Merlin.....I need some tips!

[cayman150]

I hate M105. It flashes too quick and you have to keep spritzing it with water to keep it from drying out during the 2' x 2' section you're doing. Because of this, the splatter gets all over everything if you don't have it covered. It dry's hard too which requires IPA or something else and real elbow grease to get it off so you can see the results.

It was a real PITA to have to scrub and clean all of my plastic bed rails, rear glass surround, rear bumper and windshield wiper cowl area to get al that crap off.
I never ever wanted that job again.

When Merlin showed me the M101 it was all a dream. It cut just as good as the M105 with zero mess.

[Harley#356]

Yeah I mixed that one up lol. I just checked my order receipt, I ordered M101 not M105! I was reading a few older threads in this section and saw your great reviews on it so bit the bullet and ordered some.

Guess I'll start cleaning my pads in the sink with dawn after each detailing use.

Yellow pad would be the yellow meg pads I have now, but they're almost shot, so my new pad lineup will be the LC ones you recommended. I ordered the 6 pack in the 4 colors you suggested.

The D301 I got more for quick 1-2 punch with D300 on vehicles I'm not OCD about but just want to make look a bit better and get a coat of something on it without using up my GOOD stuff lol. My '85, my mom's car, occasional beater detail, etc.

[Merlin]

I hate M105... I never ever wanted that job again.

When Merlin showed me the M101 it was all a dream. It cut just as good as the M105 with zero mess.

Not only does M101 cut, it finishes almost as good as M205 (IMHO it's very very close) I've used M101 for a 1 step.
Do a 2 step polish with M101 then Reflect (that just came out). Sorry Chuck i wish I had Reflect when I did yours.
We tried Menz PO85rd and although there was "some" improvement it was not enough to make a huge difference.

If you have used M105 in the past you will love using M101.

[Harley#356]

Okay Merlin,

one last (haha) question! Really just buying some time to keep me occupied till my arsenal of new detailing supplies arrive. Got the bottle of GPP yesterday, the rest of the stuff should be arriving this week.

Anyway, you posted that great chart showing the pads with least to most aggressive. Can you order these products for me in least to most aggressive? I either have all of these on hand already, or they're in the mail. I know once you start mixing with pads it makes an endless set of combos, but just for product itself, can you take a shot at ordering them?

I added pics just for other members viewing pleasure lol.

D300





M82





M101





MUP





MUC





GPP





ZPC





3M Swirl Remover (dark)





3M Rubbing Compound

[Harley#356]

Got my LC pads yesterday!

I was surprised how tiny they are lol. I've never used a 5" pad before, all of mine are 6 or 6.5", it's more of a difference than I thought.

Merlin any feedback on the two sizes for advantages/disadvantages? Or is it more of personal preference?

My 5" backing plate should arrive today, so I'll get to test the new pad and product lineup out this weekend!

I need to find a good way to organize/store my pad collection now lol

[Merlin]

Anyway, you posted that great chart showing the pads with least to most aggressive. Can you order these products for me in least to most aggressive? I either have all of these on hand already, or they're in the mail. I know once you start mixing with pads it makes an endless set of combos, but just for product itself, can you take a shot at ordering them?

I'm not and expert but my best guess would be...
M101
D300
UC
M82
GPP
UP
______________
I'm not sure about the 3M

3M Swirl Remover
3M Rubbing Compound

[Merlin]

Got my LC pads yesterday!

I was surprised how tiny they are lol. I've never used a 5" pad before, all of mine are 6 or 6.5", it's more of a difference than I thought.

Merlin any feedback on the two sizes for advantages/disadvantages? Or is it more of personal preference?

My 5" backing plate should arrive today, so I'll get to test the new pad and product lineup out this weekend!

I need to find a good way to organize/store my pad collection now lol

I believe using the Kevin Brown Method (KBM) you will find that the 5.5" pads are much more effective and a lot more manageable.
I can do more with a 5.5" pad faster and better than a 6.5" pad on a DA. The KBM makes understanding the science much better.

[Harley#356]

THanks Merlin,

Tackled the L yesterday. The 5.5" pads worked great, didn't really feel like it was any slower than the 6.5" pads and like you said seemed a bit more manageable.

Here's the steps I did:

-Dawn Wash
-M101 w/ Orange LC Pad on Speed 5
-GPP w/ White LC pad on Speed 5
-Z2 w/ Black LC pad on Speed 4

The M101 was a very interesting product. Best way I can describe it is I felt like I was squirting elmers glue on my pad lol. Never seen a polish of that consistency. It wasn't sticky at all, it just had that elmers glue look when squirting it out of the bottle lol. Went on smooth, and did a great job with the orange pad. I think the D300 with the MF pad may be a step more aggressive, kind of wish I did that first, but it's good enough.

