Today I did some detailing...

vectra

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Did the MF's work faster than the Hexlogic pads?

They did indeed.

Reduced the cutting time quite a lot.
On that finish in the picture I actually did not spend enough time in the final stage of polishing as I ran out of time.
I hope to get more gloss as time goes.

stimpson

I got rid of the wife and kids for a couple of hours this afternoon so I got a chance to pop my DA cherry. I took loads of photos, but tbh, you really can't pick up the defects on them. The one thing that's really annoyed me about the car is the sun cream marks. They're all over the doors and boot. I decided to start off on a third of the boot with a white HexLogic and Megs 205. It was clear after the first pass that it wasn't going to be sufficient. The area was shiny, but I could still see swirls and the bloody sun cream marks were still there.

I took the orange pad and the 105 to the middle third and after the first pass it was noticeably better. I did 2 goes in all, starting at speed 1 to spread the polish, up to 3 for 2 passes. 5 for 2 passes, back to 3 for a pass and finishing on speed 1. It worked really well. Here's the smudgey before pic:



And the same spot after:



There was a couple of deep scratches that I improved, but I didn't have the balls to keep going on them. I may have to revisit at some stage. You can just see them in the centre left of this pic:



I finished with a pass of the 205 on the white pad and a quick lick of Colly 476s. Practically swirl free. The oxidisation is gone too as is the sun cream marks. It looks a different colour to the rest of the car.



Hopefully I'll get a chance to do the bonnet and wings tomorrow.

wersal gummage

Curran wrote: »

Just a quick point - perhaps you are applying too much pressure. If too much pressure is applied then the DA wont spin as its not forced drive, there is a clutch in them to limit the risk of damaging the paint.

On BMW paint, even with a rotary polisher, aggressive pad and polish combo, rarely is one or two passes enough to correct a car with heavy swirling.
You cant expect for one pass on the compounding stage to be enough to remove defects...on areas such as the roof, perhaps, but certainly not on panels that take the brunt, for example the near side of the car being drive up close to ditches and as a result bushes etc. With a DA (without forced drive) its going to take even longer! Results are achievable, but not if you dont have any patience - you offset the risk of damage for slower results.

No, I've stuck a big white mark on the backing plate and make sure I'm not bogging it down.

Maybe I'm expecting too much.

Maybe I just need to spend even longer at it (as vectra mentioned already).

As for the vw car, it was around ten years old.

wersal gummage

vectra wrote: »

I personally would never go for 100% correction.

Have you tried any mf pads on that machine?

No. Might give them a shot next time, thanks.

punisher5112

Hi all,
I done some wotk on the VRs this week so started off a jet wash over and under.
Washed with AG shampoo and forgot to use lance which I need snow foam for only thought of that now.
Done wheels but didn't have time to take them off which will be done hopefully next weekend.
De Tared the car.
Washed.
Clayed the car top to bottom and had done this last september and it made some difference.(very happy with results this time round also)
Got all the stuff I was looking for off detailing shed and wow the de iron stinks was having a quick sniff of all the stuff and that nearly knocked me out:pac:.
I have a feeling that the pad holder may not fit my polisher machine I will have to look at it better as I plan on doing a bit of correction on the swirl marks which honestly aren't that bad but would love that extra shine.
So have to do proper job on alloys, machine polish paintwork and glass, and then after a quick wash apply the newly aquired collinite845:cool:.

I completely forgot to take any before pics but will put up finished ones when do get round to finishing.

I also noticed the green callipers are peeling badly and colour fading bad. Any tips on how to do a decent diy job on these?

Curran

Yeah, Iron Cleanse stinks - though they have a new one released that has a menthol smell, which is supposed to be slightly better on the nostrils
It's great catching people out, as 90% of detailing products smell good, so you hand them different things that smell great and they take a sniff, the more you give them the bigger sniff they take; then hand them the Iron Cleanse!

Wonder is the backing plate you require for a rotary polisher.
DA's screw into the machine, rotary's screw onto the machine

DA


Rotary

punisher5112

Curran wrote: »

Yeah, Iron Cleanse stinks - though they have a new one released that has a menthol smell, which is supposed to be slightly better on the nostrils
It's great catching people out, as 90% of detailing products smell good, so you hand them different things that smell great and they take a sniff, the more you give them the bigger sniff they take; then hand them the Iron Cleanse!

Wonder is the backing plate you require for a rotary polisher.
DA's screw into the machine, rotary's screw onto the machine

DA


Rotary

Rotary it is.



This is the one I have.

Any problem changing the connection for the right one Dave?

vectra

punisher5112 wrote: »

I also noticed the green callipers are peeling badly and colour fading bad. Any tips on how to do a decent diy job on these?

Keep an eye out on Briskoda
From time to time members sell this green, I think it was an old Hammerite color.

punisher5112

vectra wrote: »

Keep an eye out on Briskoda
From time to time members sell this green, I think it was an old Hammerite color.

Thanks vectra. How's your motor going.

vectra

punisher5112 wrote: »

Thanks vectra. How's your motor going.

