Flatting brand new car - advice

[Miffy84]

Hi guys

New car is on order (Fabia Monte Carlo, Corrida Red) but having looked at the demo car I test drove, the paint was pretty orange-peeley. Would love to get it super clean from the off and making it easier to clean for the future. I'll be living in a flat and probably only have the opportunity to wash it every 2 weeks or so at the parents!

I have a good friend who is just setting up on his own doing car detailing so he'll be helping me to do the work. From looking at detailing world, we should be doing something like this?

Thorough clean and dry, clay to clean deposits, polish to flat, seal and wax.

Can anyone suggest what grade of polishing compound will be required on new Skoda paint? Seriously worried about going to aggressive on my first new car! My 11 year old Galaxy (VAG paint) was hard as nails and would probably need a belt sander to get flat!

Any help welcome. Super excited bout getting my new car and trying to get as much info together before it arrives!

Smithy

[Baker21]

Having done a fair few 'new' Skoda's they come from the factory in a pretty good state, there will be a lot of contamination and also there will be the odd mark here and there......... :yes:

If your friend knows a bit about it then I am sure you will be able to achieve what you want to do however it does worry me that some people believe they can pick up a machine and go straight into it with no problems, I certainly wouldn't want to wet sand a car to remove orange peel without some prior knowledge of the process..........

All paintwork even if it's on the same model car will be different, you will need to get a feel for what polish and pad you will need on a Rotary or DA on the day, you should only need a light polish on a Finishing Pad but again this depends on how well the car is from the factory....... :yes:

[wja96]

If you look on Detailing World in the Technical, Machine Polishing forum, there is a company in the north west offering a wet sanding by machine course on the 19th June in Manchester. The course will use the Mirka Abralon system. I've signed up and I have used the same detailer for training previously. It's well worth getting some training before you pick up a DA or rotary.

I would also add a further caveat. By wet-sanding you will be taking off a very large proportion of your clearcoat - possibly as much as two-thirds of it. You can never really replace that so your scope to polish out swirls or minor scratches in future will be massively reduced.

Orange peel is a bit carp, but it's better than swirls etc.

[m0bov]

the peel might be under the clear coat!

[wja96]

the peel might be under the clear coat!

I don't think it can be under the clear coat. I thought it was caused by gassing off in the clear coat.

[prolfe]

I watched a you tube video yesterday by a Meguairs bloke who was showing a group of people about wet sanding, his best tip was to make sure that you use a spray bottle of water and not a tub or bowl of water to wet the paper.

He also said to make sure when you sand that you go in one straight direction only to give yourself uniform 'scratches' if you like.

There is this page i looked at as well:

http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/car-cleaning-detailing/367284-how-remove-orange-peel-lots-pictures.html

Here is the links for the 2nd vid of 5:

Edited 8 June, 2011 by prolfe

[Miffy84]

Thanks guys. Some great advice and links. I've been watching the Mequiars Open Garage vids and they are really insightful

HOWEVER!!! 5:52 onward kinda suggests that it's not such a good idea? Is it a case of start off VERY light and build up? Is there anyway of telling if you've taken off too much 'UV protection'? I understand the point he's making, but I can't gather from the films what level of detailing enthusiasts he's 'educating'

Cheers again all

Smithy

[willskoda]

At a guess a paint thickness guage would tell you

[prolfe]

You'll see polished spots where it's still indented, when these go you'll have a flat surface again.

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