Before I went onto the GPP, I masked off the hood and did an area with M101 on an orange LC pad on speed 5. Then I masked that area in half and did 1 half with GPP on a white LC pad on speed 5, and the other half with (CarPro Reflect) CPR on a white LC pad on speed 5. The CPR was a lot easier to take off (and GPP isn't hard to take off by a long shot! CPR practically jumped off!), but the GPP seemed to do a tad better job on filling some of the swirls. I didn't try CPR on top of GPP, was trying to keep the # of steps to a minimum since it's just a flip truck. I didn't find the GPP filling any scratches though. Swirls it did a good job on, but deeper swirls or scuffs in the clear, it didn't seem to do anything but make them shiney.

I would have liked to get some of those deeper swirls and marks out, but at this point, I'm exhausted with this truck lol. It went from a 3/10 to an 8/10 so it's come a LONG way. Time to put it up for sale and move onto the other 3 vehicles in the drive that need detailing LOL.

[Merlin]

Actually IMHO the Megs microfiber cutting disc is more aggressive than the LC orange.
Try the Megs M101 with the mf disc. Be sure to prime the pad & keep your disc clean after each section.
Compressed air is best for cleaning the mf disc. I use a bug sponge for the mf disc & a pad cleaning brush for foam.
I am glad your happy with the new products. Like I said before GPP is not a be all end all but it helps fill scratches.

Interesting...I've never applied Z-2 with a machine...always by hand. Hood front to back. Sides up & down.

What machine a GG6" or PC 7424xp?

[Harley#356]

Actually IMHO the Megs microfiber cutting disc is more aggressive than the LC orange.
Try the Megs M101 with the mf disc. Be sure to prime the pad & keep your disc clean after each section.
Compressed air is best for cleaning the mf disc. I use a bug sponge for the mf disc & a pad cleaning brush for foam.
I am glad your happy with the new products. Like I said before GPP is not a be all end all but it helps fill scratches.

Interesting...I've never applied Z-2 with a machine...always by hand. Hood front to back. Sides up & down.

What machine a GG6" or PC 7424xp?

I debated on trying that combo (M101 with MF disc), but with so many new products, and a set of new pads, it was almost overwhelming with the possible number of combinations trying to pick my plan of attack lol. I'll post some before/after pics tonight, they're on my other computer, but it is a drastic difference. If I were keeping the truck I'd redo it with another combo, but since it's a flip truck, gotta know when to say "good enough" lol. I still have the Explorer Sport, Raptor, and Harley truck to all detail before winter gets here haha.

Ever since I got my DA I've applied zaino with the machine. My hands cramp up pretty bad if I apply products by hand. I haven't noticed any detri****** side effects to doing it with the machine, I can still do the entire truck with 3/4-1 oz of product, get it on quicker, and I just do my final machine strokes in the forward to back on top surfaces and up and down side surfaces.

The machine I have is a Meguiars branded Porter Cable DA. Back before Meguiars had their own machine, when they slapped their label on the PC and offered lifetime warranty, exact same item as the PC labeled DA, just a different name on the sticker.

I really wish Ryobi would come out with a handheld battery powered DA. I've got a slew of their 18v One+ products, and I hate having the cord dangling on my DA. I know a few companies make battery powered ones, but I don't want anothe rset of batteries and a charger. If they had the One+ Ryobi one it'd be great for quick waxes. Still use the corded one for full detail days, but for a quick wax job, a battery powered Ryobi one would be perfect.

[Harley#356]

Paint-01.jpg
Paint-01b.jpg
Paint-02.jpg
Paint-02b.jpg


Few pics of before/after. Not 100% perfect, but a huge improvement. And the before pics were AFTER Meg UC and Meg UP, so you can only imagine how dull and swirled it was before I started! I kid you not the paint was nearly flat black!

[Merlin]

Few pics of before/after. Not 100% perfect, but a huge improvement. And the before pics were AFTER Meg UC and Meg UP, so you can only imagine how dull and swirled it was before I started! I kid you not the paint was nearly flat black!

Nice work!

Excellent Results!

What products, process, pads polishes etc. did you use?

[Harley#356]

Thanks!

There's still some flaws that I notice that were just too hard to photograph, it's not as perfect as the pics show, but it's leaps and bounds better than when I started.

Steps:

Couple weeks ago I dawn washed, clay barred, Meg-UC with yellow Meg foam pad, Meg-UP with yellow Meg foam pad, Meg-UW with tan Meg foam pad.

Still wasn't where I wanted it, but the before pics were taken after that first round.

Then I did the following:

-Dawn Wash
-M101 w/ Orange LC Pad on Speed 5
-GPP w/ White LC pad on Speed 5
-Z2 w/ Black LC pad on Speed 4

That's when these round of after pics were taken. Truck is now listed on autotrader for sale!

[Harley#356]

Here's some pics of the whole truck after detailing. NHTOC's crappy photo resizer makes the pics more grainy, hides the pop that really came back to the paint after detailing, but hey it's at least some pics lol

Actually sold the truck yesterday. Kind of sad to see it go after all that elbow grease into getting it shining nice and purdy again just to sell it, but I did get a couple days to enjoy driving it with it bling bling shiny lol.

Now to detail the Raptor and Explorer Sport!

[tpr103]

Wanna do mine?