Going grand thanks.
though I should hope it was. only turned 5,200kms last week

MetzgerMeister

I did some scratch removal on a customer's 318d today while he was at the Kilkenny/Tipp match

Driver Side Before:



Driver Side After:



Passenger Side Before:



Passenger Side After:




The white bits you can still see are where it's gone down to the primer but I'm happy enough with the finish.

This was done using a SIM 180 rotary polisher, Menzerna FG400 polish and HexLogic orange pad followed by Chemical Guys V38 Finishing Polish and a HexLogic black finishing pad. This was followed up with Gtechniq panel wipe to remove all traces of polish and then a coat of Jetseal 109 and Collinite 845.

mad m

Working on a Sunday!

MetzgerMeister

mad m wrote: »

Working on a Sunday!

This customer came from KK so it suited him better.

stimpson

He's the result of 4 1/2 hours of DAing the bonnet of the Volvo. I didn't expect it to take as long as it did, but it looks amazing compared to how it was at the start.



My only real problem is the polish getting caked on to the pad. It's just the outside inch, but no matter how many times I cleaned it, it would build up again. Only happened with the 105 on the orange pad. Any tips?

Also how do people work on the narrow areas of the car, bits like the door frame or around the front grille or the nooks and crannies around the boot? Most videos show people working on a 2ft square of the bonnet which is pretty easy to work. How do you do the rest of the car? By hand?

markc1184

Would anyone be able to point me in the direction of some complete beginners guides to using the likes of a DAS6?

punisher5112

stimpson wrote: »

He's the result of 4 1/2 hours of DAing the bonnet of the Volvo. I didn't expect it to take as long as it did, but it looks amazing compared to how it was at the start.



My only real problem is the polish getting caked on to the pad. It's just the outside inch, but no matter how many times I cleaned it, it would build up again. Only happened with the 105 on the orange pad. Any tips?

Also how do people work on the narrow areas of the car, bits like the door frame or around the front grille or the nooks and crannies around the boot? Most videos show people working on a 2ft square of the bonnet which is pretty easy to work. How do you do the rest of the car? By hand?

By hand would be the safest option and these small areas wouldn't show up as much as the bigger areas.

stimpson

markc1184 wrote: »

Would anyone be able to point me in the direction of some complete beginners guides to using the likes of a DAS6?

Junkman is your friend:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2e_x_m8k8qCaSIxaKxZDRjGHmR-CbWJR

The 5 part guide to machine polishing is the best place to start.

randy hickey

Most of the awkward smaller surface areas can still be done with the DA, just using 3" or 4" spot pads with a smaller backing plate.

Slattsy

Sand all over the car and i'd planned to give it a quick detail after washing it yesterday

randy hickey

Slattsy wrote: »

Sand all over the car and i'd planned to give it a quick detail after washing it yesterday

Yeah, this Saharan crap is starting to p*ss me off.

I'd imagine it's playing havoc the the longevity of everyone's LSP's, as driving at speed through air containing fine Saharan sand particles must be akin to very mild sandblasting.

Slattsy

You'd think they'd put up barriers in the air or something. Baxtards.

Spike Witwicky

Gave my car its first iron cleanse today. Was fascinating watching the purple crap come off but sweet Jesus that stuff stinks. I was using Auto Finnesse's Iron Cleanse and it smelled like rotten eggs.
Is the cherry Iron X any better?

Curran

All of the iron decontamination products stink, some less so that others.
Orchard Autocare's Iron Cleanse has been released with a menthol smell; its still stinks but a massive improvement.

Black_Knight

Curran wrote: »

All of the iron decontamination products stink, some less so that others.
Orchard Autocare's Iron Cleanse has been released with a menthol smell; its still stinks but a massive improvement.

I like the stinky smell. Makes me feel like im doing manly work, and not just soaping up my car to make it pretty.

Spike Witwicky

Curran wrote: »

All of the iron decontamination products stink, some less so that others.
Orchard Autocare's Iron Cleanse has been released with a menthol smell; its still stinks but a massive improvement.

Might try that for the next time thanks.
I still cant get the smell out of my nostrils

Mc Love

Fecking weird weather!

mik_da_man

Spike Witwicky wrote: »

Might try that for the next time thanks.
I still cant get the smell out of my nostrils

Yeah I got some shock when I did my usual sniff test on my latest batch of products!

Black_Knight

Mc Love wrote: »

Fecking weird weather!

Pretty much the definition of Irish weather out there today.

Mc Love

Black_Knight wrote: »

Pretty much the definition of Irish weather out there today.

Managed to get it all done though bar the interior. Need to get some of that leather protector.

Took my wheels off to give them first ever clean. So so much tar, but they are clean as a whistle now. Just cleaned them with bilt hamber auto wheel clean and shampoo. Didn't bother claying or anything like that. Applied two coats of collinite 845

Then washed the car and just about got the car waxed before the heavens opened. In fact they opened just as I was half way around the car wiping the wax off. Wanted to give it another coat of wax but I decided to let mother nature win.
Will post some pics later

randy hickey

Mc Love wrote: »

Then washed the car and just about got the car waxed before the heavens opened. In fact they opened just as I was half way around the car wiping the wax off. Wanted to give it another coat of wax but I decided to let mother nature win.

This is where one of those pop-up gazebos comes in handy.