correction but may not tackle deep RDS.

All of the products you mention in your original post are all quite aggressive compounds - how have you ended up with such an extensive collection of compounds?

I'm just worried that you're not going to have any paint left on the car to polish after all of these compounding pastes and processes!

Rick

 

Hello and thank you for your reply.

The collection of product I own have been bought and given to me by various people and I don't really use that many of them.

I understand what you are saying about using the least aggressive products first however I have a large deep scratch to contend with and many stone chips, both of which will require wet sanding (I believe).

I have not heard of many other products and I am struggling with the numerous Megs products that all seem to overlap in function. Do you know how the Sonax perfect finish compares to the Megs Ultimate Polish?

There is so much choice!

 

Ah right! I thought maybe you had come from a bodyshop background or something as there's some classics in there!

I don't know how it compares against megs' polishes as I have not used any of them. Different people are going to recommend different things though all based on personal preference. That sonax polish is the latest hot topic of interest and it's getting people exited (including me since using it) but it might not be right for what you need - I don't think it will tackle deep scratches but it's a good contender to do the last two steps in one; refining and final finish / gloss leaving you only needing a compound to start with for the heavy corrections. it's a bit of a miracle product for the amount of correction it offers with such a good finish.

You will find the overlapping products thing with a lot of brands, it's very frustrating! Menzerna have 10's of products which according to the descriptions overlap vastly. I think it's down to manufacturers wanting to shout about what their products can do by saying each one does [nearly] everything - making the one next to it invalid - why have 10 variations? it's annoying and you are going to come across it over and over again!

[edit] this may help but I'm not sure if it's using the same names / codes as you are http://www.auto-geek.net/charts/wax-cut-chart-master.htm ]

 

Nah I am definitely not from a bodyshop.

I think I will probably stick with Meguiars UC and UP for now as I think it has potential to give enough paint correction and polishing to get a finish that to most people would think is very good without the risk of damaging the paint.

When I get round to removing the stone chips I will try the G3 scratch remover and a few applications of UC.

That link is great, it shows very clearly what products are available within each level.

When I get round to sorting out the car I will try and get some before and after shots.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

There are various cutting charts available on Internet which I've found useful - http://www.autopiaforums.com/Todd-Helme/polish-chart.jpg

 

Really useful website thanks very much.

I have bought some Meguiars Ultimate Compound and all I will say is WOW.