Tips from Meguiar's

Was at the Radcliffe Motorcar event on Saturday (a great event, thanks Richard and Tom!!!) and learned some interesting tips from the Meguiar's rep:
1) Tear the tag off your microfiber cloth before using. They're required to put it on, but it can harm your finish.
2) You can "clay bar" your windshield..... gets rid of the contaminants, and (according to him) will stop your wipers from chattering.
3) They have a new microfiber pad for your DA for getting out those pesky swirls (see pic below). There's a new polish to go with it, but I just used their 205 polish with it and it did great (see pic below)
4) Found out I was being a wimp and running my DA too slow (I was chicken, what can I say?). It needs to be turning at a good clip... I now run at the 3 to 4 speed setting instead of 1 or 2. Works a lot better.
5) if you're cutting and polishing after painting to get rid of orange peel, that's the one time he doesn't recommend the DA. Since it's so kind to the paint finish, you'll be there all day trying to get rid of the scratches from your 2000 or 3000 grit sand paper. For those cases he recommends a regular, non random, buffing wheel. You can go with the DA when you get to the final polish.
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Looks awesome. Do you have a few pictures of the rear that show more of that deck lip/spoiler? Thanks.

 

Well, I do, but it does tend to raise some peoples blood pressure, so I was avoiding it. So,.. by request:
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where did you get the new DA polishing pad?

I've been using the Griots foam pads with the DA.

 

I bought it from the Meguiar's guy. They had a big truck there with a booth and all. 2 pads for less than $25. They are fairly new, so hopefully they will be in stores soon.
Hey Dave, see you in 2 weeks at Reading.

 

Those new micro fiber pads come in several variations depending on what you are trying to accomplish. Best place cost and selection wise is Chemical Guys in California (chemicalguys.com). They have a lot of different detailing supplies and supply a lot of professionals. No financial interest, just a satisfied customer. I just last week got two versions of the new pads but haven't had a chance to use them yet. I must admit I am somewhat of a detailing "junkie" always trying out different products from all the various mfg..

 

The rep made it sound like they were fool-proof, and it really seemed to do the trick. There is a specific polish that goes with the pad for swirl removal, and then a finish polish/wax with another pad, but they didn't have the goops available for sale, so I just used the new pad with their "old" 205 Ultra Finishing Polish, and then used their Gold Class paste wax, and now you need sunglasses to avoid the dazzle.
To me the biggest news was faster speed on the machine to get anything accomplished, and the trick about clay barring the windshield... haven't tried that yet, but I hope he's right about chatter-free wipers. That sound bugs the hell out of me...

 

wait? you drive yours in the rain?

I'll have to try the clay bar stuff on the windshield too.

and yep.. just sent my check to Pietro last week for Reading.

 

I was thinking the same thing Dave. Not much rain to begin with in SoCal, but I can't imagine wanting to go somewhere badly enough to get her wet on the streets. In fact, I store the wipers in the boot (for emergencies) because I think the lines of the car look better without them. Ironically enough, it's drizzling outside as I write. Global warming!!!!!

And thanks for the original post Paul. I just purchased a Flex DA polisher and have been experimenting on my older pick-up truck before tackling the F355. Makes a HUGE difference.

Henry

 

I've been using Bon Ami to clean the windshields of my cars for years with great results ! Bon Ami is a white powder cleanser much like Comet but has very fine particles. It has been around for at least 50 years and is often hard to find. BMW actually recommends it for windshields to get rid of road grim that seems to "bond" to the surface. It makes the windshield smooth as a baby's bum and it keeps the windshield wipers from both chattering and rains just flows off the surface very quickly !

 

Yeah, Bon Ami is a tried and true alternative that works well. Comes in a little gold container.
As to driving in the rain in my F-car, the clay bar advice was meant to be for your daily driver, but my car has been out in the rain: returning from a FCA event 2 years ago got hit by a deluge of rain. A few drips from around the windows, but otherwise she did very well for a convertible.