hey man, I have no doubts that you are very good and knowledgeable about products and such... I have been at it for several years myself and I know quite a bit as well. I know that the flex is an excellent machine... I just did the hood of my car with a white uber pad and Menzerna's final polish... it took the few scratches right out that I wanted... less cutting product with a white pad and FP and I got the results I wanted.
And just to show you i'm not just some beginner, here is one of my jobs.
This car was here waiting for me after vacation... a friend of my Mother's. I like the guy and am only charging him 215.00 for this work... It has taken me 4 days... i'm not sure about the hours, but around 25-30 is the most likely.
Zipwax car wash with 2 bucket method
Meguiars clay bar kit
Meguiars 105 compound
Menzerna FP
Orange CCS pad
Uber blue pad
Uber black pad
Klasse AIO (a sample from FJF)
Mother's cleaner wax
Meguiars hot rims chrome polish
Here are some befores:
I really tried to capture just how scratched up, dull, etc this paint really was, the hood is basically what the entire car looked like.. I mean paint from other cars bumping into it, deep scratches.. of course i'm thinking, yeah i'll use the flex and it'll all come right out... no problem... WRONG!! Here's a little of the interior.
These pics were actually after the wash and before the clay...
I couldn't get enough of how bad this hood was lol
I believe this was after the clay
Oh look, this is JUST from the top of the rear bumper...
No problem, i'll just turn it over right?
WRONG AGAIN!!!
Getting ready to get the compounding started
Looking over the car really well... this was a joy to see..
After some compound work:
The front bumper was in such bad shape and the scratches were so deep, I had to bite the bullet, get out a bucket and some 2000 grit paper and wetsand the entite front... here is a section after it had been sanded and part of it buffed.
More buffed out
Now I have started the Menzerna Final polish
So now I have started to put the Klasse AIO on, but first I go around the car to get rid of all the old wax left in between all of the body panels and here... to get this done I use a Q-tip with some alcohol...
It ends up turning out pretty good though. I am impressed with the Klasse's slickness and there is a noticeable difference from the paint that has been FP'ed to where the Klasse has been applied.
Tires and glass aren't completed yet, but the paint came out good...
These wheels are in bad shape... even using a very strong cleaner, much of the dust is still stuck on and I am using a cleaner wax to get it off... here is the center cap to show all of the oxidation this thing has suffered...
Here is a small section that has been cleaned with chrome polish... the wheels are going to take a bit longer, but I think you all get the idea... I have one idea... I should have charged MORE $$$$ lol