Meguiar's Ultimate Compound- This Stuff Rocks!

[cduluk]

Hey guys,

I spent the entire day detailing my Rx400h today and wanted to report how it went. <_<

A few weeks ago i performed the first proper "wash" since the end of last summer, and noticed a lot of new scratches on the exterior. I also clayed the entire car (with Turtle Wax's Ice Clay bar) which also created some areas that needed some work... Ordinarily i'd just lightly wetsand, buff and use a good glaze to try and hide imperfections- but this year i decided to try something new (an idea recommended by my autobody shop).

The guys at my autobody shop suggested i fill each scratch with clearcoat, allow to cure, then wetsand and polish, basically acting as a permanent glaze fix- so i gave it a shot. I cleaned each scratch, mixed some clear, and dabbed it in with a toothpick, applying coat after coat until the clear was raised higher than the surrounding paint. I let the paint cure a few weeks, and today i did the rest. I block wet-sanded over the scratches with 2000 grit paper until the clear was entirely flat, and polished to a shine.

In the past i've used "3M Scratch Remover" with a rotary polisher to polish the wetsand marks, and it's always worked pretty well. But a few weeks ago on my annual trip to Autozone (for materials) i stumbled on this new product from Meguiar's, called "Ultimate Compound". On the front of the bottle it was advertised as being able to cut faster than other compounds, so i thought i'd try it for myself.

I used it just as i would any other compound, applied a little to the buffer wheel and ran a few sweeps across the scratch. And i have to say, this stuff is GREAT! It eliminated the wetsand marks MUCK quicker than the 3M Scratch Remover ever did, and the shine was much more brilliant. I couldn't believe how little effort it took to eliminate the scratches and bring out the shine, it was pretty amazing! :D

I like this stuff not only because it's faster, but because it allows for less contact time with the rotary buffer and the paint. As the rotary buffer spins, it creates heat which can easily remove or melt the paint if kept in contact too long (made that mistake before...). But with this Meguiar's stuff, the buffer wouldn't even have enough time to create any heat before the scratches were gone. I just kept the buffer on medium spin (5/10) and within seconds, the scratches were gone- and without swirl marks! Only word i can describe this stuff as, is "amazing". I don't know how one single compound can act so aggressively yet STILL polish to a shine without swirls...

And amazingly enough, the idea of filling the scratches with clear and wet-sanding and polishing WORKS just like i was told. All of the scratches i worked on are 99% better, only visible if you look right at them. Thankfully none of the scratches were very long or went through to the original color coat, so this method worked great.

And after the scratches were fixed, i went over the entire car with 3M's Imperial Hand Glaze and finished it off with Collinite #845 Insulator Wax. I used Lane's Super Blue tire shine on the tires and black plastic trim, and cleaned the entire interior with the steam cleaner and vacuum. I LOVE a properly detailed car! B)

Just as i was finished working on the car, it started to POOR (thankfully i got it back in the garage in time) so i will have to take some pictures tomorrow. I've got my chrome summer set of wheels on the car too- the car just looks SO good!!

So the moral of the story is: if you need a good cutting compound, Meguiar's Ultimate Compound is the one! :)

[Micah.Berry]

Thanks, Cduluk. I have some light scratches on my recently acquired 99 LS, and my wife has a large, deep scratch on her car that has always bothered me. I'm still learning what I need to do to become a "scratch remover." Your method sounds very do-able!

I have read that my black upper/gray lower Lexus does not have a clear coat on the black portion. I'd guess that the procedure you used for your clear would work for the paint, substituting touch up paint instead of clear. I'm going to do more reading before I attempt.

Thanks!

Micah

[cduluk]

Yeah, if your paint is single stage (i believe the black is) then your best bet is to fill the scratch with the black and then wetsand and polish (no clear required)

Do NOT use regular touch up paint or paint from a store, go to an auto body shop and ask them to mix you a batch of paint giving them your paint code. They might charge you $20 or whatever, but it will be worth it. You need the professional stuff because it will cure HARD and fast.