Is Ford's paint soft or hard compared to other makes? I plan on doing some paint correction this weekend and would like to know how much work it's going to take to get the results I want. I have never done paint correction before, but I know that different paints behave differently depending on it's density.

Thanks!

 

Minor defects come out with both steps of the Megs MF DA kit or Optimum MF polish pad and hyper polish.

These are not serious defects, but the single step of the "wax" and black MF pad in the megs kit would not remove them.

I have seen shopping cart kisses that required Opti Hyper Compound ( and a foam pad ) to remove in 2 sets of ~ 4 passes from a 2006 SuperDuty.

Do you have pictures of the defects you are trying to remove & what you have for supplies and equipment ?
That might help in prepping you what to expect.

 

I'll be working on my wife's 2001 escape. It's white and hides the defects well. I'm not going to jump into the MF DA Correction System until I've tried everything else first, least aggressive techniques first. Her car has major swirls and that's about it. No deep scratches or anything.

I'll be using an Meg's V2 DA. My first attempt will go like this....

Wash (Meg's wash and wax)
Clay Bar (mothers)
Meg's ultimate compound
Meg's ultimate polish
Meg's NXT 2.0 Sealant (2 coats)

Hopefully I'll see some results after using the compound. I will be using Meg's 2.0 SoftBuff polishing and finishing pads.

 

Well, you are slightly less aggressive with UC vs M105, with UC being a bit more user friendly. Depending on the user is how much more cut M105 has ( opinions vary - some say M105 is a lot more in terms of aggressiveness ).
Compared D300 to UC, and I would say D300 is about on par with UC, so you are using the same basic product in terms of SMAT cutting ability.

Depends on what you call major swirls.
If they are that bad, you are going to spend quite a bit of time trying to get them out with a polishing pad and UC.
- It can be done, but do you want to turn a 4x4 into a 2x4 with 120 grit sandpaper or a saw ? Any product combo will get the job done, it is just a matter if you want to spend 6 min per section or 6 days.

Here is a picture from Merlin on a 2009 Mustang Vista Blue Metallic.
He called it "VERY pronounced swirls and scratches "
- Wording is a subject thing, so here is his picture of the before



He did a test with the cutting / black megs MF pad and D300, and still had some faint swirls left.
He went with 2 dots of D300 and 2 dots of M105 on the Megs black MF pad and got all the defects out in a single pass.
The after is clear as glass. He did not have a picture.

Here is a UC & LC Orange pad after 1 round ( could be the 6 pass routine ?? )
- don't ask me on the LC to megs conversion, it is a light cut pad in LC terms. I don't care to know the Megs chart.



I find the Megs MF DA kit to error on the side of less aggressive ( it is made for the masses to get rotary like results with spending hours figuring out what to buy & how to use it ).
I had to use both steps ( compound & "wax" ) in the Megs MF DA kit to get out similar defects as I did with the Optimum MF polish pads and Hyper Polish alone.

Opti MF polishing pad is about on par with a LC white pad for a lack of better description. White LC is heavy polish pad.

I did follow both up with PO85RD and a LC VC Black pad ( light polish ), neither were LSP ready in my book.

Without pictures of what you call major swirling, this is all supposition on my part, and should not be taken as a suggested plan. That said;
The marketing push for the Megs MF DA kit is aimed at what you are describing.

 

I will take some before and after pics when the weather gets better. If my method doesn't work then I'll either take a look at my technique, or go more aggressive with different products.

So, back to the topic of the thread, is Ford paint soft or hard? The harder it is the more aggressive I'll need to be.

 

I would not consider it a hard clear.

 

Ford/GM/Chrysler/MB/Porsche all have service directives that specifically refer to paint correction/contamination procedures and clay bar is not a referred procedure and specifically identified as a method which only removes the surface level paint contaminants and as such, the "root' of the contaminant remains continues to destroy the paint from underneath the surface layer of the paint.

Just remember, Mequire's clay bar is rated at 3500 grit. There much better clay bar products out there rated at much finer grits- so if you are comfortable and believe your paint needs to be wet-sanded, and that is the only and safest way to correct the flaw/issue, then do so but remember, for 90% for all paint contamination issues there are products designed to relieve/remove/neutralize the contaminants without reducing the mil thickness of the clear coat

These procedures date back to 1990 and are still published in current oem paint maintenance publications/service manuals.

Ford/GM/Chrysler/MB/Porsche all have service directives that specifically refer to paint correction/contamination procedures and clay bar is not a referred procedure and specifically identified as a method which only removes the surface level paint contaminants and as such, the "root' of the contaminant remains continues to destroy the paint from underneath the surface layer of the paint.

