Quote:
Originally Posted by Junkman2008
You and I are at two different levels of paint correction. If OTC products satisfy you, then great. I on the other hand choose to use a professional grade product and my results reflect that.
Again, you are looking at this from an amateur standpoint. Using a PC on a setting of 5 with 9-14 pounds of pressure in combination with a normal to light cutting polish and pad will not require a paint thickness gauge. Using a PC on a setting of 6 with massive pressure and a yellow pad containing 3M super duty cutting compound is another animal. It totally depends on your setup with the PC as to how dangerous or lenient it will be. Also, it is smart to know exactly how much clear AND paint is on the car before you get wicked aggressive with it. I more than cover these topics in my many video series. You should take a look at them.
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Please don't try and talk to me like I'm one of the novices browsing this forum that know nothing about the subject. I've been detailing for many years on a personal and professional level.
When it comes to polishes, I stick with the ones I like that provide the best results. Megs 105 and 205 handle mostly everything I encounter when doing a professional detail. I'll switch it up with poorboys SSR if need be, or resort to Menz SIP followed by IP and then their final polish. You see, I can use whatever professional polish you can (except for the testers that certain manufacturers send me to test for them). I have plenty of friends that work at autogeek (which is by far my favorite place to buy products, and is close to an hour drive..which I make often) and have taken several classes with Mike Phillips and can honestly say I know what I am doing and I am talking about.
In most cases, and in the case of a 1-2 year old 370Z, you're not going to need a yellow pad with the mentioned 3M products to remove swirls. Not to mention, if you need that much of a cut, you shouldn't be wasting your time with a PC in the first place and should move on to a rotary and a wool pad (You know, what an ACTUAL PROFESSIONAL WHO KNOWS HIS TRADE WELL would do..). For most details I encounter, and even with hard paint such as a corvette or BMW's, I find the most I need to go for correction is a yellow (which is rare) or orange pad with 105 using my flex. That will get the majority of scratches/swirls out and leaves just a *slight* marring which 105 on a white pad will clear right up. Hell, using the KBM with a white pad, 105 and my PC can provide proper paint correction and basically leave the paint ready for my LSP (and yes, I verify with a sun gun and halogen lights. Every step. Every time). Never, not once, on any of the many cars that I have done have I gone through a clearcoat.
Heck, even after wetsanding orange peel or wetsanding a touched up deep scratch (1500-2000-3000 grit) I have never needed to resort to a yellow pad with that aggressive of a compound (even though I have it sitting around just in case).
The Meguiars ultimate compound is decent for over the counter. Much more cut than 205 and not as much as 105. It shares the same micro-abrasive technology as the 2 mentioned products and is more abrasive than their scratch X product. So for the average consumer that doesn't know any better, it is a good choice when dealing with swirl marks.
Being you have established yourself as a professional detailer, you should know how incredibly hard BMWs paint (especially the leguna seca blue found on e46 m3's) is correct? Just given a couple of photos, I want to know what method you would normal take to correct this:
2001 Leguna Seca M3:
Would this even require a yellow pad with the 3m compound mentioned before?