best way to get rid of small scratches?

[Titanium_Man]

2 minutes ago, john999boy said:

First use of the 3" today and I've managed to part the foam from the plate lol.

Plenty of other bits to concentrate on whilst awaiting the replacement which was in one of the earlier links. 

I’ve done the same to my rotary 3” backing plate also 😊 I stuck it back down with superglue a few years ago, but broke it again last week 🤬 Time to replace it!

[froggy8]

il be jetwashing it after i have polished it  

 

sorry to hear that john 😞 

[john999boy]

3 minutes ago, froggy8 said:

il be jetwashing it after i have polished it  

sorry to hear that john 😞 

You need to jetwash, clean and clay before it's polished! Then it's time to wax it. 

[froggy8]

yeah il be doing all that. i go to the petrol station that uses the jetwash to wax the car.

[Ootohere]

@froggy8

Use the wash, hot / soap, rinse. 

You are not needing the machines wax cycle at the end if you are away to be doing the bodywork and polishing then waxing.

[froggy8]

after i have washed it with hot soapy water then i dry it out, polish it with the da polisher, buff it with micro fibre cloth, go back to petrol station then wax.

[froggy8]

just 2 more items i need to get, could anyone recommend a decent drying towel and polish towel please?

 

seen a drying towel:

 

https://autoquarterly.com/best-microfiber-car-towels/

 

im liking the  chemical guy one but unsure.

[froggy8]

cab i get any back plates for any da polisher?

[john999boy]

28 minutes ago, froggy8 said:

cab i get any back plates for any da polisher?

As a recent DA buyer, I went for the das6 V2 purely because it could take the 3" plates as well as the larger ones. I'd initially persuaded myself to go for one of the other more expensive machines but was told they couldn't take the smaller plates.

Remember that some machines can come with different ' throws'. A large throw makes it easier to cover large surfaces faster but isn't quite so good for smaller surfaces. I found the 9mm throw of my machine to be quite okay but others prefer the 15mm size.

[froggy8]

3 minutes ago, john999boy said:

As a recent DA buyer, I went for the das6 V2 purely because it could take the 3" plates as well as the larger ones. I'd initially persuaded myself to go for one of the other more expensive machines but was told they couldn't take the smaller plates.

Remember that some machines can come with different ' throws'. A large throw makes it easier to cover large surfaces faster but isn't quite so good for smaller surfaces. I found the 9mm throw of my machine to be quite okay but others prefer the 15mm size.

im leaning more and more towards the das 6 now purely of the fact that i will need it for waxing as well as polishing so i will be using it quite regularly. with that in mind, it makes more sense to get a decent one then a cheap one to avoid buying twice.

[J.R.]

9 hours ago, jars said:

Although I’ve got both DA and rotary, my honest preference is the rotary. I find it easier to achieve the results I want in a shorter time. 
 

Harder to handle and could cause lots more problems than the DA (strike through of the lacquer is far easier with a rotary, for example) plus it was less than half the price of the DA.

 

That said, I think starting out by going down the DA route is the wiser choice. Build up your knowledge, experience and confidence first. 
 

If I were you, I would stick to the all-in-one polish you linked earlier (or even meguiars #205 instead) rather the Megs #105 as that’s a high-cut compound and you may struggle refining it down (with the dark colour car you’re working on you may find that you’re left with a light haze if your technique is not quite right) unless you have the budget for both #105 and #205 (105 to cut the lacquer and 205 to finish it off) 

 

I have an old school airline powered rotary polisher, so old I had to make an adaptor because I could no longer get 5/8" thread polishing heads, its heavy but really powerfull and nowhere near as heavy as an electric one would be of the same power, like all airtools its max torque at min RPM so you can really lean on it when needed.

 

The big drawback is the compound being ejected by centrifugal force meaning that any textured trims have to be masked off & screen rubbers etc can be cleaned but take a lot of time & effort.

 

Would a mains powered DA action one be a dissapointment to me after what I have used for 30+ years? I cant see it having the grunt, certainly not at 620 or 900 watts and being heavy as wellhow do the two compare to you?

 

I did a lot of scratch removal this week but because of my significant eyesight problems some areas clearly missed a step and now the sheen has gone from the polish & the dust has settled I can see micro scratches & swirling that I have failed to remove, other areas are fine.

 

I am well out of touch and only have limited materials to hand here in the lockdown in France, I was using an old well worn but clean 1200 grit wet n dry paper wet, then hand polishing with the remnants of a 30 year old tin of Simonize rubbing compound, then machine polishing with Farecla G12 then machine polishing with this Dutch polishing compound https://www.amazon.co.uk/Commandant-1830590-C45C-Cleaner-0-5/dp/B00DZGIZYE?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Finally hand polishing with old school Mer polish, the old type in the 3 litre blue container.

 

The rubbing compound was mainly used where I had done a lot of hand flatting after touching in scratches etc, I skipped the Farecla where it was simply light swirls and a hazy finish like on the corners of the bumpers, these are probably the areas that are still showing up dull.

 

What are your comments on the above steps? I only have the materials to hand during the lockdown, I'm sure I had Farecla G4 in the past but perhaps its in the UK.

 

My car is a plain dark blue non metallic and having only had 2 silver metallic Skodas before I can see the drawback, the paint repairs have been really easy to do but all the dust from the main road now shows up terribly within hours after washing and/or polishing.

 

 

[SC03OTT]

Just a wee note. There didn’t seem to be much in the way of discussion around decontaminating the paint first. Other than a quick supermarket jet wash. No fallout removal, tar removal, possibly a clay?  

[Titanium_Man]

29 minutes ago, SC03OTT said:

Just a wee note. There didn’t seem to be much in the way of discussion around decontaminating the paint first. Other than a quick supermarket jet wash. No fallout removal, tar removal, possibly a clay?  

TBH, if you’re taking a machine to a car it’s a given that you decontaminate before touching the car with the machine and pad. 
 

You could just take the pad to it but it will ruin it. 

[SC03OTT]

4 minutes ago, jars said:

TBH, if you’re taking a machine to a car it’s a given that you decontaminate before touching the car with the machine and pad. 
 

You could just take the pad to it but it will ruin it. 

I’d agree it is a given if you know what you’re doing. That’s not the vibe I got from reading the OPs posts. 

[Titanium_Man]

13 minutes ago, SC03OTT said:

I’d agree it is a given if you know what you’re doing. That’s not the vibe I got from reading the OPs posts. 

Fair post 👍🏻 

[froggy8]

i must admit, i was going to just polish it straight away but good job i did abit more research otherwise i would have destroyed my paint.

 

my clay things have arrived today.

 

[froggy8]

hi guys

 

i have bought the platinum chipex and wondering if that will get rid of the scuffs on my bumper?

 

 

thank you guys

[Ootohere]

If you can not use it and get the repair to look as you want then you need to be doing a bit more work.

 

The thing is,

if using rattle cans you mask properly as overspray especially with primer and build primer goes everywhere.

Only have the panel you are working on uncovered, and do not have small repairs then starting to become great big area.

Preparation is the key, and getting a surface perfect before any top coats / colour or lacquer is applied.

Perfectly clean / wax free surfaces, dust and moisture free.

 

 

 

 

Edited 6 May, 2020 by Roottootemblowinootsoot