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Car Polishing 101

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nemesis
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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » November 29th, 2011, 5:48 pm

It worked quite well with the SRP I think. Color of cars I tried it on were mostly dark. Did dark blue, dark grey, black and a silver.

I'm out right now so won't make it to the SQ. Hope it has a good turnout though! I almost have everything collected to enter next year, maybe.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DVSTT » December 1st, 2011, 10:22 pm

TURTLE WAX ICE SYSTEM!!!!!!! This thing works great!!! i use d car wash to wash cars n i dnt have to dry them after, dries wit no water marks. the polish n wax are great as well :)

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby JDM_GUY » December 2nd, 2011, 3:06 pm

Removed...
Last edited by JDM_GUY on December 23rd, 2011, 10:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby gfbl » December 19th, 2011, 2:33 pm

would advise you read the entire thread, steps are clay, cleaner, glaze and wax.. much more info within the thread concerning, steps and techniques etc

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DVSTT » December 26th, 2011, 9:01 pm

Anyone ever tried the clay bar kit from turtle wax ice??

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby roset-tapedro » December 29th, 2011, 5:45 am

Image

Do you want to learn how to properly use a dual action polisher to remove swirls & water spots from your car? What about the proper techniques to use with detailing clay, and being able to determine when your vehicle needs to be clayed? All of your questions and more will be answered by Mike Phillips as he teaches you how to properly machine polish and maintain a vehicle in our Detailing 101 Class!


Date: Saturday July 9th, 2011
Time: 8:00am to 4:30pm
Place: Autogeek's Show Car Garage & Studio
Street: 7744 SW Jack James Drive
City/State: Stuart, FL 34997
Mapquest Driving Directions

Class Registration Fee: $100.00

Click here to sign-up online

Or you can call 1-800-869-3011 to register over the phone.

Live Broadcast
By signing up for a class you agree to sign a Video Release Form upon arriving to the classroom for the possibility that these classes will be streamed live over the Internet and/or recorded for later use.


Class Description
Learn how to remove swirls, scratches and water spots by machine and then machine polish to a high gloss finish in our Machine Polishing 101 Class on Saturday, July 9th.

With almost 30 years experience in machine polishing and 23 years of experience teaching others how to machine polish, Mike makes it easy to get professional results the first time and every time.


In this class you'll get hands-on training with the following tools;

* Flex PE14 Lightweight Rotary Buffer

* Flex 3401 Forced Rotation Dual Action Polisher

* Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher

* Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher

* Meguiar's G110v2 Dual Action Polisher

* Cyclo Mark 5 Variable Speed Orbital Polisher

* Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby silent_riot » January 23rd, 2012, 7:30 pm

nemesis wrote:Silent : Got the same machine for my attempts at machine polishing. Let me know what you think of it. I'm sort of wasting mine though since I only use it with SRP(not designed for it really) and still wax by hand. Should be quite nice with the products you got with it.


So I used the kit on two cars: my white daily driver and a black onyx weekender. I washed, clayed, polished and waxed. Each car took about a day to complete.

It was the first time I clayed the cars (or used a clay bar) and I was amazed at what came off. The paint is the cleanest it's been. I didn't do the front bumper of the white car, and it looks like a different colour :lol:

On the darker colour car, the main problem was swirl marks, and the polisher reduced them quite dramatically. On the white car (which I use SRP regularly), there were a lot of scratches which I thought the kit would remove. I suspect it didn't remove them because the polish I got in the kit was for fine swirls only. A more abrasive compound is needed.

The wax is a very good wax, and is holding up quite well after a few weeks, and smells great. The kit is very good value and I would recommend it to everyone looking to diy maintain their car exterior.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Karim Khan » January 24th, 2012, 6:55 am

Nice write up Jon,,, !!! The kit should take care of the front bumper on the white car... it should buff it out..........lol

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby silent_riot » January 24th, 2012, 8:24 pm

:lol: That will be fixed shortly. :lol:

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » January 26th, 2012, 8:24 pm

I've often found SRP too mild when you're into scratches. Then again, using something stronger means you run the risk of going too far. I suppose this is where the experience comes in.
So Griot's polish grade 3(I assume this is what you got?) vs SRP only, which would you prefer and why?
How hard is their wax to remove anyway? As compared to say, the Mother's or AG HDWax?
As for this smell thing, I'd honestly rather they didn't smell so fruity sometimes. First time I used the HDWax had 2 bees land on the car while waxing. Could do without that, especially since the smell doesn't stay with the car, it's just for amusement while waxing.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DSM_05 » January 27th, 2012, 6:16 am

^^Griots just released a new Premium Carnauba wax that's easier to remove than their Best-of-Show Wax or basic Carnauba.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby silent_riot » January 27th, 2012, 8:10 am

Yes, I got the Griot's machine polish 3, which is a very mild polish according to their website.
The SRP's main advantage would probably be its ease of use/all-in-oneness. But I prefer the results from the Griot's kit, the paint is ultra-clean.
The wax is very easy to remove, easier than SRP. The polish was harder to remove than SRP.
For maintenance, they just recommend claying and waxing for upkeep.
I am going to do my first wash after polish on the daily driver this weekend for the show, so I'll report back on how well the wax has held up.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Karim Khan » January 27th, 2012, 10:17 am

^^^ Make Sure the car clean Sunday comming eh!!

