Ask-A-Pro: Polish Recommendations for Acura and Honda paint
by Todd CooperiderHey guys, I’ve been following the Ask a Pro Blog and it has been full of great information. Keep up the good work! I have a PC and recently got some M105/205 and various pads from Detailed Image. I tried it out on an Acura with great results! It is an impressive combination. I used the 105 with the LC Orange pad, and the M205 with the LC Black pad. After the 105/205 I apply Zaino Z2 as the final step. My question is – do you recommend any polishing after the M205? Or is the M205 good enough to finish with before I apply the Zaino? I own Honda and Acura vehicles, so that that is my primary focus. Thanks! Bill
Hi Bill, and thanks for the questions. I’m glad to hear that you’ve found the information here on the Detailed Image Ask A Pro blog to be helpful.
I too agree that the Meguiars M105 / M205 combination is very powerful, and versatile as well. I spend a lot of time using it myself.
Acura / Honda paint is typically pretty soft and relatively easy to work with as far as correction is concerned. I typically only use M105 for Acura / Honda paint when the condition is pretty severe. M205 on a PC with a black pad will do a very good job of finish polishing, especially with the cleanup of any marring caused by a heavier combination like M105 / orange.
As far as your question about needing to go another refining step in finish polishing, I guess it comes down to what color the car is, and how good you want it to look. If the soft paint is lighter in color, you could go with a finer polish but the difference wouldn’t be very noticeable in most cases. If you were working with a darker color like Nighthawk Black Pearl however, it would definitely be worth your while to spend some time with a finer polish. For this I would recommend a blue pad and Menzerna PO85RD.
If these are your own personal cars you’re working on, it would definitely recommend having the finer polish/pad combination on hand for those quick touch-ups or the occasional light polishing.
Let me know if you have any additional questions or comments.
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Todd, have been following your work for a while now on here and Acurazine. I have a NBP Acura TSX that has some pretty bad swirls and scratches. My most aggressive combination I have thrown at it is Optimum Compound II with a hydrotech blue pad. Most of the minor scratches are gone and the clarity is greatly improved but I want to get out some of the larger swirls. Should I try a yellow cutting pad next? What would you suggest. Thanks!
Owen,
Thanks for following the work, and feel free to send more guys from AZ over!
While the yellow pad has slightly more cut than the Cyan Hydrotech pad, I’m not sure it will be enough to get it to that next level of correction you’re looking for. The most economical trial obviously would be to get a yellow pad to see what difference it makes, and if it still doesn’t do the trick you’ll need to step up to something more aggressive like Meguiars M105 Ultra Cut Compound. After your trials, just be sure to follow it up with a finer polish/pad combination.
I hope this helps.
Todd
I have a 98 Cl. It has plastic bumper with minor scrathes, nothing deep almost like someone took a wire cloth and rubbed it around. I just want to make it solid and shine again….I am assuming you don’t buffer it……….
Dan,
If memory serves me right, the CL had painted bumpers, correct? Assuming this is the case, then yes you can use a buffer to remove as much of the damage as possible. If doing it by hand you could try Meguiars ScratchX, and if that doesn’t do the trick you may have to step up to a more aggressive compound like Meguiars M105 (which works very well by hand). Also keep in mind that if the scratches are deep enough, it may not be possible to completely and safely remove them.
Thanks,
Todd
Thanks,
I am going to work on it this weekend.
Dan