M205/ which pads

[mohebmhanna]

I would like to ask this; M205 cutting scale is about 4. To take advantage from the cutting level which pads the polish designed for a) a polishing pad or b) finishing pad. If I used finishing pad is still I'm getting the cutting scale of 4 or I just finishing the paint from hologram and minior swirls with cutting scale around 1 or 2. Please advice.

Thanks to all.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: M205/ which pads

M205 is a pretty versatile product, even though, as it's name implies, it is intended to be a finishing polish. As is so often the case in this game, the answer to your question is "it depends". We've worked on some moderately soft paints that had light swirls, and M205 on a yellow foam polishing pad with the DA did an outstanding job removing all the defects and leaving a beautiful finish. In other cases, we've use it on the same yellow pad with a rotary at 1200 rpm to remove fairly nasty rotory holograms, but then again we've used it on a black foam finishing pad with the rotary at 600 rpm to really maximize the gloss on paint that was already at a very high level. We also know guys who use M205 on a microfiber pad with their Rupes 21 Bigfoot buffer to remove some surprisingly bad swirls.

So, what you're working on and what you're trying to accomplish will determine what pad you want to use, what speed you need, and what pressure you should apply. What are you working on and what are your goals?

[jarred767]

I'll vouch that its crazy versatile. I absolutely love M205, a Rupes 21 and a Meguiars MF cutting pad. Like Mike said, you can do some pretty amazing stuff with that combo and it finishes LSP ready in many paints if you make your final pass with very little pressure.

It also works great with both methods you mentioned, and obviously if you use a more aggressive pad, the product will be able to do more "work"

[mohebmhanna]

Re: M205/ which pads

Working on BMW jet black, the gloss level is very good but I'm not happy with the haze and minor swirls when I have the car is the sun. I do have rotary & DA. What pads you recommend and tool to save the time.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: M205/ which pads

Yes, BMW Jet Black is often very delicate and will haze easily using microfiber pads or even foam pads with almost any compound. Unless you are extremely skilled with the rotary you're going to be seriously challenged to finish out totally hologram free on this paint so sticking with a DA for finishing is going to make the most sense. Use a foam finishing pad, prime the face of the pad first and then either brush off or blow out the excess product, then add just 3 pea sized drops of product to the pad. Set the tool to speed 3~4 and use only light to moderate pressure and don't work the product for very long. In a roughly 2' x 2' area you should just go side to side and then up and down in overlapping strokes, stop and wipe off the excess. Evaluate the finish after that point before considering doing a longer buffing cycle as prolonged buffing could start taking you backwards with regard to finish quality. M205 is not an aggressive product by any means, and the above mentioned process is very non invasive, too, but if you buff with M205 for a prolonged period you will start to accumulate more paint residue than you want/need/should have and that can compromise the finish. Remember, M205 uses SMAT abrasives, not diminishing abrasives, so it does it's thing pretty quickly. Finishing polishes that utilize diminishing abrasives need a longer buffing cycle to fully break down the abrasive and maximize the potential of the product. M205 is sort of the opposite of this, hence the shorter buffing cycle.

You will probably still need to experiment a bit with pressure, tool speed, arm speed, etc but this should get you pretty close and minimize the amount of experimentation needed. That paint can be very challenging if you get a super delicate example of it.

[mohebmhanna]

Re: M205/ which pads

Thanks Mike for your advice. Problem solved, I fellow your approach using finishing pad with DA at speed setting 4. prime the pad first and 3 peas sized for each panel with cleaning the pad for every panel. Swirls/hologram gone for sure, v.happy with the way it looks now (LP was Meg paste wax). Could you, please, advice me how can I keep that look? what product do I need to used from your line and how often do I need to use M205 by DA (every 3 months-is that ok). Or can I use M205 every 6 weeks by hand fellow with the new Meg dark wax.

[Detailing by M]

Re: M205/ which pads

So glad you figured it out.

Now that your car is taken care of you want to wash it carefully and especialy how you dry it is very important.
Here's most of the info you'll need
http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?64-Frequently-Asked-Questions

But you polish your paint when the scratches bother you
I recommend at least once a year.
6 months is way better
And every 3 months and your car will look great all the time.
A full detail every month will keep it in the best shape with high gloss and defect free.

[sontakke]

Re: M205/ which pads

I have purchased DA microfiber finishing pad and plan to use it with M205 on GG6 DA. Would this work or are there any known pitfalls in that approach?

[mohebmhanna]

Re: M205/ which pads

From my humble experience it should work and deliever a good result. Just follow what Mike listed above and you ready to go. Keep us posting.

[N52]

Re: M205/ which pads

Thread revival :P

I ve been using M80 ever since i started detailing some 7 years ago but i was sure that was the right product for me.

My bottle is nearly gone now and i was looking to upgrade my system. No matter what i did i could never get rid of minor hazing and minor swirls on my car. Basically you coulld only see them under a spot light in the dark. The finish looks 9/10 under the sun.

I m using a w8006 with M80 once a year for maintaining the clarity.It really dosnt need more correction than that.I keep sealing it with #21 and laying pure carnauba the rest of the year, for protection and shine every 3 months. After defect removal once a year i also use #7 just to give it something extra before i move to protection.

Do you guys think i would get rid of the slight hazing and the minor swirls if i just subtitute M80 with M205 and keep the polishing pads instead of going to finishing ones. I m afraid the finishing pads wont be up to the task of fully removing everything or am i wrong?

My paint is on the soft side i would say.

Here is a picture of the finish about 2 months after the annual correction i described earlier.

you can see its super wet and reflective but i do have the problem i said earlier.

Any help would be much apreciated

[Wyle E Coyote]

Re: M205/ which pads

Hi Mike,
Which pad (foam or MF) would you use M205 on a black Honda Pilot?
The paint on this vehicle is very soft and finicky to work

Thanks!

[davey g-force]

Re: M205/ which pads

^^ If it's soft paint, I'd definitely go with foam.

[The Guz]

Re: M205/ which pads

Agreed. Maybe start with a foam finishing pad.