Meguiars #83 by PC and Rotary

[Kickin Griffin]

Revisited an old friend today - Meguiars #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish. This is the product I cut my teeth on when I first got my PC, and I remember getting good results from it... It never seems to get mentioned that much, and when it does it doesn't always get very good press, so I thought I'd revisit it to see how I got on with it after my experiences of some other polishes to compare it too.... So out with the scrap Peugeot door again, and away we go!! :lol:


By Porter Cable
I used to use this product at speed 3 to spread, the 5 for one pass and 6 for several passes... And it seemed to work well. But a quick test recently revealed better performance from just keeping it on speed 5. So this is how I applied it today...

First of all, a little steel wool was for the door to get some swirls:



Now, using a 6" Sonus SFX-1 pad, I spritzed with a little Last Touch and then applied an X of product onto the pad as shown...



Then dabbed this around an 18" square area on the door...



The was then spread at speed 3 for one fast pass with only light pressure...



Now upto speed 5 for several more passes. The key to #83 is to work it - it takes longer than other polishes to break down I find, so patience is required. I wokred this small area for about four or five minutes at speed 5 making slow passes with medium pressure until the polish went translucent...



The buffed off the residue with complete ease, not hard rubbing required, to reveal the finish after one hit: most light swilrs gone, left only with the deeper scratches...



A repeat of the above, and by PC, #83 has removed the vast majority of the steelwool marring...



Not the quickes polishof them all to use, but it certainlu does do the job if you are patient on the PC, and work the polish well until it is fully broken down. Removal of residue is a doddle too if the product has been fully worked. I remember why I liked this product so much - it works! :thumb:


By Rotary
Any excuse really at the moment for me to play with the new Makita!! :lol: :lol:

I decided to give #83 a go on the rotary. I just switched the primed SFX-1 pad across onto the rotary and gave the door another steelwool wash (dont worry, more scrap panels are on the way!! :lol: )...



Now, I applied a line of product to the door this time and picked it up with the rotary slightly tilted at 600rpm to prime the pad and then spread around an 18" square area at 600rpm. I then knocked the speed up to 1200rpm for a couple of passes with medium pressure and then finished off with several more passes at 2000rpm (the max for this product according to Megs) until the polish went translucent. Buff off the residue, here's the results:





And finally, just to show an older school product like #83 can still cut it in the reflection stakes, and final reflection shot...



It was nice to revisit this product, and confirm to myself that it really is a very good polish - effective at removing defects, and finishes very well indeed. By rotary I would rate it up there with the PO91L Menzerna IP, just a little slower in its work time. An excellent product, very underrated. I'll be ordering more soon! :thumb:

[TH0001]

nice write up, did you notice any holograming?

[scrub]

Thanks for documenting your work and results. Very good work.

[Kickin Griffin]

Originally posted by TH0001
nice write up, did you notice any holograming?

I tilted the panel every which way to see if I could find hollogramming - I thought I saw a little, but buffed with a little QD and it turned out just to be residue, in the end I couldn't see any - the finish was really good from the #83. In practice I would follow it with a 50/50 mix of #80 and #7 for added wettness and gloss and to refine the finish a little more before sealing in.

[acsuppa]

Nice job Kickin Griffin! I've recently bought some #83 for my wife's Jeep. I've used #80 many times in the past but I wanted something a little more aggresive. I can't wait to try it now. Hopefully I'll have good results like you had. I will be applying it with a PC and Meguiar's W8006 pad. Thanks.

[Elmer]

Good timing, I just bought a quart of #83 today, my local NAPA had it in stock! I had a sample of it, and practiced with it on the front end of my mini motorhome. I was just starting to get the hang of it when I ran out.

It made a huge improvement in a 6 year old vehicle that hadn't been waxed in years. Except for some slight spider webbing, it looks great! I'm going to go over it again this weekend and see if I can't completely get rid of the defects. The practice will come in handy for some friend's and familie's cars that are in pretty bad shape.

The advice about working it for a long time is right on the money. I didn't think it was doing anything when I first tried it. Took me a while to figure out it just wasn't broken down enough.

I'm planning on using M66 after the #83. Think that will take the place of going over it with #80? It would be nice to save a step.....

[Vincent]

How a hologram look like ?

[italian_spak]

IM looking forward to purchase and try out the M83 on my car. Last summer was my first attempt to detailing so i got myself the PC 7424, and some M80 to remove major swirl marks on my 2yrs old black Acura Tl(2004) but after all the hard work, all the swirls were still there and it really got me P*ssed off, so for this summer im looking forward to use M83 with a yellow cutting pad, i hope it does the job right just like everyone ive seen using it on the forum, i will make a thread and post some pics as well for what ive done last summer

[E-Jag]

I'm intrigued by your using a 50/50 mixture of 80 and 7. Don't know why I haven't considered that since I usually follow 80 with 7. This obviously works well for you. Do you notice any difference in application, like breaking down faster or slower? Great write-up, thanks!

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E-Jag

[Perfectshine]

Very old thread, i know..

I would like to see how this mixture of 80 and 7 turn out..