Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

[GoKart Mozart]

Hey guys,
Long time lurker here. I've had one of the older Meguiar's branded D/A polishers for over 10 years (a Porter Cable 7335). Back then, I used the tried & true combo of the yellow Soft Buff pad & M80 Speed Glaze for general defect removal and polishing. I'm wanting to upgrade to the newer foam discs and one of the newer products from the consumer line since the M80 is considered old technology nowdays.

Questions:
1) What would be the best product from the consumer line that would fit my needs as a combination defect remover AND polish when using my D/A on a late model Ford with black paint? I see that there's an ultimate compound AND an ultimate polish, but I'd really like to get something that does both like M80 did.

2) I've read a few threads that seemed to indicate that the new burgundy foam disc is actually recommended to use use directly on paint (unlike the old Soft Buff pad, which I only used with a bonnet to remove wax). Which of the new foam discs, burgundy or yellow, is recommended for general defect removal & polishing?

BTW, here's my old faithful:



Appreciate any input!
Jacob

[The Guz]

Re: Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

Hey guys,
Long time lurker here. I've had one of the older Meguiar's branded D/A polishers for over 10 years (a Porter Cable 7335). Back then, I used the tried & true combo of the yellow Soft Buff pad & M80 Speed Glaze for general defect removal and polishing. I'm wanting to upgrade to the newer foam discs and one of the newer products from the consumer line since the M80 is considered old technology nowdays.

Questions:
1) What would be the best product from the consumer line that would fit my needs as a combination defect remover AND polish when using my D/A on a late model Ford with black paint? I see that there's an ultimate compound AND an ultimate polish, but I'd really like to get something that does both like M80 did.

2) I've read a few threads that seemed to indicate that the new burgundy foam disc is actually recommended to use use directly on paint (unlike the old Soft Buff pad, which I only used with a bonnet to remove wax). Which of the new foam discs, burgundy or yellow, is recommended for general defect removal & polishing?


Appreciate any input!
Jacob

Welcome to MOL.

The new foam discs are great pads. I would recommend picking up a 5" backing plate and 5" pads to take full advantage of the tools power.

I have never used M80 so I can't compare it to the newer products. I started off with the Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish combo and they always get good results. Both of these are great products. I would also consider getting M205 over UP. M205 is in my opinion more versatile of a product. It can be found locally.

The foam discs can are designed to be used flat on the paint. Both the burgundy and yellow pad cut to some degree. The burgundy pad will cut more. The best advice here is to start with a test spot with the least aggressive combination and let the paint tell you what it likes. For example M205 on a yellow foam disc or UP on a yellow foam disc. Adjust from there.

Good videos to watch. Same concept just with the newer polisher

[GoKart Mozart]

Re: Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

Fantastic, Guz! Appreciate the recommendations. I've read several other posts and M205 seems to come up quite a bit.

[BillE]

Re: Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

I'll just add...don't underestimate Ult Polish. It IS a kissin' cousin to 205 and is very user friendly.

Bill

[Nick Winn]

Re: Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

You have received some good input here from our forum members. Just wanted to chime in to feel free to let us know how things are going and also feel free to post more questions.

Nick

[GoKart Mozart]

Re: Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

You have received some good input here from our forum members. Just wanted to chime in to feel free to let us know how things are going and also feel free to post more questions.

Nick

Thanks, Nick. Appreciate all the responses!

[GoKart Mozart]

Re: Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

Short update:
I picked up 6 of the foam discs (2 of each color) as well as a bottle of Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish. I had a few minutes to do some test spots on a slightly swirly body panel this afternoon using the Ultimate Polish. UP + the yellow polishing disc made a noticeable improvement but I was curious as to what the red cutting disc would do. I guess normally one would think that the cutting disc would be used with something more agressive, but it worked great with Ultimate Polish as well.

More to follow. Haven't had a chance to wash + clay the entire car yet.

[drumdan]

Re: Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

Glad to hear it went well with the Ultimate line!

I get a LOT of mileage from the Ultimate line.

I also love that old g100 tool.

Using M205 or Ultimate Polish on the cutting pad can really make for a nice "one step" correction process. That being said, those polishes also work well with Meguiar's microfiber discs too.

[Nick Winn]

Re: Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

Happy to hear you are having good luck with our Ultimate Polish.

I would like to mention that if you need more defect removal than what Ultimate Polish applied via DFP5 Soft Buff Yellow Polishing Disc can provide, one option would be to apply Ultimate Compound on a separate clean DFP5 Soft Buff Yellow Polishing Disc. If you need more defect removal than this combination, you can then apply Ultimate Compound on a DFC5 Soft Buff Red Foam Cutting Disc.

Hope this helps! Feel free to keep in touch!

Nick

[GoKart Mozart]

Re: Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

Well, better late than never. Almost a year later and I finally took time to clay/compound/polish/wax. This car (a 2011 Mustang GT California Special) only gets driven on the weekend and stays in the garage 90% of the time, so it's not as bad as it sounds (haha). My goal here was primarily to correct as much of the swirl/spiderweb scratches as possible and I'm thoroughly impressed with the results.

After washing & claying the car, I did a few test spots and decided to go for broke for maximum correction and did the whole car with UC + the red foam cutting disc. That took care of much of the swirl scratches but as expected left the paint a little dull looking. Next, I used UP + the yellow foam polishing disc, which definitely took care of the haziness left by the first step. Finally, I finished up with two coats of UW using the black foam finishing disc.

Not a great pic since it's been partly cloudy today:




...and the MONEY. Direct sunlight, black hood, and NO swirls!!



Hopefully, whenever I do this next time I can get by with just UP + the yellow disc and maintain this level of finish. Since I bought the car ~2.5 years ago, it doesn't go through any car washes and only gets cleaned with high quality microfibers. I'm hoping to minimize the addition of new swirls!

In summary, the Ultimate series of products from the consumer line fit the bill perfectly for me!

[BillE]

Re: Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

Lookin' good!

Thanx for your update...

Bill

[Nick Winn]

Re: Getting back into the game - Need advice on products

Great to hear! Thanks for the update!