Car polishing - Given kit : where to start?
Discussion
I mentioned to a mate that both my cars (2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee metallic Black and 2014 Audi Q7 in pearlescent 'lava' grey) could do with a bit of a polish and the next day he drops round a bag of stuff his dad gave him and says - 'I'm never going to use it so you might as well have it' It looks like quality kit and is all brand new, never been used.
1x DAS 6 Pro
6" + 5" + 3.5" backing plates
Various pads
Masking tape
Polishes:
Gtechniq P1
Menzerna SF4000
Menzerna PF2300
Menzerna PL Power Lock
Menzerna Final Finish
I'm not exactly a 'detailer' but I've gone as far as washing and claying my Audi and have also coated a couple of cars in CQUARTZ liquid crystal (with great success) so I'm not exactly incompetent, but I worry DA polishing might end in tears!!
The situation is -
Jeep - pretty old, hardly used, paint could REALLY do with a good clean, de-contamination and polish. I'm thinking this might be a good place to start and have a practice
Audi Q7- car is 12 months old, majority of the paint is immaculate (always hand washed with care) and is treated with CQUARTZ. Car has some light scratches down the nearside wing and bonnet (hedge - don't ask!) along with a bird crap stain and some light scratches on the bonnet where I was a little overenthusiastic trying to get a tar stain off - all of these I think (hope) should polish out - in the right hands...
So firstly - do I have the right polishes/pads for the job? I know paint hardness is key? Secondly how do I go about this with the minimal risk of totally F-ing up the paint? I feel like I need a polishing crash course!
Mate did get a case of beer - but a bit of internet searching reveals I may owe him more!
1x DAS 6 Pro
6" + 5" + 3.5" backing plates
Various pads
Masking tape
Polishes:
Gtechniq P1
Menzerna SF4000
Menzerna PF2300
Menzerna PL Power Lock
Menzerna Final Finish
I'm not exactly a 'detailer' but I've gone as far as washing and claying my Audi and have also coated a couple of cars in CQUARTZ liquid crystal (with great success) so I'm not exactly incompetent, but I worry DA polishing might end in tears!!
The situation is -
Jeep - pretty old, hardly used, paint could REALLY do with a good clean, de-contamination and polish. I'm thinking this might be a good place to start and have a practice
Audi Q7- car is 12 months old, majority of the paint is immaculate (always hand washed with care) and is treated with CQUARTZ. Car has some light scratches down the nearside wing and bonnet (hedge - don't ask!) along with a bird crap stain and some light scratches on the bonnet where I was a little overenthusiastic trying to get a tar stain off - all of these I think (hope) should polish out - in the right hands...
So firstly - do I have the right polishes/pads for the job? I know paint hardness is key? Secondly how do I go about this with the minimal risk of totally F-ing up the paint? I feel like I need a polishing crash course!
Mate did get a case of beer - but a bit of internet searching reveals I may owe him more!
That's a great mate! There is a couple of hundred quids worth there.
Some great products & pads, & you wont go wrong with the das6.
As a first port of call, read this:
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...
After that, I found the best way was to have a go - on the wifes car first (just in case!)
With a DA, its hard to do any damage, just make sure the pads are clean & if you drop one, wash it clean & continue using a spare.
Some great products & pads, & you wont go wrong with the das6.
As a first port of call, read this:
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...
After that, I found the best way was to have a go - on the wifes car first (just in case!)
With a DA, its hard to do any damage, just make sure the pads are clean & if you drop one, wash it clean & continue using a spare.
Detailing World will be your Oracle but this all comes down to how aggressive the pads and polishes are.
The orange pad is quite aggressive, called "heavy cut" it'll take out scratches and defects.
The green pad is good enough to remove swirls
The white pad is softer still, good for applying a regular polish, it won't really cut at all.
that info from : http://www.chemicalguysuk.com/Hex_Logic_Buffing_Pa...
Of the compounds, the one marked "PF" is the most abrasive, its not too harsh compared to some others and will probably do all the correction you need.
the one with "SF" on the bottle is less abrasive, its a finishing polish really.
The "PL" one is a sealant and doesn't cut, just protects.
the G-Techniq P1 on the left is apparently capable of quite a hard cut, but you need to use it on a wool pad for this. From what I have just read its somewhere between the PF and SF.
Menzerna polish reference:
On the Jeep what I'd suggest doing is use the SF on the green pad, see what it does with regard to the swirl removal. If it isn't doing much go for the PF on that pad.
As a guess you may need to go over it again with SF on the white pad to clear up marring etc.
On the Audi I'd go SF on the white pad and be gentle, it probably won't need much at all.
I think you need a red or black pad to put the "PL" sealant on.
I'm just going by how hard the pads are and the abrasiveness of the compounds, its difficult to judge without seeing what you're up against.
