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I just picked up some Menzerna products to try on the constant work flow of Mercedes I've been getting lately. Haven't had the results I wanted with certain body panels and older paint with 105, 205, and D300. Tried out PG 1000 and SI 1500 on the Flex with a 6" LC white pad on my 2011 Regal that needed a little more work after wet sanding the hood. With the PG 1000 I started with a small amount of product (3 decent size drops) but it felt too dry and grabby, started to see a little dust. I added some more, spread on the panel, and within 15 seconds there was dust flying everywhere. The more I worked it the better it felt and the dusting slowed down until I ran over a body line. Looked like a flour balloon busted on my hood. Nice cut on the white pad, could have gone with an orange but I was just experimenting. It did leave just a slight bit of micro-marring but figured I'd fix that in a later stage.
Next was the SI 1500. I put 4 lines on the pad, spread over the panel on speed 1, then knocked it up to 5. Got a fair amount of dust, similar to M105, and like the PG 1000, the more I worked it, the more the dusting slowed down. Again, every time I ran over a body line, I got a lot of dust. It took about 3-4 passes till the dusting settled down and I could watch the oils go to work. When the dusting started again I gave the pad a shot of M-34 and got a bit more working time. The SI 1500 brought out a bit more gloss and cut out most of the micro-marring. I'm figuring I may need to experiment some more with priming and amount of working product, size of the area I'm working, machine speed, and spraying the panel with chilled distilled water before and during polishing. I'll follow up later with SF 4000 and then 4500 on black and blue pads to see how much more I can get out of it. The heat and humidity of SC summers seems to **** the life out of some polishes pretty quick. Meg's products aren't too bad about dusting when it's warm, with the exception of 105. Got that fixed with the 405 trick, 300 primed MF pad and 105 to work with. Now I wonder what would happen if I added a little 300 or 302 to the Menzerna. Guess we'll find out.
Also looking for a good one step for this finish. I used White Wax mixed with a little 302 on a MF finishing pad and got pretty good results on a white CLK-320. Nothing spectacular but what the customer was looking for. It took a lot of grime off of 10 year old paint and cut down a lot of the lighter swirls. I've got a black E-350 scheduled for next week, 6 months old with a few swirls and a little scratch here and there. The owner doesn't want to spend a lot so it cuts my options a bit. I have the White Wax, 100, 105, 205, 300, 302, ColorX, and the Menzerna products from above to include FG400, Color Lock, and Power Lock. Pads are LC, blue through yellow(5.5"-6") and Meguiar's MF Xtra, cutting, and finishing(5.5"). Any suggestions or more experience with Mercedes and PPG Ceramiclear?
Next was the SI 1500. I put 4 lines on the pad, spread over the panel on speed 1, then knocked it up to 5. Got a fair amount of dust, similar to M105, and like the PG 1000, the more I worked it, the more the dusting slowed down. Again, every time I ran over a body line, I got a lot of dust. It took about 3-4 passes till the dusting settled down and I could watch the oils go to work. When the dusting started again I gave the pad a shot of M-34 and got a bit more working time. The SI 1500 brought out a bit more gloss and cut out most of the micro-marring. I'm figuring I may need to experiment some more with priming and amount of working product, size of the area I'm working, machine speed, and spraying the panel with chilled distilled water before and during polishing. I'll follow up later with SF 4000 and then 4500 on black and blue pads to see how much more I can get out of it. The heat and humidity of SC summers seems to **** the life out of some polishes pretty quick. Meg's products aren't too bad about dusting when it's warm, with the exception of 105. Got that fixed with the 405 trick, 300 primed MF pad and 105 to work with. Now I wonder what would happen if I added a little 300 or 302 to the Menzerna. Guess we'll find out.
Also looking for a good one step for this finish. I used White Wax mixed with a little 302 on a MF finishing pad and got pretty good results on a white CLK-320. Nothing spectacular but what the customer was looking for. It took a lot of grime off of 10 year old paint and cut down a lot of the lighter swirls. I've got a black E-350 scheduled for next week, 6 months old with a few swirls and a little scratch here and there. The owner doesn't want to spend a lot so it cuts my options a bit. I have the White Wax, 100, 105, 205, 300, 302, ColorX, and the Menzerna products from above to include FG400, Color Lock, and Power Lock. Pads are LC, blue through yellow(5.5"-6") and Meguiar's MF Xtra, cutting, and finishing(5.5"). Any suggestions or more experience with Mercedes and PPG Ceramiclear?
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