Chemical Guys V Line Compound

[Cn12345]

Hey guys,

 

I have just just bought a chemical guys v line sample kit to go over my 350z with. It’s a black car which is all in all relatively quite shiny but when you get really close and in certain light there are loads of light scratches and swirl marks in the paint which really bugs me. I got some work done on the rear arches last year which required re spraying and also got the rear bumper resprayed. I have a DAS 6 da polisher and aswell as purchasing the chemical guys v line compound kit I also purchased a few of their hex pads (yellow, green, white and black). Will it be ok to use the v32 compound on a orange pad which removes 1200-1500 grit sanding scratches on the recently resprayed areas or would you choose to avoid? Any advise on what rpm would be ideal to use whist going through the different compounds? I was hoping to do all 4 compounds starting with the most aggressive, working my way down to remove as many scratches as possible then go over with some maguires yellow wax followed with maguires ceramic wax. I have attached a link to the chemical guys kit https://www.chemicalguysuk.co.uk/shop/exterior/paint-correction/chemical-guys-gap_vkit_04-v-line-polish-compound-sample-kit-4-oz-v32-v34-v36-v38/

[coldel]

@ilogikal1

[ilogikal1]

When polishing, always start with the least aggressive combination and only step up if you need to.

 

Nissan paint is incredibly soft, so I doubt you'll ever need to go higher than V36 for RDS or V38 for swirls and minor marring to be honest.

CG have over done the grades with their hex logic pads in particular; black and white are more or less the same pad (neither offer any cut themselves), yellow is likely going to be too heavy for soft Nissan paint. The green pad is your friend here, however once corrected you could use V38 on a white pad semi-regularly to keep on top of it, but do remember that you only have a finite amount of top coat to play with so not too often - a filler glaze/AIO one the black pad would be good in the interim if you want to get use out of the kit.

 

For correction, start with V38 on the green pad at 4.5-5 on your DAS6 (after an initial pass or two at 1.5-2), making sure you work the polish fully, give it an IPA wipedown and check your work, if you've still got some RDS or heavier marring step it up to V36 on a (clean) green pad - don't forget to prime the pad first each time though.

[Cn12345]

Thankyou for your help and advise, much appreciated. There are maby 3-4 quite deep scratches, do you reckon it will be ok to use the harder cutting compound? Also would it still be ok on the recently resprayed areas to do the v36 and v38? When you say prime the pad each time do you mean a pad conditioner? If so I haven’t got any of this, I have some quick detailed spray, will this be ok?

[ilogikal1]

As mentioned, go light first and only step up the cut if needed, so you can go with more cut, I'd be tempted to step up the pad before stepping up the compound myself too, V36 should be adequate for getting out most RDS (random deep scratches) but you can step up the compound should you still need to. With going higher you're much more likely to need to go a 2 stage polish to finish down the higher cut compound, which is fine so long as you don't expect a perfect finish from a higher cutting compound alone.

 

Assuming the respray was done professionally (that is, not with rattle can lacquer) it'll be fine to treat it the same as the rest of the car - just be conscious that without a paint depth gauge you don't really know how thick any of the paint is on the car, so a little caution is advised, but that applies across old and new paint. Don't just assume that because it's fresher paint that it'll be thicker, that's not always the case.

 

The underlying message to be aware of is that the more abbrassive the combination, the more of your top coat you are removing and there's only ever a finite amount of top coat on any section of the car.

 

Priming the pad can either be a spritz of quick detailer so that the surface of the pad is damp, or I prefer to use the compund to prime - apply the polish to the pad and then spread it over the surface of the pad before touching the paint with it (or at least before starting the machine). The purpose is to avoid a dry pad having any contact with the paint without any lubrication, so whichever method works best for you really (but yes, QD will be absolutely fine).

[Cn12345]

Thanks again for your advise yet again. Yes the resprayed work was done professionally and was baked in an oven. I don’t think the new paint is going to need much work but would like it to match. I have asked the seller of the hex pads to swap the yellow pad for a orange one as from what you were saying I think the yellow one will be to hard. Do you reckon v34/v32 on a orange pad on the headlights will be ok? Any advise on best way to clean the pads after use? I will clay the car before hand too, going to be a long day .

[ilogikal1]

No problem at all, happy to help.

 

Orange would be more useful than yellow for a Z; when I used Hex pads I would go for orange and green on a Z.

Yeah, polished should be fine on the headlights (but you may find you don’t need to go that heavy, I usually use S30+ on mine which is equivalent to V38 for mine, however there’s much less risk on the headlights and it comes down to how the polish finishes down more than anything). They’ll be fine on herder paint too (typically German cars) if you do any others and want to use them - that’s likely when the yellow pad would come in handy too though.

 

Cleaning pads is a horrible job that I hate doing! Water and liquid soap will work and then work the compound out by massaging the pad. A bit of degreaser works too to. You can shove them in the washing machine on a colder (30 degree) cycle too. You can get a pad cleaning machine which, having tried one a couple of times, is a tremendous bit of kit but pricey so I never got round to buying one myself - I ended up having 4-6 of each pad instead and took the opportunity to have a break when I ran out, haha.

[Cn12345]

Brilliant.

 

So what I will do then is (let me know if there is anything you would do differently)

 

1. Wash car (chemical guys blacklight)

2. Dry with microfibre drying towel

3. Clay (meguires clay bar)

4. Chemical guys V38 with a green hex pad all over - (rpm between 4.5-5 after initial few passes at 1.5-2)

5. Chemical guys V36 on a orange hex pad if scratches are still visible. Then follow by V38.

6. Apply meguires yellow wax manually

7. Apply meguires ceramic spray manually

 

A quick question for point 5, what rpm would you use for v36 on orange hex pad?

 

Also we haven’t currently got a liquid wax for the da, do you have any suggestions using a black hex pad?

 

Sorry for all the questions you seem to be the detailing pro 

[ilogikal1]

Wash, rinse, clay, rinse, dry, polish - no point drying before claying and you will need to at least rinse (if not wipe down too) after claying.

 

I always tend to stick to around 4.5-5.5 on the DAS6 for all polishing; you want to be working the polish enough to break down properly, the slower the machine is going the more passes you have to make, so you might want to do a few passes at a higher speed and then back it off a little for the last few to finish down, but there’s no set formula for this and will depend your technique and preference as well as the polish, pad, surface, ambient temperature, etc, etc. So long as you’re working the polish you can adapt the speed to suit your technique rather or vice versa.

 

Im not a huge fan of liquid waxes to be honest, nor really applying LSP by machine - I prefer to apply wax by hand as I find it easier than by machine, so tend to stick to paste waxes. I would typically use the black pad for AIO or glazes when not looking to correct the paint instead myself. Having said that, I barely use that pad at all really.

I wouldn’t be looking for a wax specifically to apply by machine to be honest. Find a wax (or several...) that you like and if you can apply by machine then give it a go, you probably won’t do that more than a handful of times though if you’re like most people (me very much included!) 

 

You can use the black (or white) pad to finish down, if you’re using V36 on either orange or green pad, you can then finish with V38 on black or white for great gloss.

 

No worries on the questions, happy to share my experience. 

 

[Cn12345]

Thanks again for all of your help. I will try and get some before and after pics so you can see the results 

[Cn12345]

So finally got round to using the chemical guys v line compound. Took your advise @ilogikal1 and rinsed, washed, clayed, v36 orange pad on deeper scratches, v38 on green pad rest of the car followed by valet pro beading marvellous. Have to say I’m really impressed with the v38 polish really made the painwork shine. There were still some scratches after using the v36 but made a massive difference. Few pics below.