Be worth a post on DW, just to make sure - Menzerna are a pain because they have various different names/code numbers for their polishes and change them now and again, so its hard to keep up.
ETA: Before all this though, give the car(s) a good wash, get some fallout remover (can recommend Bilt Hamber Korrosol), clay (I use the white Sonus stuff) or the G3 clay mitt. You need to do this before machine work.
Bit of a score there with that stuff..
The orange pad is quite aggressive, called "heavy cut" it'll take out scratches and defects.
The green pad is good enough to remove swirls
The white pad is softer still, good for applying a regular polish, it won't really cut at all.
that info from : http://www.chemicalguysuk.com/Hex_Logic_Buffing_Pa...
Of the compounds, the one marked "PF" is the most abrasive, its not too harsh compared to some others and will probably do all the correction you need.
the one with "SF" on the bottle is less abrasive, its a finishing polish really.
The "PL" one is a sealant and doesn't cut, just protects.
the G-Techniq P1 on the left is apparently capable of quite a hard cut, but you need to use it on a wool pad for this. From what I have just read its somewhere between the PF and SF.
Menzerna polish reference:
On the Jeep what I'd suggest doing is use the SF on the green pad, see what it does with regard to the swirl removal. If it isn't doing much go for the PF on that pad.
As a guess you may need to go over it again with SF on the white pad to clear up marring etc.
On the Audi I'd go SF on the white pad and be gentle, it probably won't need much at all.
I think you need a red or black pad to put the "PL" sealant on.
I'm just going by how hard the pads are and the abrasiveness of the compounds, its difficult to judge without seeing what you're up against.
Be worth a post on DW, just to make sure - Menzerna are a pain because they have various different names/code numbers for their polishes and change them now and again, so its hard to keep up.
ETA: Before all this though, give the car(s) a good wash, get some fallout remover (can recommend Bilt Hamber Korrosol), clay (I use the white Sonus stuff) or the G3 clay mitt. You need to do this before machine work.
Bit of a score there with that stuff..
Edited by Crafty_ on Friday 29th May 17:02
Awesome - many thanks for the advice especially Crafty - I'll get some red/black pads and give the Jeep a seeing-to I've been using a 'claying mitt' from Halfrauds which seems to make quite a good job of removing contaminants - should I really be claying properly with clay blocks (which I have a few of)?
Mate also found some pad conditioning spray which he'll drop round, I assume you spray it on the pad before you put a few drops of polish on it.
Hopefully it'll be dry tomorrow and I can get cracking
I've been using a 'claying mitt' from Halfrauds which seems to make quite a good job of removing contaminants - should I really be claying properly with clay blocks (which I have a few of)?Mate also found some pad conditioning spray which he'll drop round, I assume you spray it on the pad before you put a few drops of polish on it.
Hopefully it'll be dry tomorrow and I can get cracking
Not used a clay mitt, but unless there is a lot of contamination it should do a good enough job.
Try a bit of clay, if it doesn't pick up anything I wouldn't bother doing the whole car. If you can't feel much on the paint itself its probably ok too.
Yeah car cleaning stuff isn't high street stuff, Elite car care, clean your car are both pretty good. Make sure you check on detailing world - most have discount codes on there, 5-10% generally, it normally covers the postage when I do an order. See http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...
Hmm pad conditioner is probably for cleaning them. most of the time people will have a spray of water on hand to prevent stuff from drying out. Just go to a garden centre and find a water spray bottle for a quid or two.
Double check my answer on DW, I'd hate for you to go full bore and cause damage..
Try a bit of clay, if it doesn't pick up anything I wouldn't bother doing the whole car. If you can't feel much on the paint itself its probably ok too.
Yeah car cleaning stuff isn't high street stuff, Elite car care, clean your car are both pretty good. Make sure you check on detailing world - most have discount codes on there, 5-10% generally, it normally covers the postage when I do an order. See http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...
Hmm pad conditioner is probably for cleaning them. most of the time people will have a spray of water on hand to prevent stuff from drying out. Just go to a garden centre and find a water spray bottle for a quid or two.
Double check my answer on DW, I'd hate for you to go full bore and cause damage..
To quote Monty Python 'you lucky, lucky b
d!'
The good thing with the larger backing discs is that having the 'quarters' (orange & white segments) as long as you can see those rotating you know the pad is doing its job. If its not rotating you need to alter the angle of the polisher to get the pad moving.
Have a play/get your confidence up on the Jeep before tackling the AUDI.
d!' The good thing with the larger backing discs is that having the 'quarters' (orange & white segments) as long as you can see those rotating you know the pad is doing its job. If its not rotating you need to alter the angle of the polisher to get the pad moving.
Have a play/get your confidence up on the Jeep before tackling the AUDI.
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