My adventure with Griot's 6" random orbital and M105/102

[LivesNearCostco]

I gave up on more polishing for now. Yesterday washed car, did some more clay bar in a few spots, then applied sealant everywhere except hood and front bumper. The polishing did make the car look so much nicer, but I didn't polish enough to get out all the swirl marks and didn't finish with the fine polish to provide maximum shine. Plus I found so many little dots of polish sling from last week and cleaning it up was a major hassle. My mistake was probably lifting the pad off the surface while it was turning, in order to polish small areas. Next time will try that at a much lower speed.

Also filled in a few chips with Dr. Color Chip and glued little rubber pads to the back of the license plate holder so the screws wouldn't keep scratching the paint. 3 out of 4 screw holes were missing their protective rubber pads. Tomorrow or this weekend I'll apply wax on top of the sealant and see if that makes it look more like liquid metal. In a few months I'll go after the swirl marks and scratches again with the Griot's RO.

For Lake Country CCS pads, is the best pad for Meguiar's 105 is the yellow (most aggressive) or orange (medium) pad? Or does it depend on the scratches?

[BimmerWill]

M0nk3y said that he used cyan and tangerine when using M105 and M205. Sounds like you got a lot of work done. I wish I would have spent another day on it but got a little frustrated with the pads and quit before I probably should have as I didn't make it to final polish yet either (ran out of pads). Right now its got several coats of wax on it as I didn't purchase sealant before I started the project. When springtime comes around I may take another crack at it but right now i don't want to perfect too much just for the salt and grime to screw everything up again. She will be getting clayed again at least this spring.

Looking forward to some pics when you get a chance. I couldn't believe how smooth the paint felt when I got done though. Don't think I've ever felt paint so smooth

sent from S4

[M0nk3y]

For Meguiars, like Will said...the LCC Cyan and Tangerine pads are the best, because they are formulated to work with water based polishes, which is exactly what M105/205 is

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

[LivesNearCostco]

Appreciate it guys. Since I already bought 7 Lake Country CCS 6.5" pads I'm trying to use those, but if doing all over again, would get 5.5" pads HydroTech pads.

Looking at the AutoGeek web site, it looks like HydroTech Cyan is similar to the CCS yellow and HydroTech Tangerine has a little less cut than CCS orange (but leaves finish similar to CCS gray), so probably similar in cut to CCS white. The HydroTech crimson sounds like the CCS green or gray. So I should use the CCS yellow with the Meguiar's 105 and CCS orange or white with the Meguiar's 205. Having 4 levels of pad cut (with CCS) and 3 levels of product is driving me nuts! :-) That's another advantage to the HydroTech pads--only 3 pad colors!

Lake Country CCS options: http://www.autogeek.net/lc-ccs-foam-pads.html
Lake Country HydroTech options: http://www.autogeek.net/hydrotech-low-profile-pads.html

Edit and rant: Why does Lake Country use different color systems for their different pads? And how do the CCS pads have both a yellow and gold option, where yellow has the highest cut and gold has zero cut and is for jeweling? (/rant)

Edit #2: Somebody on the Meguiar's forum created this nice comparison chart! Now I feel less ignorant.

[Oli77]

This is the thread I was looking for as my sweet darling bought me an Griot 6 inches random orbital polisher.

PO was a lady with a handbag that was often placed on the roof and trunk lip. So I have good scratches.

Please correct this plan:

Wash
Dry
Claybar
Cyan then orange pads with 105 compound from meguiar.
Then sealant or wax?

Searching for videos now. Don't know what i'm doing.

[danewilson77]

Sealant....wait 24 hours, then wax.

Samsung Galaxy S5...

[M0nk3y]

This is the thread I was looking for as my sweet darling bought me an Griot 6 inches random orbital polisher.

PO was a lady with a handbag that was often placed on the roof and trunk lip. So I have good scratches.

Please correct this plan:

Wash
Dry
Claybar
Cyan then orange pads with 105 compound from meguiar.
Then sealant or wax?

Searching for videos now. Don't know what i'm doing.

I'm assuming you're talking about Tangerine HydroPad, not Orange? Orange LCC pad would be at the same level of aggressiveness as a Cyan.

[Oli77]

Good catch MOnk. Tangerine and Cyan hydropads. So let me ask you another question, these pads and compounds can only be purchase on the internet?

I don't see them at local part stores.

Also can I just get away with either of these pads or do I need one pass with Cyan and the compound AND a second pass with tangerine and the same compound?

[M0nk3y]

Good catch MOnk. Tangerine and Cyan hydropads. So let me ask you another question, these pads and compounds can only be purchase on the internet?

I don't see them at local part stores.

Also can I just get away with either of these pads or do I need one pass with Cyan and the compound AND a second pass with tangerine and the same compound?

I'm starting to see M105/M205 slowly start showing up in Autozones. The pads I have never seen at a chain store.

I'd suggest going over with M105 and Tangerine to clean it up. Typically I'd like to use M205 with Tangerine, but M105 will finish nicely with that pad combo.

[Oli77]

Should I stay away from Griot's garage products? Thinking orange pads and #3 compound.