Advanced Class #2 - Pictures & Comments

[Maserati Mario]

Had an AWESOME TIME!! Love you guys! My toolbox of knowledge is getting full thanks to you guys!

[Maserati Mario]

My thoughts exactly!

Thanks to Meguiars for hosting events like this. Both of the Mike's (Pennington and Phillips) did a great job with the class. Information was presented in a thorough, comprehensive manner that reached both beginners and seasoned professionals. I encourage anyone who wants to elevate their skills, gain confidence and raise their game a notch to attend.

[Maserati Mario]

Two questions:
1. Where did you get that black flashlight(swirl light)?
2. Was is just too hot in Irvine to work on the car?

I was hot. Some of the cars, in the sun were as hot as 160 deg. The car we worked on was around 90 deg. I thought us how to handle the products in and enviroment that evaporates the product quicker. But everything came out nice!

[Nick Chapman]

looks very well set up, i hope on day i can attend some classes. I would like to someday be apart of the megs community but its a little more difficult being way over here in TX

You're right around the corner from me

If you're interested in going to one of the classes, let me know. Maybe we can work something out and I can get you out there.

<----works for an airline

Nick

[cv_soccer]

... As Mike often writes in this forum, if you like the way it goes on and off and if the results look good to you then that's all that matters.

I don't know if hard paint is better than soft or vise-versa. The hard paint has one advantage that it won't swirl or scratch as easy as soft paint, but if you want to correct it (polish) it will be hard to do so. While correcting soft paint is much easier.

Did Mike answer your questions regarding the hard top coat on the VW's, and what the appropriate products may be for getting rid of swirl?

[Piku]

Did Mike answer your questions regarding the hard top coat on the VW's, and what the appropriate products may be for getting rid of swirl?

Well, Mike tried to find swirls on my car with the swirl finder light but could not see any. So the "experiment" could not be performed.
My car does have some light swirls here and there, but they can only be seen at certain angles and at certain lights. They are easier to see when the sun is setting and you look at the finish in the opposite direction of the sun.
Mike, I forgot to tell you that about one month ago, I used #7 and put two coats of NXT 2.0 on my car so that could have filled some of the swirls.
Anyway, sorry to disappoint those who were waiting for the results. Someone needs to take a swirled up MKV VW to Mike so he can test it.

[Mike Phillips]

I was hot. Some of the cars, in the sun were as hot as 160 deg.

The car we worked on was around 90 deg.

It was a beautiful sunny day at Meguiar's Garage! Check out the temperature differences for the different colors of paint sitting in full sun, especially the difference between the temperature on a white car as compared to a black car.




White car - 110 degrees



Silver Metallic - 129 degrees



Green Metallic - 165 degrees




Silver Metallic - 154 degrees




Black - 168 degrees




Our demo car was parked inside Meguiar's Garage since early morning...




Even out of the sun on a warm day the surface temperature can still be warm.

[Mike Phillips]

Mike demonstrates how to use a Paint Thickness Gage and relates it to the sanding and buffing process.













Next up it's time to learn proper hand sanding techniques







Mike wraps some Nikken #2000 Finishing Paper around an E-7200 Backing Pad





Mike sprays a water/soap solution to the working face of the paper.



Then on to the area to be sanded...



Then demonstrates the correct way to move the paper over the surface.



As our member's focus on the sanding action taking place...





The milky whitish looking color is actually particles of clear paint sanded off the surface.



Then Mike wipes the excess water and paint residue off the surface.




Here's the best shot we captured showing the level of orange peel, you can see this by
looking at the florescent lights and the rippled looking texture which is what orange peel is on paint.



The after shots will show a more distinctive reflection of the overhead light.

[Mike Phillips]

After hand-sanding, it's time to learn how to use the rotary buffer with a wool cutting pad and a cutting compound to remove the sanding marks and restore a smooth, glossy finish.


In our Advanced class we show how to use our new M105 Ultra Cut Compound with our W5000 Double Sided Wool Cutting pad. In order to use the W5000 Wool Cutting pads you need an adapter that attaches the pad to the buffer.

The adapter has much shorter threads so after the pad is screwed on there are no excess threads sticking out that could cause a potential problem if they came into contact with paint.

These adapters can be found at most PBE stores, our W5000 does not come with this adapter so you need to obtain one in order to use this pad.





Mike says while they look tasty, please don't eat the adapter.




It works easiest to attach the adapter to the pad and then attach the pad/adapter to the spindle of the rotary buffer.



Mike pulls some of the wool back so that everyone can see how the adapter is flush with the working side of the built-in backing plate.





More information on this adapter can be found here

W5000 Dual Sided Wool Pad with Adapter to attach to the Rotary Buffer




Now that the wool pad is properly attached to the rotary buffer it's time to clean the pad and then learn how to use it to remove sanding marks.




This is a brand new pad so it has some loose fibers that will come off easily when you break it in, to help remove some of these loose fibers and to soften the fibers Mike will clean the pad using the System 2000 Pad Cleaner which will clean the pad in in so doing dampen the fibers with a little moisture.

In this picture Mike shows off by cleaning the pad with his eyes closed, don't try this at home kids.




After cleaning the pad in the pad washer, Mike then shows how to use a tool called a Spur to clean the pad again. The pad doesn't really need to be cleaned as it has not been used yet but spurring the pad will lift and loosen up the fibers perfectly preparing it for use. We're also teaching our students the proper way to clean the pad and we strongly emphasize the importance of cleaning your pads often whether they're wool or foam.



Note how Mike runs the pad cleaning spur from the center of the ad while placing some pressure on the handle with his foot while the back of the rotary buffer is resting on the floor.

[Justin Murphy]

More!