F1Fan

This weekend I attended a tech session put on by Griots and a local retailer. During the session the Griots rep was asked to try work with some scratches on the wing of a Guards Red 996TT. I couldn't feel the scratches using my thumbnail but they were clearly visible. He used two different Griots polishes, their least aggressive (#3) and the next aggressive (#2) using their orange polishing pad and their random orbital polisher. The bottom line is this- after he worked on it a couple of times and finished with the wax the scratches were still visible.

I would prefer this discussion not become about Griots products but instead what can one reasonably accomplish with a foam pad? I understand the "use the least aggressive method possible" concept but I was surprised at how little ground he was able to make on the scratches. Does one go to a more aggressive pad or more agrressive compound next?

Thank you.

Stephenwz968

Meguiars #83 is a pretty agressive product and used with the meguiars 8006 pad on a pc I've gotten out some pretty good scratches- That's about as agressive as you can get on a pc from what I understand....the other thing is you could do several passes on the area and try to knock down the paint around the scratch to make it less visable.

Anthony Orosco

It has more to do with heat and friction than the pad.

Place that same pad on a rotary at 1100 rpm's and you'll then see results. The PC does not generate enough heat and friction to properly level paint down.

Using the PC it must be worked and worked for a much longer period of time. The Cyclo a bit less.

Anthony

MoeMistry

I've recenlty been doing tests with the Menzerna polishes and have been a long time Meguiar's polish user. The results I've been able to achieve using the PO106FF, or Menzerna's polish for cermaic clears, and the DA is eye-opening. I will soon post some pics. I know most guys here use the DA, so I think it would be beneficial to all in the community. I'm also considering switching to Lake Country pads; anyone use their pads? Feedback please.

F1Fan

I'm specifically trying to figure out how to deal with small scratches on my Guards Red (single stage paint) '93 RSA. The scratches seem to be of the nature that might have been created by too coarse a washing or drying material. You have to be at a pretty shallow angle to the surface to see them but I'd like to eliminate them if possible. I happened to have a PC polisher and some Griots #2 & #3 lying around that I tried on an area after attending the tech session. I can't say that I noticed an improvement and I wondered how much of the problem was due to the pad (which is one of the yellow ones Meguiars used to sell for the PC), the polish, the polisher or my technique. Maybe all of the above

Should I try new pads? New polish? Work the area longer? What is a reasonable time or number of passes to make on an area before you know the combination is not going to work?

Thanks again.

uzj100

Atuopia is a good source of detailing information http://www.autopia.org

HTH

mwc951

I've used Griot's exclusively on my '88 Stain Black 951 with great results.
IMHO...The Griot's Machine Polish is VERY mild. I've even used #1 several times,
it requires a good bit of force on the PC to get that product to bite down into
the paint. I'm getting ready to winter detail the car...switching to Meguiar's by hand.

MoeMistry

As a long-time Meguiar's polish user, I can honestly say their stuff is far from good. Compared to Menzerna, which I recently have switched to and love, the results are short of amazing. I'd say get some Menzerna NanoPolish, 106FF, and use a Lake Country orange or white pad, and the DA. You'll be much better off.

F1Fan

Thank you all for your replies. I am interested in seeing any photos MoeMistry is willing to share showing the results using the Menzerna polish.

As my local Harbor Freight was having a sale on their direct drive polisher (marked down from $50 to $19) I couldn't help myself so I bought one. I have an old car that I don't mind experimenting on so I guess I need to hear from those who use a direct drive polisher about things like rpms, pressure, pads, and techniques. By technique I mean thiings like size of the area worked, speed of movement across the paint surface, movement patterns, what-not-to-do, etc.

Cope

I've been using Lake Country pads for a couple years now for mild to moderate jobs. No complaints. They've been the longest lasting pads I've ever used.

CT03911

I agree with above post about Autopia.org having good info and product too (Sonus SFX 1-3). For me, SFX and my Porter Cable 7424 RO can usually get it done regarding polish. Sometimes, if I need a more aggressive approach, I have used a 3M polishing product and my 7" orbital polisher to be more agressive on friends cars that need that level of help. I find most of the stuff detail "boutiques" sell on line is generally mild which works great on my car because it has good paint but sometimes you will need more action.

MoeMistry

I have some before/afters that I will post. I guess there's a limit on attachments and I became a member to upload pics. I'll post them soon.

MoeMistry

OK...not sure why I'm having a hard time with this...how do I post pics up in the forums. I'm being limited to 1Mb overall. I already have some pics posted on other threads and I'd have to delete those to post here...

Anthony Orosco

host your pics with a pic hosting site, like Photobucket or Imageshack then you can post up as many as you like.

Anthony

detailersdomain

Menzerna is great stuff, have you guys tried the Edge dual sided pads? Those are some amazing pads, I've switched from Lake Country to those.

Sorry I can't post pics yet....