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What follows is purely my opinion. Take it FWIW.
Well, I took the time to hit the back quarter of the car last night. Doing the entire car is going to be an all day / multi-day affair, and given that Peter was kind enough to extend the "beta" of the products I did not want to prolong supplying feedback.
General comments:
As stupid as it sounds, I was thrilled with the "scent" of both finishing products. Not harsh, actually quite pleasant.
I found that the consistency of both products was a little thinner that what I was used to with the others I use (Meguiars). I had a bit of spattering initially (OK - I ended up blasting it all over the car) but quickly altered my application technique and got it under control.
I was pleased to see that build-up was not excessive, and that made buffing a quick task.
The instructions that have been drafted are concise and to the point. Little need to add more.
My gear:
I did not have a chance to test the pads included with the kit.
I used my Cyclo polisher (which I was surprised to see not mentioned in the instructions whereas the Porter-Cable unit was).
I clayed my car with Mothers clay. It works, but is probably the worst "value" as you get a miniscule bar for the maximum price. If you live near an AutoZone, CarQuest, or other big-box auto retailer they generally carry their own branded clay kit for under $10.
I wash and clay using Turtle Wax car wash. There is no need for sophisticated (i.e. expensive) finishing products to clay a car - all it needs is a surfactant and typical car wash water is fine. I'm sure the Zoop that Eastwood carries would do an equally fine job.
There are a couple sections of my car that have literally had the paint blasted off them due to the use of gravel and sand here in the winter, and the general road debris I encounter as I commute from Hooterville to actual civilization. Sadly, the Eastwood products can't fix this stuff.....
The Pad Glaze / Swirl Remover:
My car has some significant scratches from a couple years of neglect and abuse, and fairly severe swirl marks from past attempts at finishing. I used the "green" Cyclo pads to apply the cutter, and while I was fairly pleased with the results on simple swirl marks, it's clear that I need a pad capable of cutting a little more (prolly the "orange" polishing Cyclo pads, possibly yellow cutting pads). I suppose I could have gone over it several times, but I wanted to judge on single pass results, and the green Cyclo pads are not heavy cutters. As a point of comparison, I would put the Eastwood product somewhere between Meguiars #1 and #3, closer to the latter as it seemed pretty mild, but again I would have preferred to be using a pad with more guts than what I was using. Again, buildup was minimal so removal could be done almost immediately, and there was not a lot of dusting on removal In doing the entire rear 1/4 of my car my micro-fiber towel hardly loaded a bit. At this rate I could easily see doing a majority of the car with a single small towel. Removal was pleasantly quick and complete. The finish was already looking light years better than it had.
What I like most about this product was the fact that I felt like I could not "overuse" it - it didn't feel at all aggressive when I hit high spots.
Ease of application: A
Ease of removal: A
Result: A+
Would buy again: Definitely
The Wax/Polish
As with the swirl remover application was done with my Cyclo. This time 'round I used the white polishing bonnets, but on inspection they appear very similar to the black pad that Eastwood provides in the kit. No real news here - application and removal were a snap. Judging by the time stamps on the pictures I took it was a mere 11 minutes between the time I took the "post swirl remover" photos and the final finish photos. This includes "shake time" on the bottle and changing bonnets on the Cyclo!
As an all-round car glaze the resulting finish was very good, but as a hard-core carnauba wax guy I have to say with all honesty that the final finish fell a little short for me.
I will say that the brilliance is definitely back. My car is Dark Hyland Green - and it's a metallic finish that _should_ have an almost golden haze to it. Before cleaning it up it was dulled down to a jade-like color. That sparkle is now back - but it's too hard to photograph as it requires pretty much shooting into the sun.
Ease of application: A
Ease of removal: A
Result: B+ (likely an "A" in the glaze/polish category, but I'm a wax guy)
Would buy again: Possibly, but it would not be my final coat finish
What's in the photos below:
Each of these is a "before and after" pair - "before" being just after claying and toweling dry
The first set is the 1/4 of the car I hit
The second set is a close-up of the top of the "C"-pillar just behind the window - I chose that as you can see the scratches that came out with the Eastwood product.
