3m 05973 compound gouging clear coat

RosharonRooster

Promoted Users
Yesterday i recut and buffed my car that has spi universal clear. I painted the car about 18 months ago or so. It was my first complete paint job alone without help. At the time i cut it with 2000 then buffed. Since then ive learned alot and painted more. So i finally bit the bullet and recut the entire car with 1500. 2000 3000. All by hand. Took about 30 hours. I started buffing with a brand new wool pad and used 3m 05973. I noticed the compound was drying extremely fast. And was leaving gouges in the clear!. I have to recut the area lightly to remove the gouges with 3000. The only thing that would remove the dried compound was soapy water. I was only putting dots of compound every few inches. Not slinging it all over the place....

I threw the brand new wool pad in the trash and switched to 3m 36060 with foam pad. Much better results. Followed up with 3m 39061 machine polish on black foam pad . Followed by 3m ultrafina on blue pad. The results are in. But my question is why would the compound gouge the paint? Ive gotten good and buffing and had never had this happen??? It was like the wool pad and compound was a sanding disc!
 

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That is old school,cheap compound. Only good for dirty boat gelcoat.. It creates more work for cars. I highly recommend Menzerna. Best Ive used. These are UV clear sanded with 1500/3000 da. Then buffed with menzerna 400 compound with wool then switch to foam pad with same 400 compound. No other polish or steps. Amazing stuff.
 

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That is old school,cheap compound. Only good for dirty boat gelcoat.. It creates more work for cars. I highly recommend Menzerna. Best Ive used. These are UV clear sanded with 1500/3000 da. Then buffed with menzerna 400 compound with wool then switch to foam pad with same 400 compound. No other polish or steps. Amazing stuff.
Im going to look into it. Thanks
 
have to agree. that is not the compound you want to be using. there are many good ones out there these days. that is not one of them. most newer compounds are very fine like polish but they still cut like the old school gritty ones. the menzera is good as well as sonax cutmax and 3d aca500. all great compounds that cut fast and leave a high gloss swirl free finish.
 
That is old school,cheap compound. Only good for dirty boat gelcoat.. It creates more work for cars. I highly recommend Menzerna. Best Ive used. These are UV clear sanded with 1500/3000 da. Then buffed with menzerna 400 compound with wool then switch to foam pad with same 400 compound. No other polish or steps. Amazing stuff.

E.D., which foam pad did you you use? That blue looks great.
 
E.D., which foam pad did you you use? That blue looks great.
Actually, at this shop I have limited resources. Im only given 3m wool pad and 3m white foam compound pad. Have to make the best of it. It works but not as well or as quickly as a proper setup. I work a 2nd shop part time and can use whatever I want. My preference is Lake Country CCS foam orange on DA polisher after rotary wool, then use white CCS with Menzerna 3800 when I need the best finish I can produce.
 
I also use the Menzerna 3800 and CCS pads for the final polishing steps.
However of late I cannot say enough about how well Meguiar's M-100 and a twisted wool pad on a rotary works for the initial cut. Try it, you will like it.
 
I also use the Menzerna 3800 and CCS pads for the final polishing steps.
However of late I cannot say enough about how well Meguiar's M-100 and a twisted wool pad on a rotary works for the initial cut. Try it, you will like it.
I certainly will. Have you tried the menzerna super heavy cut 300? Wondering how they compare?
 
i think the 300 is the one i tried. i dont think it was the 400. i remember it being good then i tried the sonax cutmax and found the 2 of them comparable. it was a toss up between the 2. i ended up using sonax for then next year or two then tried the 3d aca500 and i think that is slightly better than both of them. not extremely better but def a little better. now i bought a gallon of that so ill be using that for a little while. the aca520 polish is just as good.
 
300 dusts pretty good. I kind of like it with wool since it does dust you can easily clean the pad up if it starts gumming up a little bit.

Ive kind of found different compounds work better under certain circumstances or with certain pads, for instance the 300 with wool for me is an alright combo. It works with foam, but no where near as good as Sonax CutMax, CutMax is the best I've used so far with a foam pad.

I'd really like to try the m-100 or the 3d
 
here are some pros, cons and comparisons since i have used all 3.

the 100 is really good for the money. its cheap, cuts well, leaves a swirl free finish. not as good as cutmax but its the best thing i have used so far from meguires/3m. it is way thicker than cutmax so it will build up in a pad far more than the cutmax which is really watery. m100 has the consistency of toothpaste. some will like that and others will hate it. since you like cutmax, the m100 will be a pretty big change. the 3d, downfall is its expensive unless you buy it in gallons. its just slightly thicker than cutmax but nowhere near as thick as 100. same thickness as 3m perfect-it. cuts a little better than cutmax, leaves a swirl free shine. doesnt cake up in the pad.
 
Jim, i hope someone sends ya v32 to add to your great wisdom list.
Toothpaste like, much more initial grit feel in fingers then cutmax, but doesn't feel gritty after buffing.
 
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