Yes, think it was the previous name for them or something along those lines.
*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***
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Yes, think it was the previous name for them or something along those lines.
Man of Honour
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How often should a car be polished? Assuming it removes a little paint each time, is it a bad idea to do it too often? These days I just skip the polish and wax the car instead.
Depends on the Polish you use but in theory if you use a hard wearing wax/seal then you should only polish when you next apply the wax or seal. If it's Colinite 476s then every 6-8 months IMO but they do advertise it as detergent proof for 12 months and under ideal conditions I can believe that.
Autoglym Super Resin Polish is a mild polish and won't cut away much paint, moreso it just fills in imperfections so you can gloss them over with the wax/seal.
TBH you shouldn't need to polish at every seal/wax either. Onlny when your paint looks like it could do with a polish or when you run your fingers along a washed panel and it doesn't feel buttery smooth any more, in which case claybar + polish + wax/seal
That's my way anyway and my paint finish is smooooooth.
Autoglym Super Resin Polish is a mild polish and won't cut away much paint, moreso it just fills in imperfections so you can gloss them over with the wax/seal.
TBH you shouldn't need to polish at every seal/wax either. Onlny when your paint looks like it could do with a polish or when you run your fingers along a washed panel and it doesn't feel buttery smooth any more, in which case claybar + polish + wax/seal
That's my way anyway and my paint finish is smooooooth.
Soldato
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With a machine rotary polisher, trivially easy to ruin your paintwork. With a dual action polisher, less easy. With a hand polish, almost impossible depending on what you polish with.
I'm assuming it takes much longer by hand and the finish is nowhere near as good?
Is the DA what you'd recommend for a beginner? I like to think I'm proficient with hand tools and I'm the type of bloke who'd go for a rotary without any experience (probably foolishly!), but if advanced users wouldn't recommend one, I'll give it a miss.
Is the DA what you'd recommend for a beginner? I like to think I'm proficient with hand tools and I'm the type of bloke who'd go for a rotary without any experience (probably foolishly!), but if advanced users wouldn't recommend one, I'll give it a miss.
I went straight to a rotary, but only you can decide if that is the right choice for you.
They are not going to instantly ruin your paintwork, but you need to educate yourself on the dos and don'ts .
I did the Corsa this weekend (to the expense of the RR – sorry). I'll post some pictures tonight if I can get around to it.
I didn't get everything done that I had planned but I've learned a lot which was the plan before moving on to the 530d.
Ant, this was my first *proper* attempt at machine polishing with a rotary (I had a play with one a few months back) and I've never used a DA. Despite what you might read on the internet I didn't destroy the car, babies didn't die and the world didn't end. I would highly recommend it, just make sure you read and watch as much as possible before trying it and maybe get a test panel from a scrappy if you're really worried. Luckily I had my girlfriend's car to practice on.
Things I learned:
1. Machine Polishing is not a 'quick fix' – admittedly it's a hell of a lot faster than achieving the same results by hand but to do everything properly takes patience and time.
2. Subsequently, I shouldn't have tried to do both the interior and exterior over the weekend. There was plenty enough work on the exterior to last both Saturday and Sunday.
In the end I only managed to machine the larger panels (roof, bonnet and doors) of the car using the 135mm pad.
3. I did three test 'areas' on the roof of the car: 85RE + Finishing Pad, 203S + Cutting Pad and 203S + Cutting Pad followed by 85RE + Finishing Pad. Needless to say that option three gave the best results but it obviously took twice as long.
As such, I decided to do the rest of the car with 85RE + Finishing Pad because it would have taken too long to do two passes and the 203S + Cutting Pad didn't give quite the same finish as 85RE + Finishing Pad.
4. I got quite a lot of 'skipping' which I cured by misting water onto the panel and the pad in between speed changes but I wonder whether I was using too much water or not.
5. My hands hurt.
Like I said, I'll post up pictures this evening if I get a chance and I might impart some more pearls of wisdom from the lessons learned.
