Ultimate Compound and M105

[The Guz]

Re: Ultimate Compound and M105

I would try using UP or M205 as stated. If it cleans up then that's great. If not then I would actually just go to the MF cutting pads.

Here's my little story:

I was in a similar situation with my dad's 02 Camaro. I went straight to a compound because this car had never been compounded or properly detailed prior to my dad owning it. I don't even think it was ever waxed. So I gave UC a shot on a foam cutting pad and I thought I was marring the finish. UP would not remove themas well. So I stepped up to M105 on a foam cutting pad followed by M205 and that still didn't so anything. So I went with the MF cutting pad and D300. Now that did the job and cut through the hard clear like it was butter. It was actually LSP after but I still went over the car with M205. His car is navy blue so I was able to see the correction.

I also have an 02 Camaro that I cleaned up before I did my dads. I had never compounded it either. It got the occasional clay and cleaner wax. Mine is white so I thought M105/M205 on foam did the job. But once I saw it in the sun boy was I wrong. I just actullay went over it again with the MF cutting pad and D300. I used M105 on the MF cutting pad that already had D300 on areas where I needed more correction than D300 could offer. Followed up with M205 just to refine the finish even though D300 finshed LSP ready. It is not perfect but it's about 95% defect free.

[Top Gear]

Re: Ultimate Compound and M105

...Have you tried a less agressive combo after UC? I would try that just for peace of mind that you're not creating new marring...Otherwise, if as you say your paint is very hard and UC is not strong enough, you'll need to step up to either M105 or perhaps the DAMF system.

Well, first off, full disclosure, I totally goofed above. The pictures are of a panel that was not compounded at all, and I forgot that little detail (it was a year ago). Sorry for that. I remember now I was testing different "aggressions", so the pictures above show only the results of a wash, clay, UP (yellow pad), GC (beige pad).

However, on panels that were compounded (the front clip), swirls remained, though reduced. On a fender I worked pretty hard in order to hide a big scratch (see the details in my first correction thread), I believe there were little or no swirls left, but it sure took a lot of passes. Also, that test I did more recently on a plastic hind quarter panel was frustrating. The long (non-spiderweb) swirls remained (probably created by the dealer prep before purchase).

I'm thinking that even getting more aggressive that day, I still wasn't aggressive enough. Guess I'm just n00b and paranoid about the compounding step, due to bad experiences before with other cars and crappy (non-Meg's) products. So...I should at least get some M105 and test it out, for cryin' out loud

...But once I saw it in the sun boy was I wrong...

Right, that's really all I'm talking about here. In most situations the paint looks "correct", sick perfect to most people, but the Sun reveals all the swirls and holograms. I've even backed off my "don't wash, quik detail instead" mantra just a bit, two-bucket washing a bit more often, because of the dirty residue build-up resulting in rag holograms from too much quik detailer and quik wax, and the extra wiping to smooth those out.