I have been using mequiars pads w8006 with m80 for light swirl removal then following with lake country grey and amigo to mask some of the tiny swirls that are left. I read from Heather that I should be able to use the white pad to get a perfect finish with Amigo. When you use the white do you apply much pressure? It is so much stiffer than either the Meguiars or the grey pad, I can't seem to get a nice finish. Any technique tips you can offer?

Also, I have some cars coming up where I will need more aggressive than the m80 w8006 combo and I need to buy more stuff. I can either try m83 and another w8006 pad or two or buy swirl , I already have an orange pad and a couple white. What's you guys's preference? I don't think I have a need for finish. Thanks ahead of time for your input. I value all opinions.

 

Unless the finish is really bad, I can't see you needing more than the w8006 and M80 combo, followed with a good wax or sealant.

Perhaps OG or Heather might have some better suggestions for you.

TJM

 

Re: Pad Selection
Although I think there is some overlap in their coverage, I can give you a general rundown of pad aggression between the LC (aka "Lake Country" and the ones sold by Detailers Paradise) and Meguiar's pads:

From Most aggressive to Least aggressive:

LC Yellow
LC Orange
LC White
Megs W8006 (yellow)
LC Black/Grey
Megs W9006 (tan)

Now I'll ask OctaneGuy, who knows the Megs pads better than I, to confirm that order! Richard?? However, even if it's not 100% spot-on, I'm confident it's very close. And certainly the LC pads are in order relative to each other either way!

The above list should help you assess when to use which pad.


Re: Pressure

When using any of the Lake Country pads you should not apply any pressure whatsoever. You should use the natural weight of the machine and that's all.

Why?
The LC pads do not require any pressure and the lack of pressure allows the PC to orbit properly, maximizing its effectiveness. You can lean into the PC a very little on a tough spot, but this has pros and cons... as you add pressure you will lose some of the orbiting (which does the bulk of the work) and you rely on your pressure and just the vibration of the PC to work the spot. So, you have to be careful to not add too much pressure when attempting this or you'll forfeit all of the orbiting and thus lose dramatic effectiveness.

Tip: It's a good idea to mark your plate with little marks so you can accurately assess whether or not it's still orbiting. The vibrations of the PC make it nearly impossible to tell if your plate is still orbiting while it's vibrating.

Here are some photos of the little marks I'm talking about:






Re: Amigo with white vs black LC pads

Amigo can be used with either the white or black pad, although the effect will be slightly different.

Amigo with the black pad diminishes Amigo's cleansing abilities and essentially deactivates its abrasive polishing abilities. With the black pad, Amigo still preps the paint nicely for the wax step with its polymer-based fillers and it does a smidge of cleansing (an important part of prepping for a good wax bond).
*I would recommend this combo for paint which doesn't need any final finish polishing nor significant paint cleansing.
In other words, use it when you just want to do some minor filling of the very light imperfections that can be frustrating to perfect before you move on to your wax.

Amigo with the white pad brings out Amigo's cleansing abilities and mechanically activates the super-fine abrasives to allow for final finish polishing. With the white pad, Amigo preps the paint even better than the black pad by still filling those final little imperfections, AND deeper cleansing, AND super-fine finish abrading.
*I would recommend this combo for paint which needs some final finish polishing (ie, you're having a hard time getting a good final polish finish), which is can often be the case with dark colors in particular.

In your specific case of not being able to get a good final finish, I would recommend you use Amigo with the white pad, unless you're working on soft paint. Just remember to add no pressure to your PC and use the little marks on your plate as a guide to assessing this. If you're working on soft paint, I'd go with Amigo and the black pad. (soft paint usually includes repaints/body shop paint, BMW, Ferrari, Lotus, to name a few; MINI paint is in the middle of the paint hardness/softness range- it isn't considered soft)

Hope that helps!

-Heather

EDIT: Another thing I thought of that might help your finishing problem:

**Set your PC speed to between 4 and 5 for all of the above suggestions.

 

The softness of the paint you're going to work on would vary my specific recommendation...

In general though, I would recommend Swirl and the orange pad for a more aggressive and more effective approach on paint needing a bit more help. This is still a moderate level of aggression and can often be either a 1-step when you work it long enough on a speed of around 4-5 (on slightly harder paints) or only need a fairly quick finishing step after.

I agree... in general, if you have Swirl and Amigo, as well as an assortment of pads, you are not likely to need Finish too.

Since you already have M83, OctaneGuy can comment on whether or not you should try that first though. It's always nice to use what you already have if you can!

-Heather

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to clear this up for me ,Heather. I was applying pressure with the white pad ,about 15 pounds. It's an easy decision to stick with your products, with this kind of support. I am going to try the swirl , and hydro(mini needs a treat too) Thanks again. I'll probably be up all night with the amigo and white pad topping of the mini off with Epic.

Donna

 

Heather is right about the order of aggressiveness of pads.

As for the LC pads, because they are much denser i.e. stiffer than the Meguiar's pads, you don't need much pressure on them. On the flip side, the Meguiar's pads are very soft, and you need to apply pressure to get them to do work. Again, that's why we normally try to work within a given system, but knowing and understanding the differences can help you maximize the benefits of each system.

I'd say the only pad that I do apply more pressure with is when using the grey/black pad from LC---though not much because it's still really a polishing/final step pad. LC actually sells an even finer pad--similar to Meguiar's W9006 pad, but DP doesn't sell it--and again, with that pad, it's just the weight of the machine.

If you're planning on using M83, use it with a W8006 pad or possibly the White LC pad. The Meguiar's chemicals are designed to be used with a non aggressive pad--that is--you keep the pad the same, and adjust the level of correction using different chemicals. Normally if a couple of complete M80 passes doesn't work well, then try M83 which is twice as aggressive.

Today I evaluated a 1973 Mazda RX2--yellow single stage original factory paint. I started off with the PC using M80 and it worked ok, but not great. I then tried the rotary with M80 and several passes did the trick. I then followed that with the PC and Swirl, then Amigo, then Epic, and the finish looked great! I'm going to save the new owners thousands of dollars since he won't have to repaint!

Tomorrow I work on a black Pro Street 1996 Impala which is being featured in Super Chevy magazine and the Super Chevy show at Fontana Raceway--the same time we are at AMVIV. I already evaluated it---going to be a rotary job finishing with Amigo and Epic.



Richard

 

wow. i want to see the mazda. I love the RX's.

 

Here it is---in the process of being stripped. There's no interior either. The owner is going to remove everything, my PDR guy will smooth out the dents, and I'll be back to polish it out.



I took 4 readings and the paint thickness measured anywhere from 3.5 to 4.9 Mil showing this was original paint.


Result of my test spot



Changed from the oxidized yellow--which even after cleaning varied in shades--once polished was a consistent rich yellow with almost no swirls.

 

Probably should have stuck with Meguiars, I was happy with the m80 , nxt combo. But after reading all the rave reviews of Prima on this forum, I had to try it and now I'm hooked too. Love the extra wet look the products give. I seem to use less too so I don't think that it ends up costing any more.
Thanks OG for the feedback and creating this OCD.

Donna