Cobra4B

Buffing up the red car... paint is in pretty good shape for a 7 year old car that has never been buffed. Washed w/ dish soap then clayed using Meguiar's Quik Detailer as clay lube.

After some reading on various forums I decided to try Meguiar's new Ultimate Compound... the stuff is quite amazing... cuts nearly as good as M105, has a very long working time, and wipes off simply w/o any dusting etc. I used a borrowed PC buffer (Thanks Travis) w/ an orange pad on a speed just below 5. Made 3-4 passes over each section.

I had planned on using Menzerna FPII w/ a white pad as the next step, but I may just go straight to my LSP (Last Step Product) which is Rejex. Quite a few people on the forums are doing the UC and sealant.... nothing extra etc. Meguiar's product description for the UC says the whole idea is that it finishes super clean and negates the need for additional steps etc.

Some pics... this is clay and compound only... no polish, no sealant...

H. Love

I love detailing.

Cobra4B

It takes too long... and I have a uber-pickey eye so I get to take notice of all the paint flaws I didn't see before. At least w/ this stuff if I decided to go straight to Rejex the UC will have really reduced total time.

H. Love

Well i can see how buffing and waxing can be a pain but i only wax my car twice a year...but if i had a garage like you do my car would be flawless.

Cobra4B

Technically you should only have to do a full-on buff once every 2 years or so... once I finish and seal it simple washing and re-sealing should suffice for awhile. However, having a car be a near daily driver and keeping it mint are opposing goals.

H. Love

I daily drive mine and mine stays pretty clean....i would like to buff my car ive never done it.

Cobra4B

Ugh... this shit takes forever. Buffed on it another 4 hours tonight. Takes time to buff out swirls w/ a DA... could step up to a cutting pad and some M105, but for my purposes this is doing plenty good. Menzerna FPII w/ a white pad then Rejex tomorrow.

Still can't get over how nice the Meguiar's UC leaves the paint... normally a compound leaves a slight haze. This new stuff uses Meg's SMAT (Super Micro Abrasive Technology) abrasives.

shoez

I seriously need to learn how to use the proper cutting pads/polishes/LSPs, my car's paint needs an overhaul

Cobra4B

It's not hard... autogeek.net has a whole "how-to"/school section w/ videos. If you have any questions just ask. The basics are to wash the car with dish soap to strip wax ( you can get 3m wax remover if you want to be extra anal ). Then clay the car using some kind of quick detailer as clay lube, then start your buffing.

It's like sanding wood... start w/ the more aggressive first and work your way to the finer products/pads. You want to use the least abrasive setup to get the job done because in reality buffing is sanding your clear coat at a microscopic level. The general steps are buffing/compounding, polishing, then sealing/waxing.

The trend these days is to use a synthetic sealant like Rejex, then top it w/ a pure carnuba. Carnuba wax has a deeper warmer glow to it whereas the syn sealers look slicker. Most hotrod guys prefer Carnuba but it only lasts 3-4 weeks where as the syn sealant will last 6-12 months. I just use Rejex and call it a day. Since I care about this car I may go get some Carnuba for car shows.

ShawnD

I hate clay barring more than I do hand polishing lol