3M Perfect-It III and Porter Cable 7428 Rotary - Detailing and Car Care Forum

3M's Perfect-It III Machine Glaze
3M Part# 05937, 32 oz (946mL) - Retail Price $32.95

Well, with the nice weather upon us (finally), I got the "itch" to do some playing around with some of the new products that I'd amassed over the winter. I had at my disposal a new Porter Cable 7428 Rotary buffer, some 3M Perfect-It "waffle pads" and a host of 3M buffing compounds and products.

I couldn't resist trying the new Perfect-It III Machine Glaze, so I grabbed one of our old test panels, the buffer, some pads and a few "competing" products and headed out to the garage.

I washed the panel with some P21S Bodywork Shampoo and dried it with the Big Blue Waffle Towel. I set it on a pair of saw horses and inspected it, taking note of the paint's general condition. The panel was definitely in rough shape - scratches, marring, and some old buffer swirls were painfully obvious. This would be a perfect test bed for my new products.

I decided to put 3M's Perfect-It III up against Meguiar's Dual Action Cleaner Polish and 3M's Finesse-It II. The panel was divided into thirds and I decided to use the same style 3M "waffle pad" for all of the buffing.

The Perfect-It III (PI-III) was applied directly to the panel (as directed), the buffer pad was misted with water, and I set the 7428's speed to 1000 rpm. I'll talk about the buffer later on, but suffice it to say - it's quite an animal when compared to the Random Orbital (7424 and/or 7336).

The PI-III spread easily and evenly. It "flashed" rather quickly, and as I continued to work it with the buffer, I could immediately see an improvement in the panel. I worked the area for about a minute, then buffed away the remaining residue - it wiped clean with minimal effort and the shine/look was great. Try as I might, I could not see any evidence of buffer swirls.

The Meguiar's Dual Action Cleaner Polish (DACP) was applied next, with a fresh waffle pad, using a similar technique to the PI-III. I found that it did not apply as evenly as the PI-III; it grabbed to certain areas, and bonded very quickly with the paint. Trying to buff it clean was very frustrating - it had virtually welded itself to the paint. The finish felt and looked slightly oily, and the old (and what appeared to be some new) buffer swirls existed.

The 3M Finesse-It II (FI-II) was applied next, with a fresh waffle pad, and using the same techniques as above. It applied a little better than the DACP did, but it didn't work as well (or as easily) as the PI-III. The end result was better than the DACP, but not nearly as good as the PI-III.

In a nutshell, 3M's PI-III is an incredible product. It worked flawlessly and effortlessly. It made quick work of the swirls and left the surface feeling clean and polished. I have no doubts that a follow-up application of P21S GEPC over this product and a topping with a quality wax would produce unrivaled results.

My initial reviews indicate that this will be my new product of choice, replacing my 3M FI-II and relegating my Meguiar's DACP to the trash can. I'd highly suggest that you give it a try- I found mine at the local NAPA store.

UPDATE (09/01/03): Well, after using this product for a while, I've found that it does continue to work well, but it seems to be a bit hard to use on certain finishes. I've found that the residue may be a little hard to remove on certain finishes, so keep that in mind if you're considering using it. Otherwise, it still seems like a great product!

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Porter Cable's 7428 Rotary buffer is a high-speed, rotary buffer that's meant to be used for knocking down major defects and tackling areas that a random orbital wouldn't be efficient at. Despite what some may claim, I must strongly emphasize that THIS IS NOT FOR THE BEGINNER.

The machine has A TON of power, even at low speed. Setting the speed dial to "1" (which limits top speed to about 1000 rpm), I was able to easily "throw" the test panel (a Thunderbird hood) from the saw horses without any effort - the buffer simply grabbed the hood and flung it off the saw horses.

I used very light/little pressure on the buffer and found that it was fairly easy to control, though it was no where near as "precise" as the random orbital buffers are. I'd liken it to driving a top fuel dragster - you can sense that it has tremendous power, and when you're using it, you always feel like you're trying to reign-in the power and keep it from burning you.

While I was able to work the panel properly, the buffer was obviously capable of doing some serious (and quick) damage - just for kicks, I cranked the speed up to about 1800 rpm and had at a 2'x2' area. Using the pad "flat" made the buffer skip and skate around like it was out of control. Using 1/3 of the pad at a slight angle helped control the buffer quite a bit, but I was able to burn through the paint on one of the ridges on the hood during a careless moment.

So, while the 7428 is a potent tool, it requires constant concentration and considerable respect. I will definitely find uses for the tool, but I will undoubtedly continue to use my Porter Cable 7424/7336 Random Orbital Buffers for 99% of my detailing duties. The considerable weight and incredible power that the 7428 Rotary buffer possesses is enough to make my detailing experience more difficult than it need be.

I'd also forgotten how much sling and splatter there is with a rotary buffer - I made extra effort to spread the compounds with the machine off and even carefully brought the buffer up to speed; regardless of my attention to trying to prevent splatter, my clothes still have a nice line of compound sling across them (right about waist level).

For those interested in trying a rotary buffer, I'd definitely recommend the Porter Cable 7428, but again, it's not for the inexperienced - use caution and common sense when using this bad boy!

-Steve

GURU REPORTS: Unbiased, imparital, practical testing and evaluation of car care products.