Just remember, Mequire's clay bar is rated at 3500 grit. There much better clay bar products out there rated at much finer grits- so if you are comfortable and believe your paint needs to be wet-sanded, and that is the only and safest way to correct the flaw/issue, then do so but remember, for 90% for all paint contamination issues there are products designed to relieve/remove/neutralize the contaminants without reducing the mil thickness of the clear coat

These procedures date back to 1990 and are still published in current oem paint maintenance publications/service manuals.
Ford/GM/Chrysler/MB/Porsche all have service directives that specifically refer to paint correction/contamination procedures and clay bar is not a referred procedure and specifically identified as a method which only removes the surface level paint contaminants and as such, the "root' of the contaminant remains continues to destroy the paint from underneath the surface layer of the paint.

Just remember, Mequire's clay bar is rated at 3500 grit. There much better clay bar products out there rated at much finer grits- so if you are comfortable and believe your paint needs to be wet-sanded, and that is the only and safest way to correct the flaw/issue, then do so but remember, for 90% for all paint contamination issues there are products designed to relieve/remove/neutralize the contaminants without reducing the mil thickness of the clear coat

These procedures date back to 1990 and are still published in current oem paint maintenance publications/service manuals.


https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...r-bar-1997.jpg

https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...y-bar-2006.jpg

Megs are not bad products but they just don't hold up or work as well as commercial/professional grade products (that actual cost the same or less). Here are my recommendations...

General paint cleaning (if required) - use a 50/50 mix of denatured alcohol & water (denatured is available at any hardware store & is oil free). It will remove any wax/polish and most all environmental contamination & ensure you are starting with a very clean surface.

For specific swirl mark issues I use BAF/Pro Car Care Beauty Products P21 Swirl Eliminator & Polish- although for 30 years I used 3M products specifically, recently I have not been as pleased with the quality of 3M’s hand glaze. I typically do not like "combination" type products but P21 is very, very impressive & effective from end result, ease of use & overall effectiveness. (BTW...3M owns Megs)

Wax/polish...

The absolute best ($ for $) IMHO is "Satin Cream" (for dark colors, but you could certainly use it on white as well), it is made by BAF & distributed through Pro Car Care products. It is very easy to work with either by hand, orbital or buffer. It has the same acrylic hardener as the high dollar paint sealants but it has 30% German imported carnauba....no, your arm will not fall off putting it on or taking it off & it has a very mild polish in it as well. Even parking the vehicle outside, the MFG gives a 6 months warranty before another application is required.BAF Industries 1910 S. Yale Street Santa Ana, CA 92704 800-437-9893

An excellent alternate product is 3M Perfect It Show Car Liquid Wax- a silicone wax/polish but excellent results as well, just maybe about 90% of the quality of the satin cream- with white, you would not even be able to tell any difference IMHO....you can get it online, from NAPA or any auto paint supplier.

 

Wow .. cut and paste king has added a couple of paragraphs to his BS.

How many forums has this been posted to? I found four, are there any more ?

 

From 1990........EOM

 

well let's see...
1st you accused me of posting items that were for new paints only...so I posted docs that go back to 1990 & 1997, then you said they are out of date in 2007....so I posted the newest publication in 2006...of course, you then just say this is BS..............

Hmmm, you are definitely a paid blogger for Meg's......as i have been a recipient of your ads sent by e-mail which using rapd 7's NMAP, I was able to trace right back to your IP address & it has now been blocked!

Cheers Blogger!

 

This has to be the funniest thing I have ever seen here. Is this a joke post from you?

You think I am a paid blogger? Wow, anyone who knows me knows I ain't married to Megs. I use many other products besides Megs in fact, other than Hyperdressing and APC+ I use very little megs products.

I would love to see your supporting data that shows I even own a blog, which I don't.

If anything, someone has cloned an IPA and is spoofing something and using my "screen" name.

Beechkid, check your email.

 

 

Good lord, it just keeps piling up

Which site did you copy & paste this little gem from ?

BTW in the SMTP header of every email message is the IP addresses, no need to "back trace". It has been there since RFC 822.
- of course you know this, being the "expert"

RR a Megs fan boy

 

You know, whenever I almost regain any faith in basic human intelligence, Beechkid posts something up. And wouldn't you know it, this is an election year - and he probably votes too. Lord help us all.

Oh well, gotta go wash and clay a customer's car before a full detail. I wonder how bad I'll mess this one up?

 

I'll take a stab at that.

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