The machine polisher arrived today, along with an assortment of pads, polishes and microfibres.

 

First up was the swirly piano black trim on the B pillars and taillights. Masked off and went at them with a 3" pad, Scholl black finishing pad, and Menzerna 3800. This was not an aggressive combination at all, so was interested to see if it would remove the swirls. It went really well, very pleased, removed about 80%, I'd say a slightly more aggressive pad/compound would have delivered perfect results.

 

This was very much a learning session, all the YouTube videos were great, and no surprises apart from how vibey the Das6 is, will take some getting used to. 

 

Next up will be wife's car,  from head to toe with S20 black. Will keep this thread updated.

Looks great , I've always considered giving it a go but I know how horrendous the silly stuff is to get right 

 

You've probably watched them but these are 2 great Vids by Ammo NYC

 

 

 

 

Be interested to have a natter about your process like how many passes, pressure, direction etc etc 

 

I have a bottle of super finish plus as I like working with Menzera products and I also have a DAS6 Pro Dual Action 

 

😀

Hey Zen, like yourself I watched loads of video and researched other forums. If you start with fine polish and finishing pads you have nothing to fear. If you don't get the results you want just drop down to something more abrasive. 

I primed the pad, spread the polish at speed 1, then made about 8 light passes with very light pressure at speed 4. I didn't use an IPA afterward so the oils could be complimenting the results. I will next time. For the second B pillar I swapped to Maguire's Ultimate Compound as it is more aggresive, but the results were much the same as the Manzerna.

Polished off with a Edgeless 365 microfibre which are unbelievably soft compared to cheap micro fibres.

 

The wife's car is next with 5 inch pad. A lot of prep first, de iron, de tar and clay, etc. Job of that scale may have to wait as I am hobbling around with a broken knee at the moment!

Edited 2 July, 20196 yr by Steviedakota

Thanks for the info

 

I'd probably just use the 3800 with a white polishing 3 inch chemical guys hex pad and then work backwards I could step up to 3200 but I doubt anything more the 3800 would be needed 

 

I do have some Merzerna compound as well 

 

I think I'll have to order a new 3 inch back plate as mine is pretty ruined after I used it sanding/rounding the edges of some garden Sleepers I've just laid with a sanding disc (work great btw)

 

I used the standard microfibers from cleanyourcar.co.uk as they are pretty good for the money and for the  "omg it scratchea when I look at it" piano black trim fairs better with a lower GSM cloth and plenty of lubrication and turning so you not going backwards and forwards just one wipe, turn the cloth and repeat..

 

 

My S3 is due for the works soon 

 

Just need to order a few bits and pieces like IPA and a bottle CG clean slate and odds and sods, ive the change to Lakeland pads from CG .

 

I might just give it go when I give it the beans 

 

All the best 

 

Ben 

Sounds like you are ready to rock Ben, keep us posted. It's very satisfying, can't wait to get stuck in again 

Couldn't resist tackling the wife's car today. While sunny the panels were not very hot, so went for it.

 

No tar on the car so washed, clayed and dried ready for machine polish.

Did half the boot first with S20 and a black waffle pad. Good results but not aggresive enough, removed about 60% of the swirls. Tip here is to open the boot, raise it an inche or so (wedge something in the opening). This way you won't burn the edges of the rear wings.

 

Next broke out the orange pad which was better. About 4-6 passes, a couple of inches a second. While much better, some minor swirls remain so may try the purple pad next, which is more aggresive than the orange. Pad was also clogging up toward the end so quick blast with a brush cleared it out.

 

Then did the bonnet. Wiped down with IPA and waxed.

 

Good progress and learning lots already. Despite being warm and sunny the S20 stayed very nicely lubed and never dried up, dust was very low too.

 

Next up is roof, then onto the sides.

 

 

 

On 02/07/2019 at 18:59, Steviedakota said:

The machine polisher arrived today, along with an assortment of pads, polishes and microfibres.

 

First up was the swirly piano black trim on the B pillars and taillights. Masked off and went at them with a 3" pad, Scholl black finishing pad, and Menzerna 3800. This was not an aggressive combination at all, so was interested to see if it would remove the swirls. It went really well, very pleased, removed about 80%, I'd say a slightly more aggressive pad/compound would have delivered perfect results.

 

This was very much a learning session, all the YouTube videos were great, and no surprises apart from how vibey the Das6 is, will take some getting used to. 

 

Next up will be wife's car,  from head to toe with S20 black. Will keep this thread updated.

Nice work. 

 

I’ve always found a Sonus SFX hand applicator and Megs Ultimate Compound are great for the B pillar trim.  They are also good to work in smaller areas where acpolisher isn’t practical, or where the paint is thinner. 

