Ultimate Polish/pad Question

[cfd18]

I have a new car, it has some very random light swirls in the finish. I plan using the DA with UP before wax. Is there increased correction ability with UP and the W8207, or shoud I use the W9207? Also, if UP doesn't give me the results with either combo would the next step be Swirl X or UC? Thanks

[LS1BERLINA]

Re: Ultimate Polish/pad Question

Ultimate polish is a very versatile product. I have used both the yellow and the black pads with ultimate polish, you do get more correction with the yellow pad, but it behaves more like a non-abrasive glaze type polish at low speed on the black pad. I wouldnt bother with swirlx if you are not getting correction, just move up to UC and then do a couple of final passes with UP on a black pad to remove any marring.

[Murr1525]

Re: Ultimate Polish/pad Question

Yes, the polishing pad would help add some cleaning ability.

I suppose it is a matter of if the UP almost gets them, but not quite, or if the UP doesnt do anything. If nothing seems to change, UC would be the better option.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Ultimate Polish/pad Question

As has been noted, UP is very mild and generally used as a follow up to a more aggressive product that was used for the primary defect removal step. You certainly can and will gain some correcting ability by stepping up to the W8207 pad, but depending on how hard the paint is, and just how severed the defects are, UP on a W8207 may not be enough to get the job done.

Don't be overly concerned about using Ultimate Compound, though, even on a new car. If the defects need something that aggressive to remove them, whether that's because of the severity of the defects, the hardness of the paint, or a combination of the two, then that's what you need to use. But just as you can increase the cut of UP (or any other product, for that matter) by moving to a more aggressive pad, so too can you reduce the cut of a product depending on how you use it. UC on a yellow pad will give less cut at speed 3 than it will at speed 5. It will also give less cut with light pressure at speed 5 than it will with heavy pressure at speed 5. Varying speed and pressure, and even varying arm speed and size of the buffing area, can increase or decrease the cutting ability of any product.

[cfd18]

Re: Ultimate Polish/pad Question

I have a 2012 Dodge Charger, any tendancy for Chrysler paint to be hard or soft? I have no idea. I'm seeing how these products work on different levels with different techniques. I also found more info digging through the UP thread. Anyway, my DA and products will be here by weeks end, I'm looking forward to some detailing! Thanks for all the info guys.

[LS1BERLINA]

Re: Ultimate Polish/pad Question

All paints are different you will need to perform a test spot with the mildest product and work your way up to determine the 'hardness' of it.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Ultimate Polish/pad Question

I have a 2012 Dodge Charger, any tendancy for Chrysler paint to be hard or soft?

Honestly, about the only thing we can say with absolute certainty about the hardness/softness of Chrysler paint is this: it varies. But then again we can say that about every car manufacturer out there! Some vary by quite a lot (BMW and Toyota, for example) and some by not so much (Chrysler and Ford, for example), at least in our experience.

These variations are why you should always, always, always do a test spot the first time you work on a given car. You can read all the comments, suggestions and recommendations about paint hardness online but none of those posters has worked on the exact same car that you're going to be working on. We've seen comments about Audi having the hardest, most unforgiving paint in the world, but last summer we had two different 2011 model year Audis come through our garage, both with non metallic black paint that had been badly hologrammed by their respective dealerships, and both corrected very easily with just Ultimate Compound, a W8207 foam pad and a G110v2 spinning at speed 5.

Before:


After test spot (one pass with UC/W8207/G110v2 - even did an IPA wipe down to prove we didn't just fill)


The point here is that, given all the comments about crazy hard Audi paint, someone could easily have figured that they needed to use something much more aggressive when, in fact, they did not.

As a starting point on almost any car we recommend UC/W8207/G110v2 at speed 5 with moderate pressure. Evaluate that test spot to see if you need to give it another quick pass, another full pass, or if you need to follow with a finishing polish, or if you really do need to step up to something more aggressive.