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » January 27th, 2012, 10:55 am

You put on the wax by machine also?
Were you able to keep the layer very thin first time you tried?

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DVSTT » January 27th, 2012, 12:50 pm

Anybody know where sells the pads for a simoniz circular orbital polisher?

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby silent_riot » January 27th, 2012, 6:15 pm

Both polish and wax were done by machine. The wax was thin enough to come off with a few wipes of a MF cloth. The instructional dvd said to apply it sparingly to the waxing pad.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » January 27th, 2012, 8:08 pm

Yeah. Mankind in the video put on the wax pretty thin.

I am curious to see if the griots has any advantage over the AG though. We should do a car half and half sometime.
Orr.. ask Karim if there's any diff? :)

Seriously though. Do you think the polish 3 is just right? Or too strong? How much cut is it relative to the Super Resin? More/less? Can't tell?

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby silent_riot » January 29th, 2012, 9:56 pm

IMO, the SRP does a lot of temporary filling as opposed to scratch removal. Polish 3 is perfect for removing light swirls eg. a regularly quick washed dark coloured car. I don't think polish 3 is too strong at all. I find the Griot's products are all designed to be milder than usual to prevent further damage to paintwork.

Btw, wax is holding up well after washing. Beading on the paint is better than on the glass.

I will do my trunk lid (most scratched part of the car) half and half when I get time and post pics. I can't promise that this will be anytime soon though.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » January 30th, 2012, 7:51 am

Agreed on the SRP. Then again, it is designed to be used on it's own regularly so it has to be very mild. Interesting your thoughts on the Griots. The Griots polishes require topping with wax/sealant though, and aren't really meant to be used as often right? So i guess the products would differ greatly simply by their design purpose.
I would like to see the finish of the Best of Show wax though. Been curious about it for some time.


In other news though, SRP formulation changed recently. Won't be testing it myself for a while. Still have quite a bit to finish. Let me know how it goes if anyone tries it soon.

And another question : What wash mitt is your preference thus far? I've tried a few and not totally pleased with any. Currently on a Waschpudel/Meguiar's mitt combo, but the meguairs doesn't seem fluffy enough to hold dirt away and the waschpudel doesn't bend the way you need sometimes. Running out of options. hmm..

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby silent_riot » February 7th, 2012, 1:52 pm

I use a TurtleWax sheepskin mitt for washing. I prefer it to microfibre.
I've been thinking of doing pre-washing to get most of the dirt off before the mitt wash.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » February 12th, 2012, 5:11 pm

Cool. You're using the griot's car wash or something else on that wax?
Are you counting washes til it stops beading well? Or just estimating the time in months? I'm going to try liquid wax by machine soon also. Will see how that works.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Karim Khan » February 12th, 2012, 9:39 pm

Sometime ago i got a phone call from one of my clients to come and give him a quotation to detail a car he had just recently purchase. When i saw the vehicle i was blown away with what was present before me. In my mind i asking myself "these things still exist". The vehicle was in excellent excellent condition, the body was straight, no dents or dings but the paint was heavily oxidized and there were the normal wash swirls and random scratches. The customer wanted to paint over the car but from what i saw there was still hope.

Here are some pic of the job
Snow foaming the vehicle. This is used to pre-wash the vehicle to loosen up the bonded contaminants
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Here i am making sure to dislodge all contaminants in-between the creases and hard to reach places. Here i am using the Meguiar's Slide lock Brush

Image

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After rinsing the vehicle i used some Iron X soap to remove all iron filings and unwanted brake dust and from the paint.
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After drying and claying the paint the vehicle is all ready to be taped up. This is some of the best tape i have ever use thus far

Image


Correction
The paint was corrected using a two step approach. I used one of the best polishes that is presently on the market the German made Flex Dual Action polisher with a foam wool pad with one of the worlds best polishing compound - Menzerna polishing compound of Germany - Menzerna polishes are the same polishes used by Mercedes Benz of Germany. This was used to level the paint remove all the heavy oxidation, swirls and random scratches. When this step was done i used the FLex polisher and a closed cell structured light cutting pad to remove any marring and fine swirls and scratched which the previous step did not remove .

Polishing
When the correction step was done i went on to polish the paint with some Meguiar's # 7 show care glaze which is renowned for its superb glimmering finish. This was applied with the Meguiar's Dual Action Polisher and Meguiar's Soft buff 2.0 foam finishing pad. This step added gloss and deep to the finish

Protection.
After polishing i locked in the shine with some premium high end carnauba wax. This amplified the shine

Here are some pics of the finish job

Image

Image

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I would like to thank the owner of the vehicle for giving me the opportunity to detail this classic. The 8 hours of detailing was well worth it !!!!!

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » February 13th, 2012, 5:20 pm

Great work there.
The owner managed to keep that car in amazing condition for it's years. That's the original paint you say?

