New member from SE Michigan

[NIRVANA]

I've had my Meguiars (Porter Cable) DA for about 7 years and thought I'd join here to learn some tips to refine my process for polishing my cars. I did quite a bit of research when I bought my machine years ago but I know there are a lot of new products to try.

I've got 4 vehicles I'll be polishing including a 2010 Cadillac CTS-V, 2004 Ford Lightning, and 2002 Pontiac Trans Am WS6. If any of you guys are into muscle cars and live in SE Michigan let me know. There are some local guys with me that are trying to get a little car club going in the Monroe, MI area (near Toledo).

[The Guz]

Re: New member from SE Michigan

Welcome. That's a good line up you have to maintain. I'm a fellow f-body owner myself. I have an 02 Camaro SS

[Jarhead0754]

Well if ur looking at the new products, the 4 must haves are ultimate compound, ultimate polish, mirror glaze 105 and 205. Also the microfiber system is all the rave with d300,d301,d302. I suggest looking at all these if u don't have them already. What do u have and use in ur arsenal as is?

[NIRVANA]

Re: New member from SE Michigan

Welcome. That's a good line up you have to maintain. I'm a fellow f-body owner myself. I have an 02 Camaro SS

Yeah it's a handful. The good news is the T/A & Lightning only have 7k and 14k miles, so they never see bad weather and aren't bad to maintain. Glad to see another F-body guy on here! I bought mine new when I knew they were going to stop making them.

[NIRVANA]

Re: New member from SE Michigan

Well if ur looking at the new products, the 4 must haves are ultimate compound, ultimate polish, mirror glaze 105 and 205. Also the microfiber system is all the rave with d300,d301,d302. I suggest looking at all these if u don't have them already. What do u have and use in ur arsenal as is?

My typical process for polishing based on 7 year old information is as follows:

1. Wash with Gold Class
2. Clay w/ the white consumer line clay
3. Clean w/ M83 Dual Action Cleaner and 8006 pad
4. Polish w/ M80 Speed Glaze and 8006 pad
5. Wax w/ M26 Hi Tech Yellow Wax and 9006 pad

I just went through this process w/ my Trans Am but I used the NXT 2.0 wax instead. It seems to me that not a lot of you are using the M80 these days, so I might try M105 or M205 that you recommend.

[The Guz]

Re: New member from SE Michigan

Yeah it's a handful. The good news is the T/A & Lightning only have 7k and 14k miles, so they never see bad weather and aren't bad to maintain. Glad to see another F-body guy on here! I bought mine new when I knew they were going to stop making them.

Nice. My Camaro is also low mileage. It's sitting at 14K miles. Bought it from a car collector with 3K miles and have put 10K miles in the 6 years I have owned it.

My typical process for polishing based on 7 year old information is as follows:

1. Wash with Gold Class
2. Clay w/ the white consumer line clay
3. Clean w/ M83 Dual Action Cleaner and 8006 pad
4. Polish w/ M80 Speed Glaze and 8006 pad
5. Wax w/ M26 Hi Tech Yellow Wax and 9006 pad

I just went through this process w/ my Trans Am but I used the NXT 2.0 wax instead. It seems to me that not a lot of you are using the M80 these days, so I might try M105 or M205 that you recommend.

That's a good list of prodcuts to use. If they are working then they are doing the job.

M105 and M205 have the latest technology and in a majority of cases, it gets the job done. F-bodies typically have hard clear coat. My 02 SS and my dad's 02 Z28 both have hard clear coat. I have found that the best combination to remove defects from both of these cars is D300 and the microfiber cutting pads. I then followed up with M205 on a polishing pad. Since I maintain both cars I now just polish since the initial compounding I did unless there is a deeper defect that M205 can't remove. Actually my dad took it through a coin operated and used the brush ughh after I told him not to. NXT 2.0 is nice. M101 worked very well on my dad's car the last time I polished with just M205. I didn't have time to compound it after he used the brush on a coin operated car was after I told him not to use it. Oh well the next time I will compound it out. For now M205 on a foam cutting pad worked pretty good.

I'm not sure about the claer coat on the lightning or on the CTS but it is always recommened to do a test spot with the least aggressive product. In most cases it either M205 or ultimate polish on a polishing pad. If you find yourself to need more correction then move up to M105 or ultimate compound or the microfiber system.

[NIRVANA]

Re: New member from SE Michigan

Thanks for all the great info. I'm 90% done with the T/A. All I've got left to do is the M80 on the passenger side and then wax on that side. But after your advice and another post in the detailing section about #205 vs. #80 I'll be switching to the #205 from now on. And you're right...the clear coat seems to be tough to work through on my car. There were a few scratches that I had a hell of a time removing (it's also black so you can see every little defect).

Actually my dad took it through a coin operated and used the brush ughh after I told him not to.

Dads...why do they never listen?