+1 for the Meguiar's Ultimate compound, though I use it with Lakeland pads for correcting by hand. Very happy with them, so also worth considering if you are looking for by-hand correction options. 

22 minutes ago, BriskodaJeff said:

+1 for the Meguiar's Ultimate compound, though I use it with Lakeland pads for correcting by hand. Very happy with them, so also worth considering if you are looking for by-hand correction options. 

When you say `Lakeland`, do you mean `Lakeland` or `Lake Country`?

46 minutes ago, mandp said:

When you say `Lakeland`, do you mean `Lakeland` or `Lake Country`?

Probably my fault as I put Lakeland in a previous quote on here but I did mean Lake Country 

 

Be pretty hard with a Lakeland 😁, a bit too much low end for polishing...

 

Edited 4 July, 20196 yr by Zenbasses

4 hours ago, Zenbasses said:

Probably my fault as I put Lakeland in a previous quote on here but I did mean Lake Country 

 

Indeed I did. Love the pic though - I traded an Ibanez Jem in very similar colour for the current PRS Custom 22.

Edited 4 July, 20196 yr by BriskodaJeff
Added gratuitous pics

More today, roof and full near side. Machine polish, IPA and wax. Bloody hard work this! 

@BriskodaJeff  In a pathetic attempt to keep this on-thread, let me just say that a PRS guitar is "superbly detailed". When I was learning to play, my goal was to play well enough to be worthy of a PRS. I never made it, though I do have an Epiphone Les Paul and a Fender Squier Strat hanging on my wall. Beautiful things...

Today's lessons learnt:

 

Wrap masking tape around door jams so no risk of dragging glue onto the panel.  On that I have proper low tack tape on the way, the stuff I'm using is rubbish.

I need some kind of trolley near at hand, you are endlessly juggling the DA, polishes, IPA and putting anything ground is bad news.

Cord management, still figuring this out, have it over the shoulder but tends to fall or flop around.

Need a duster, to quickly wipe dust off panels before hitting it with the DA.

Very nervous of the sharp creases on the car, I go very light and quick with the DA if passing over them.

 

Satisfying though, OS is next, then bumpers, B pillar and rear lights.

 

Finally finished this morning, N/S, front and rear bumpers. My green tape arrived so I now feel very professional! Removed loads of light scratches 90% of the swirls and generally the car looks as good as it has ever looked. 

 

Absolutely delighted with the DA and the results, far better than any handwork would have done.  I would strongly recommend that if you like your car looking like new, you should invest in one.

The finish you have achieved is really great.

 

I am just a 'wash the car when it get dirty enough' kind of guy, but can I ask how often you can do this sort of treatment before you risk getting through the clear coating  and down to the base paint? 

I'm conscious of how thin the clear coating actually is because we have an 16 year old Toyota Echo and the clear coat has peeled completely off the roof over the last couple of years, probably due to exposure to the Australian sun but also 'coincidentally' soon after to its first application of polish (ever). 

The clearcoat peeling is not unknown here or in other hot countries with cars of that period. I'm treating its appearance as a theft deterrent  

 

Edited 7 July, 20196 yr by Gerrycan

4 hours ago, Steviedakota said:

Finally finished this morning, N/S, front and rear bumpers. My green tape arrived so I now feel very professional! Removed loads of light scratches 90% of the swirls and generally the car looks as good as it has ever looked. 

 

Absolutely delighted with the DA and the results, far better than any handwork would have done.  I would strongly recommend that if you like your car looking like new, you should invest in one.

Don't really understand why you went to the bother of masking off. Cant see anything that would have come to any harm if you'd touched it with your polishing pad. Perhaps I'm missing something.

Edited 7 July, 20196 yr by mandp

^ Mostly to avoid polish going into the crevices, but also used on door edges to avoid burning the paint on adjacent panels (which are not always flush). It may have been overkill for the relatively light pad/compound combination I was using, but it provided a certain safety net which I was grateful for first time out.

44 minutes ago, Steviedakota said:

^ Mostly to avoid polish going into the crevices, but also used on door edges to avoid burning the paint on adjacent panels (which are not always flush). It may have been overkill for the relatively light pad/compound combination I was using, but it provided a certain safety net which I was grateful for first time out.

Better to be safe than sorry, eh. I get that.

Looking well. Glad you've swapped the masking tape for a better, low tack alternative 👍

 

Can I ask why the bonnet is up in a few of the photos? You'll just end up with more polishing dust under there

2 hours ago, Wardy said:

👍

Can I ask why the bonnet is up in a few of the photos? You'll just end up with more polishing dust under there

Cheers.

Scholl S20 is very low dust so no worries there.  The bonnet and boot were raised when doing the wings/rear 3/4 so I didn't have to worry about taping or burning those edges.