There is a certain confidence one has when they know a compound will deliver the gloss consistently. AAT501 has become that compound for me.

While I use ACA500 foe the super heavy cutting, AAT501 is a cost effective default for general heavy cutting. Rated to remove 1000 grit sanding marks, 501 easily eliminates most defects even on very hard clear coats, and often finishes down very well for the amount of cut it has. That being said, I've definitely had it haze with really aggressive pads on some paints. That's ok with me, because when I need the cut 501 is right there for me.

It really seems to like yellow LC CCS, Buff and Shine Uro-Fiber, and Uro-Wool pads in my environment, but I'm sure it will be at home with just about any cutting pad.

AAT501 had a unique consistency. It is a medium consistency liquid, forming nice round pea shapes on the pad, but turns very liquid when spreading out over the work area. As it is worked the wet film "settles", and you can see the work being done through the film. The film stays workable for a very long time with little to no dust. It dusts just enough to be easily knocked off the pad, but not enough to create a huge mess while compounding.

The scent is pleasant, but it took me a minute to get used to it.

I follow with AAT502, which easily removes any marring or haze left behind, and some of the best gloss I've ever experienced from a finishing polish.

I use this compound in a bodyshop environment. Orange peel wet sand marks don't have a chance.

I used this product on a work truck that I recently purchased. The truck appears to have had its paint neglected for its entire life (built in October 1998, so 20 years). There was severe oxidation, heavy scratching from off-road hunting excursions (we call them Sierra Pinstripes out here) and the clear coat has failed and blistered off in spots. Nothing short of repainting will make this truck look new, but this stuff sure made it a heck of a lot better!

To be fair, I wet sanded in spots where the clear coat was flaking off just to flatten the transition between the spots of base coat and the spots that still had clear coat. After sanding with 2000 grit I used a wool cutting pad on a rotary machine, along with this product. I followed that up with a fine cut polish on a foam pad and voila! See the pictures below. I have yet to finish the project, but I am definitely seeing results.

The paint has different hues in the spots without clear coat on them, but it is uniformly shiny now. I'll take that over how it started out any day! See the 2nd picture

All in all, this product does exactly what it says it will do - and it does it well. I found it easy to use.

I test all my products on my 1977 Toyota SR5 with original faded paint.cleaned clayed and then wiped down with wax a grease remover I apply it by hand and see how good of results I get in the small area and then don’t put any protection on top and see how long the results last through weather and regular driving rain normal washing I have tried other brands with little change or next to no change did this on corner of hood and looked great for about 6-7 months and has now started to wear off