I didn't get everything done that I had planned but I've learned a lot which was the plan before moving on to the 530d.
Ant, this was my first *proper* attempt at machine polishing with a rotary (I had a play with one a few months back) and I've never used a DA. Despite what you might read on the internet I didn't destroy the car, babies didn't die and the world didn't end. I would highly recommend it, just make sure you read and watch as much as possible before trying it and maybe get a test panel from a scrappy if you're really worried. Luckily I had my girlfriend's car to practice on.
Things I learned:
1. Machine Polishing is not a 'quick fix' – admittedly it's a hell of a lot faster than achieving the same results by hand but to do everything properly takes patience and time.
2. Subsequently, I shouldn't have tried to do both the interior and exterior over the weekend. There was plenty enough work on the exterior to last both Saturday and Sunday.
In the end I only managed to machine the larger panels (roof, bonnet and doors) of the car using the 135mm pad.
3. I did three test 'areas' on the roof of the car: 85RE + Finishing Pad, 203S + Cutting Pad and 203S + Cutting Pad followed by 85RE + Finishing Pad. Needless to say that option three gave the best results but it obviously took twice as long.
As such, I decided to do the rest of the car with 85RE + Finishing Pad because it would have taken too long to do two passes and the 203S + Cutting Pad didn't give quite the same finish as 85RE + Finishing Pad.
4. I got quite a lot of 'skipping' which I cured by misting water onto the panel and the pad in between speed changes but I wonder whether I was using too much water or not.
5. My hands hurt.
Like I said, I'll post up pictures this evening if I get a chance and I might impart some more pearls of wisdom from the lessons learned.
Soldato
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I really want a DA as I'm waiting for my pre-summer detail, I've got everything bar a DA polisher, I'm just too lazy to polish by hand.
I suppose I could buy one and sell it after I've used it.
I suppose I could buy one and sell it after I've used it.
As the guy above said, you do realise that having a DA machine isn't going to make it a quick and easy job..
Nice engine bay Mike!
As promised, here's some pics from my weekend:
The Beginning
Here you can see what I was up against. That's after a snow-foam and jet wash. Really nasty stuck-on tar and sap from years living under a tree without any TLC.
The Garage
I live in a first-floor flat so there's no outside tap and no covered parking. I put this gazebo up to protect the car from sunlight and the trees above. Not bad for £18 from the place with the laminated book of dreams.
The Tape
I optimistically masked up the whole car – I've learnt now that unless you know you're going to have time (i.e. a few days) to do the car in one go, only mask up the area your working on to save time and tape.
The Roof
A good few hours later and you can see the dramatic difference compared to the first photo.
The Door
To prove that I wasn't just using a sneaky camera angle to get the nice reflections – this is a head-on view of the drivers door.
The End
This shot isn't the best 'Da Na!' shot but the light was fading. Wish I'd had time to do the alloys.
Still, as I said – this was a learning experience so I'd have a better understanding when I come to do the E60.
As promised, here's some pics from my weekend:
The Beginning
Here you can see what I was up against. That's after a snow-foam and jet wash. Really nasty stuck-on tar and sap from years living under a tree without any TLC.
The Garage
I live in a first-floor flat so there's no outside tap and no covered parking. I put this gazebo up to protect the car from sunlight and the trees above. Not bad for £18 from the place with the laminated book of dreams.
The Tape
I optimistically masked up the whole car – I've learnt now that unless you know you're going to have time (i.e. a few days) to do the car in one go, only mask up the area your working on to save time and tape.
The Roof
A good few hours later and you can see the dramatic difference compared to the first photo.
The Door
To prove that I wasn't just using a sneaky camera angle to get the nice reflections – this is a head-on view of the drivers door.
The End
This shot isn't the best 'Da Na!' shot but the light was fading. Wish I'd had time to do the alloys.
Still, as I said – this was a learning experience so I'd have a better understanding when I come to do the E60.
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