Ask-A-Pro: What Pad to Use with Meguiar’s M105 Ultra-Cut Compound?
by Todd CooperiderDan is new to machine polishing, and asks the DI Ask A Pro Team advice on which is the most common pad to use with Meguiars M105 Ultra-Cut Compound.
Hi
I’m fairly new to detailing and to date I have only really detailed my family’s and friend’s cars. I have learned quite a bit from the blog here and especially look forward to full detail write ups.
The thing I need the most help with at the moment is a recommendation in terms of a “go to” pad for Meguiar’s M105. I use a PC and would prefer to stick with a 5.5″ pad based on the size of the backing plate I have. If I were to use only one pad for Meg’s M105, which one do you think would be the most effective for that product?? I’m guessing it would be narrowed down to the LC yellow or LC orange but I’m not really sure on what basis to make a decision between those two.
I would be following Meg’s M105 polishing with a final step using Meg’s M205.
Hi Dan, and thanks for submitting such a good question.
The first recommendation that I would like to make is for you to read through my tutorial on using Meguiar’s M105 and M205. There is a lot of information in that article including pad recommendations based on paint types, proper pad priming with M105 and M205, and pressure required.
As it states in the article, your pad choice can (and will) vary greatly depending on the type of paint, and the severity of defects. Hard paint like Audi, (most) BMW, and newer Ferraris require more aggressive methods and combinations, while softer paint like Honda, Acura, Toyota, Lexus, Porsche are easier to correct, and therefore require less aggressive methods.
On harder paints with moderate to severe defects that would require the use of an aggressive compound like Meg’s M105, I typically use a Lake Country Cyan Hydro-Tech pad (cuts almost as much as yellow, but finishes better than orange). When following that up with a finishing polish, I’ll then use Meg’s M205 with a Lake Country Tangerine Hydro-Tech pad (cuts more than white, but finishes almost as good as a black).
Unless you’re working on ultra-hard clear coats however, I would recommend using a Lake Country Orange pad as your “go-to” pad for most applications. Megs M105/Orange combo works tremendous on pretty much all applications, and if you wanted to keep a limited amount of pads in your arsenal, then I would suggest that you keep Orange. Keep in mind that for each job, you’ll probably go through 3 or 4 orange pads because they work best when they’re relatively fresh. If you use just one pad for the entire car (even with cleaning with a brush or compressed air after each panel), it will lose some of its effectiveness.
For the Megs M205 Finishing Polish, I would recommend using a Lake Country Black pad for most applications as well.
When using the Porter Cable 7424XP combined with Megs M105 and M205, you have a very powerful combination that is capable of heavy defect removal, and finishing very fine.
I certainly hope this helps to clarify your pad selection questions a bit, but should you or anybody else have additional comments or questions, please feel free to submit your reply in the comment box below.
How can you tell if your paint is “hard,” or “soft?” I have heard that Mercedes paint is hard. I have a black 2003, and it scratches very easily. I would think a “hard paint” would not so much.
I also have a black metallic 2008 Dodge Caravan SXT, I see lighter imperfections with this paint, but it is still sensitive to scratching and marring.
Does hard or soft have to do with how easy the imperfections can be removed?
Thanks for your response.
Rick,
Without knowing which manufacturers produce hard or soft paint, the only way to tell really is to start polishing. If you start with a lighter polish and pad combination, and it barely removes any imperfections, then you know that you’re dealing with hard paint.
Mercedes typically uses hard paint. PPG came out with CeramiClear clear coats in 2002, and Mercedes started using it right away. These finishes are quite a bit harder than most, and react best to polishes like Menzerna Super Intensive Polish and 106FA as they were designed for this particular clear coat. I’ve seen Chrysler use medium to hard. It is vehicle/plant dependent, and I’m not sure what your Caravan uses.
Just because the paint is hard, it doesn’t automatically mean that it’s more scratch resistant.
And yes, the softer the paint, the easier it is to remove the same level of imperfections.
is it bad to use 105/205 each yr for my yearly detail?
Mike,
It depends on a lot of factors…how much previous heavy compounding the car has been through, how heavy you need to go each year, etc, etc. Once you do a heavy compound/polish, you really shouldn’t need to do the same each year if the car has been cared for properly. At most, you should just need to spot compound, and then do a light/medium polish with 205.
Todd: I’m new to 105/205. I’ll be using a Porter Cable 7424 with Meguiars cutting and finishing discs.
As I understand I use the 105 on a 2X2 area using speed 5-6 with medium pressure going to lighter pressure for 4 to 6 total passes. Follow with 205 on the 2X2 area using speed 4-5 with medium pressure and another 4 to 6 total passes. Will this really take care of the swirls and scratches? I usually have to spending 3 to 5 minutes for each step using other products.
I then wash the car, glaze and then wax.
This seems to easy. Thanks for the info.
Tom,
First of all, if you’re using the MF discs you should refer to my review / tutorial on the proper use of them. This article will give you more detailed information about speeds, pressure, etc. Although the article is designed around the D300 compound, it all should still apply.
As for the total amount of passes, there’s no “set” amount as it’s paint dependent. You simply have to determine what system is going to work best on that particular paint, on that particular day.
Unless you’re working with very hard, light colored paints, you probably won’t get the M205 / Finishing Disc combination to finish down as well as it could. If using M205, you’d probably be better off pairing it with a black pad, slower speeds, and lighter pressure. Once again, the exact speed, pressure, and amount of passes will be determined by the paint you’re working on…do your initial test to determine this and then apply that method to the rest of the car.