1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

During the winter I became bit with the detailing bug, so I bought a whole wack of products, , the griots 6 inch orbital, different pads and the griots 1-4 polishing system.

Today was the first time I was able to use the machine on my car, so I was very much looking forward to it and planned my entire day around it.

The machine itself seems to work great , aside from it being very loud on the high speed setting.

I started with number 1 , which is the most abrasive of the 1-4 system, and a orange medium cutting pad, and it has no bite at all, totally useless.

Started on speed 2-3, and worked my way up to full blast at 6, and it still does nothing.

After about an hour of making repeated passes over the same area, maybe 50% of the very light scratches are gone, but nothing else has changed.

I would consider this a completely useless product, same level as something you'd find in the local hardware store , or maybe even worse then that.

Im going to try to return this stuff and get something better, I think I will also need some heavy cutting pads.

I want something very strong, I want to go for that flawless paint look, and even if I spent a week with this stuff it just doesn't have the power to get any good results.

A few before and after shots, I had removed my rear corvette badge, and it left a very notiuceable hologram type thing in the clear coat, spent nearly an hour on it and its still there, very visible.

Anyways that's it , don't buy it.

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

This is what im trying to work on, I got it where I want now in terms of height and wheels , I just want to get that flawless deep black paint look.

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

go pick up some Meguiars M205 and youll be more happy with the results.

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

Thanks, I was told to do that last year but I thought griots would be "good enough" , I was wrong

NickTee

Did you clean and clay it prior to polishing?

ajokeman

Stick with Meguiars. check out detailing.com

NickTee

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...olish-1-a.html

Looks like the stuff works just fine.

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

yes

im sure its fine for a grey, early 90's Saturn

On a black car, in the sunlight , it just doesn't hold its own

Maybe I should of tried it with a heavy cutting pad, but regardless it shouldn't be that bad

NickTee

1. That's green.
2. It had some fairly heavy scratching and the #1 took care of most of it, but it didn't take out the swirls. No idea how the other stages do, but it shouldn't be that ineffective.

If you're unhappy with it, people love M105/M205 or Ultimate compound and Ultimate Polish.

cruzinZ

I've had nothing but good luck with McGuaires 105/205. Love working with it. It's become my go to product. As with all detailing products some work great on one type of cars paint and others don't do crap on a different car.

Always use a test area as there is no need in using a pad/product that is too abrasive on the finish. Ideally we want to use the least abrasive mix to achieve the desired outcome. What vehicle were you using Griotos Garage 1-4 polish on?

If it was the black Corvette we've found your problem. Corvette for some reason has some of the hardest clear coat in the industry. Lexus on the other hand is on the opposite end of the spectrum with really soft clearcoat/paint.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Corvette paint is extremely hard. Doing major correction with a dual action polisher on paint that hard will require patience and a lot of work.

Meguiar's M101 and Microfiber cutting pads or even Xtra Cut Discs would be recommended if you need to do some serious cutting, and even then it may take 2 or more attempts to get the results you are looking for in terms of cut. Finishing is considerably easier on harder paint though.

The composite panels do not help you either. Composite panels do not tend to heat up quite as much as metal panels, and therefore cutting is even more difficult as you need some degree of heat buildup to help with cutting. You'll notice on traditional vehicles, plastic bumpers are harder to correct than the rest of the vehicle that is metal.

I would not completely knock the Griot's products... however it sounds like they may not have been the right tools for the job you were attempting to do.

Hope that helps

-Zach

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

Thanks man , I had no idea about the corvette clear coat.

Its weird because nearly everything on the car, (aside from the drivetrain and body itself) is very cheaply made, so I had no idea the clear coat was super high quality one.

I started with the most abrasive because I knew I had some serious corrercting to do ,, and it still didn't do much, so now im wondering if the meguirs will not be any better .

Thanks a lot man ,, your always a big help

Im going to pm you for some help and place an order directly with you if possible.

I want some of the meguirs 105 and 205 , I also want some of the most abrasive cutting pads on the market like the ones you mentioned.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

The hard clear coat doesn't necessarily mean it is any higher quality than another paint, it is just a characteristic of the paint. As you can see, it doesn't mean it is harder to damage, but it does make it dramatically harder to correct..... so in my opinion, hard paint isn't a real benefit to anyone.


Sure thing... I'll be happy to help you out... just shoot me a PM whenever you need something