2 hours ago, nutters_uclan said:

There definitely seems to be a slump in posts, here, but is that symptomatic of the forum as a whole?

 

I've returned after a few years away and it seems really quiet across the board.

 

The car care section used to be a good laugh, especially with @ChrisRs about. I spoke to him briefly about a year ago and he was well and enjoying retirement. I'll miss my trips to his gaff to get my cars all shiny!

Ah...that's good to know that Chris is Okay. I too miss contact (through this forum) with him. He is such a nice chap and taught me loads.

21 hours ago, nutters_uclan said:

Car looks fantastic and you've done a good job getting the swirls out of the gloss sides. Those wheels look great too!

Cheers buddy, I appreciate that. 
 

For some weird reason, I enjoy cleaning my car. 

1 minute ago, MICKSVRS said:

Cheers buddy, I appreciate that. 
 

For some weird reason, I enjoy cleaning my car. 

I'm the same. 

 

I cleaned the new (to me) octy last week after picking it up. It put such a smile on my face feeling those familiar contours all over again! I felt quite the freak after that 🤣🤣

 

 

1 minute ago, nutters_uclan said:

I'm the same. 

 

I cleaned the new (to me) octy last week after picking it up. It put such a smile on my face feeling those familiar contours all over again! I felt quite the freak after that 🤣🤣

 

 

I get all of that, but we are in a minority. One of the blokes I work with throws his eyes up to heaven when he hears me talking about the cleaning side of car care. 
 

same bloke has grass growing on the inside and some moss growing on the outside of his....I think it’s a bit of the countryside on wheels!!!

6 hours ago, MICKSVRS said:

I get all of that, but we are in a minority. One of the blokes I work with throws his eyes up to heaven when he hears me talking about the cleaning side of car care. 
 

same bloke has grass growing on the inside and some moss growing on the outside of his....I think it’s a bit of the countryside on wheels!!!

He'll probably be planting some spuds soon!

I've finally got round to playing around with a DA that I bought 18months ago 🤣

 

Really impressed with the results on a scrap door that I practised on..did three passes then packed up as it looked like it was going to rain.

 

Used Menzerna compound and finishing polish on some SPTA Hex style pads.

 

How far can one get on a single pad? Multiple pads for one car would of course be the best way but surely thats very expensive?

 

Any tips for washing them out? I just ran under warm water and then put it back on DA and span it up to get excess water out...a tooth brush on slow speed didnt seem to do anything?

 

How are you getting on @PaulCanning?

6 hours ago, trickstargee said:

I've finally got round to playing around with a DA that I bought 18months ago 🤣

 

Really impressed with the results on a scrap door that I practised on..did three passes then packed up as it looked like it was going to rain.

 

Used Menzerna compound and finishing polish on some SPTA Hex style pads.

 

How far can one get on a single pad? Multiple pads for one car would of course be the best way but surely thats very expensive?

 

Any tips for washing them out? I just ran under warm water and then put it back on DA and span it up to get excess water out...a tooth brush on slow speed didnt seem to do anything?

 

How are you getting on @PaulCanning?

I use the multiple pad route. I use the rupes pad brush to clean the pad after every pass. Last time I coated my wife’s motor I used about 12-14 pads. That’s spread between wool and foam pads and 3 different sizes. When I’m done I Chuck the lot in the washing machine at 40 with just detergent. 

Gosh I better get buying more pads! I think I need to practise a bit more closer to trim peices, like on the door below the window, get used to machine more before i go full attack on a car.

 

Thanks for the reply @UndertheRadar how many passes on the same pad then? Or would you just use brush to get excess polish then move onto next fresh pad?

 

Will look into maybe a 4" backing plate for the smaller areas.

 

Do you use genuine pads like Chemical guys or ebay specials? The link i used to ZFE stores from John and Forensic detailing has gone (seller no longer exists)...

16 minutes ago, trickstargee said:

Gosh I better get buying more pads! I think I need to practise a bit more closer to trim peices, like on the door below the window, get used to machine more before i go full attack on a car.

 

Thanks for the reply @UndertheRadar how many passes on the same pad then? Or would you just use brush to get excess polish then move onto next fresh pad?

 

Will look into maybe a 4" backing plate for the smaller areas.

 

Do you use genuine pads like Chemical guys or ebay specials? The link i used to ZFE stores from John and Forensic detailing has gone (seller no longer exists)...