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Karim Khan » February 15th, 2012, 9:10 am

nemesis wrote:Great work there.
The owner managed to keep that car in amazing condition for it's years. That's the original paint you say?


Its not the original paint, but it was painted over years ago, but for what its worth the vehicle is in really great condition

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby jessica-biel » February 21st, 2012, 8:52 am

Image

Machine Polishing 101
Do you want to learn how to properly use a dual action polisher to remove swirls & water spots from your car? What about the proper techniques to use with detailing clay, and being able to determine when your vehicle needs to be clayed? All of your questions and more will be answered by Mike Phillips as he teaches you how to properly machine polish and maintain a vehicle in our Detailing 101 Class!


Date: Saturday July 9th, 2011
Time: 8:00am to 4:30pm
Place: Autogeek's Show Car Garage & Studio
Street: 7744 SW Jack James Drive
City/State: Stuart, FL 34997
Mapquest Driving Directions

Class Registration Fee: $100.00

Click here to sign-up online

Or you can call 1-800-869-3011 to register over the phone.

Live Broadcast
By signing up for a class you agree to sign a Video Release Form upon arriving to the classroom for the possibility that these classes will be streamed live over the Internet and/or recorded for later use.


Class Description
Learn how to remove swirls, scratches and water spots by machine and then machine polish to a high gloss finish in our Machine Polishing 101 Class on Saturday, July 9th.

With almost 30 years experience in machine polishing and 23 years of experience teaching others how to machine polish, Mike makes it easy to get professional results the first time and every time.


In this class you'll get hands-on training with the following tools;

* Flex PE14 Lightweight Rotary Buffer

* Flex 3401 Forced Rotation Dual Action Polisher

* Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher

* Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher

* Meguiar's G110v2 Dual Action Polisher

* Cyclo Mark 5 Variable Speed Orbital Polisher

* Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher


Fast Track to Professional Results
Mike will show you how to remove swirls, scratches and water spots quickly and easily and just as important safely. He'll teach you how to create a show car finish while avoiding common mistakes most people make when learning how to machine polish.

Turn your hobby into cash!
Learn to machine polish for fun or profit with tips and techniques for starting a part-time, or full time detailing business. Turn your passion and your hobby into extra money on weekends machine polishing cars for family, friends and co-workers.

Machine Polishing is the only way to go...
Working on clear coats to remove swirls and scratches by hand is slow and hard work, learn how to save time while getting better results faster.


Schedule
7:30am to 8:00am - Meet & Greet with Coffee and Donuts
8:00am to 9:00am – Power Point Presentation
9:00am to 9:30am – Morning Break
9:30am to 10:30am – Paint Inspection & Claying Techniques
10:30am to 11:30 - Proper Machine Polishing Techniques - Instructor Led Demonstrations
11:30am to 12:00 noon – Break for lunch - Pizza and Cold Drinks
12:00pm to 3:00pm – Hands-On Training - Students use ALL Polishers to Remove Swirls & Scratches
3:00pm to 3:45pm - Hands-On Training - Students Machine Apply & Remove Waxes and Sealants
3:45pm - 4:00pm - Instructor Grades Results
4:00pm to 4:30pm - Class ends – Questions – Certificates
6:00pm to 10:00pm – Social Meet & Greet with Mike Phillips at the Marriott Courtyard

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby beric » February 21st, 2012, 10:10 am

cinco wrote:http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-polishing.html

just came across this link
very helpful info here



Yes Cinco, the Porter Cable is pretty well known, far and wide, and the dual action polisher/buffer that most beginners would start with. The main feature of course with DA's is their safety.

But the Flex VRG 3401, brother, is definitely better than the Porter Cable. The Flex is much, much, more powerful, with a greater "throwing" action of the head and ... operates on a 'forced rotation' so that it does not bog down and slow with increased pressure from the user. In fact it is pretty true to say that it is the perfect hybrid between the rotary buffer (most powerful, with no oscillating action, and can easily burn through paint in the hands of a non-professional), and the dual action buffer.

It will do what the Porter C. can do in half the time, and will also remove scratches that the Porter would not. She costs a bit more but is easily worth it.
Check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yht1uHJLNlQ

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Karim Khan
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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Karim Khan » February 22nd, 2012, 10:53 am

Nice description of the dual action polishers Beric, I am a proud owner of both the Flex 3401 and the Meguiar’s dual action polisher.

FLEX 3401
Image

Meguiar's

Image

The Flex is much more powerful than the Meguiar’s in terms of cutting power. IMO this machine is definitely not for a novice as you can burn through and sometimes the machine behaves like a rotary as it can “walk away from you”. Even though I find myself picking up the Flex more often I still like my Meguiar’s. It’s great for polishing and applying LSP, it’s lighter than the Flex and can fit in places where the Flex can go.

Both machines are great but I would recommend the regular dual action polishers for the beginner.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby silent_riot » February 29th, 2012, 9:16 am

Anyone know where I can get Lexol leather cleaners and conditioners locally?

Image
Image

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Karim Khan
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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Karim Khan » February 29th, 2012, 10:00 am

lol How much you want ??? lol

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby silent_riot » February 29th, 2012, 10:01 am

You have? lol. The 1 litre in each.

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