ok, I have a mind freak for you guys, I have a friend with a blue honda accord (2005) that has been washed in circles just using water for the past 3 years. Today he came to me asking for some help. So I did the following:

Rinse off car
Wash car with zaino
Use degreaser on tar spots
Rinse off car
clay bar whole car
Wash car with dawn

Then I see the real damage, heavy swirls with deep water spot etching, so I whip out the PC with a YELLOW heavy cut sonus pad and Four Star Body Shop MCC. I put 4 dime sized dots and start with the hood, start at 1.5K then slowly move up to 4K. Those 4 dime spots got me though 1/4 of the hood. I kept buffing it until it "dusted" and did a final wipe with a microfiber. To everyone's surprise, there's still light swirls and as well some deep water-spot etching.

Do I Have to step it up a bit and use something more aggressive to get it all out or should I keep on cutting into the paint with the MMC/Yellow combo?

PS zaino z-7 does amazing things on the stock steel rims on the accord.

 

optimum compound, then optimum polish, then poliseal, then danase acrylic then NXT

 

4k, im not sure, but doesnt paint correction usually occur at 5k-6kopm

 

IME, a light cutting pad has always been more than enough to correct Honda/Acura paint. I think you'll be alright with 4* MCC and the yellow but try it on speed 6. Also, you'd be better off with the Erasure Turbo pads since you'll get more paint correcting power with that combo. The light cutting pad and a medium/mild polish can generally correct just about any Honda/Acura paint especially with the 4" pads. Good luck!

 

ok, so use the same yellow and MCC combo starting at 1 to spread it, then to 3 to help it a little, then to 5-6 to get it fully broken down. Ok, got ya. I tried the white pad on 5 with MCC and that left some holograms, so I had no choice to step up to the yellow pad. All I can say is that at 4K, the MMC did a very well job that was past my expectations from when I do use it by hand.

 

do you really need a 6 on honda/acura paint? I think doing what phee suggested looks good. Personally, if the paint is that bad, I would do OC twice and then go w/ PS.

 

Well this is pretty bad paint condition, I tried up to 4 since I don't want to burn though the paint, but I'll try 6 when he comes over.

 

Well the yellow along with the MCC is certainly not going o giv you a LSP ready finish! Sure, you will get some dusting with the MCC, but its not really a finishing compound. Its going to give you about a 85% ready finish removing all the heavy components of your defects. Your still going to have to finish down with a lighter pad/product combo (Orange/White with FS SMR or Optimum Polish.....)

 

It really depends on the situation but most times speed 6 on the PC won't harm the paint. It takes quite some effort on a 4" pad to do some harm on your car's paint. However, on a rotary machine like the Metabo PE12-175 or Makita 9227C, it is very easy to burn through your clear coat. If it makes you feel any better or puts you at ease, I use speed 6 on the PC on my car every time I do a full detail on my Integra.

Just remember that you won't be able to remove every defect from your car's paint. Just be reasonable about paint correction and you'll be happy with the results. If those last few defects remain and still bother you, you can touch up your paint with a glaze to fill before you apply your LSP.