I have 3 rupes machines. The Rupes 15, the 75 and a nano. It’s easier than swapping plates and pads all the time. So I may have a yellow polishing pad on all of them, but use them to access different parts of the panel depending on access. 
passes depends on panel and paint condition. Experience will let you see the pad loading. I would prime the pad and do a section, crosshatching as I go. So I’m going to go left to right and then up and down. I’ll do this several times on the same section. Then I’ll clean the pad with the pad brush, and re-load with polish. Trick is with time you’ll get used to when the polish is running low on the pad and when your overloading the pad. The latter will make your progress go backwards. 
trim pieces depends very much on finish and polish and pad being used. 
I can run round the superb without issue but my wife’s focus for example has rubber weather strips that are a disaster and need taped. The different sized machines make the trim process a lot handier to be honest. If you have polish on black trim you can remove it with a plain white rubber. This was the focus last time I prepped it for ceramic. 
 

Forgot about type of pads. I would use something like the genuine Rupes pads or something like lake country or hex logic. I would also have a range of foam, microfibre and wool pads on hand. 

Thank you, those SPTA pad i would say are are clone of the hex logic ones. Thats one thing i forgot to do re priming the pad. I just went on with 4 pea sized blobs, dab about paint work 2x2 section. Then speed 1 spread out thinly, then upto 5 (maybe too quick, need to play more and get a more understanding of whats happening) and as you say, up and down, left to right, repeated 2-3 times, then off. Buffed off and panel wiped to inspect - then 3 pea sized blobs and onto the next section.

 

Its an expensive hobby this isnt it!

 

My first go, centre tape line is obviously before...left was just the Menzerna 3500 on a black finishing pad, right was 2x passes with compound on orangey colour pad plus final quick pass with the 3500 and black pad. Was so impressed, never realised how easy it is - but obviously harder on intricate areas and in i guess a lot to do with the prep / decon work.

 

As it was just a scrap door, it was leant up against the wall so fairly tricky at first as wobbling about lol

 

Focus looks well!

 

While you have that panel I would use it to practise some wet sanding. Start with something like 3000. You can use water in a sprayer or clay lube, or even soak the paper in a wash bucket with soapy water. A small sanding block will help keep it uniform until you get the hang of it. I had to do 2 sections on that focus as some muppet caught it one day while my wife was in work. 
it’ll surprise you what you can sand out sometimes. 
50/50 shots look well but they can leave you with a ridge that’s a PITA as well on a genuine panel. 
Rupes have a channel on you tube that’s very informative and helpful if you’ve the time to watch them. 

Thats amazing! I do have some stone chips i'd like to approach/practise on first, theory is sand back to bare metal, kurust rust convertor, then build up with paint, feather back with sand paper, final coat then clear coat...but thats very ambitious of me lol. Car has plenty of other battle scars so tempted to just leave them as well.

 

On your wing pic, did you not add any additional paint there? All from wet sanding with 3000?

Most stone chips if gotten to soon enough will be fine with a touch up applied with a tooth pick. Let it sit for a day and do the same again. Then leave for a day and then flatten and polish. 
The focus received no paint. The wing was hit lightly with 3000 and then polished with varying grades of pad and polish. The mirror cap was just polished out using the nano and a couple of different pads but with a fine polish, as mirror caps and handles etc don’t have a massive amount of paint on them. Sometimes on those items I would use say, a finishing pad with a polishing compound so as not to catch an edge. Good practise when starting, to tape handles and go over them with same compound but on a hand applicator until you get used to the feel of the machine. Just in case!!

Will play more and see how confident i get! Cheers @UndertheRadar

Going back to the original question @mandp (and i know its an oldish thread) one reason for less being interested in detailing could be that it would appear a lot of people tend to lease their cars or PCP them, so hand them back after the 2-3 years for their next one...? Happy to take to local car wash and save time for the sake of a fiver.

On 24/02/2021 at 12:23, trickstargee said:

Going back to the original question @mandp (and i know its an oldish thread) one reason for less being interested in detailing could be that it would appear a lot of people tend to lease their cars or PCP them, so hand them back after the 2-3 years for their next one...? Happy to take to local car wash and save time for the sake of a fiver.

 

This sounds plausible, but I've read a complete opposite argument that also makes sense too! It's along the lines of 'new cars are increasingly expensive, yet cars actually last a lot longer and it's more economical to treat a car well than it is to keep replacing'.

 

I guess a better measure for such things would be the traffic for a dedicated detailing forum, rather than this subsection for a specific car manufacturer. The volume of products being released doesn't seem to have relented at all, and the following of some social media-savvy detailers is huge, so it would seem as though the broader interest is still there in abundance.