Got a rotary for christmas
Discussion
Was talking about orbital and rotary buffers before christmas to my parents; they overheard and got me a rotary and some autoglym kit from the autoglym chap that supplies their garage.
And since I'm jobless it's a good time to learn how to use it. Took a lot of days and I could do the whole car again better but towards the end I think I knew what I was doing.
Anyway these are the results - comments and criticisms welcome. When I got this car it was scratch and dent free but also as dirty and gunked up as something you'd find in a scrap yard so things like window seals are a pain and grow green moss everywhere
.
Scratches
After
Pre wax
Being silver it doesn't show up scratches too much but perhaps that's for the best.
It turned out it would do things like the the metal trim too so I taped it off to do it and make comparisons
Hmm.. some improvement but not perfect
The result:
Not happy yet.
I tried it on a different colour car because the scratches show up much better - look at this 106!
After
Not perfect do you think I should have gone further?
Anyway, the pair of them finished and topped off with meguairs liq gold
I'm not that happy with the Merc and think it has a lot of work to go. Not convinced about the panel gaps, it needs some new headlight wipers and the towing eye cover sorting, some of the paint is suspect, the front tyres suck. Do you think I should clean inside the wheel arches too? Recondition the wheels or fit aftermarket ones? What else might benefit its looks? I'm suffering from not seeing the wood for the tress I think.
And since I'm jobless it's a good time to learn how to use it. Took a lot of days and I could do the whole car again better but towards the end I think I knew what I was doing.
Anyway these are the results - comments and criticisms welcome. When I got this car it was scratch and dent free but also as dirty and gunked up as something you'd find in a scrap yard so things like window seals are a pain and grow green moss everywhere
.Scratches
After
Pre wax
Being silver it doesn't show up scratches too much but perhaps that's for the best.
It turned out it would do things like the the metal trim too so I taped it off to do it and make comparisons
Hmm.. some improvement but not perfect
The result:
Not happy yet.
I tried it on a different colour car because the scratches show up much better - look at this 106!
After
Not perfect do you think I should have gone further?
Anyway, the pair of them finished and topped off with meguairs liq gold
I'm not that happy with the Merc and think it has a lot of work to go. Not convinced about the panel gaps, it needs some new headlight wipers and the towing eye cover sorting, some of the paint is suspect, the front tyres suck. Do you think I should clean inside the wheel arches too? Recondition the wheels or fit aftermarket ones? What else might benefit its looks? I'm suffering from not seeing the wood for the tress I think.
Edited by Pentoman on Wednesday 25th February 15:24
I'd say very good first try there! Clean wheel arches? Oh yes! Road salt will be stuck to the insides just waiting to rust your car away. Wheels off & hose away to your hearts content. I don't use a power washer as it can take off your sealant as well. Do this as your 1st job & clean the wheels whilst off the car. USE AN AXLE STAND IF ANY PART OF YOUR BODY IS UNDER THE CAR! Aftermarket wheels? I had a 190 2.3 16v in black many moons ago which had 5 spoke wheels on, I liked them but many people also prefer the standards. I'd keep as is but refurb if possible
Edited by dirty doug on Wednesday 25th February 16:59
Looks like you had some good results there.
As a reasonably experienced rotary user (Metabo), some of the lessons I have learnt are...
1) Tape up exposed plastics and be careful when polishing painted plastics. Metal bodywork dissipates heat quite well, plastics do not and you can easily burn through the paint.
When doing the back of a boot I once momentarily touched the top of the bumper and it instantly burnt through. I now always tape up exposed areas just in case.
2) Take it slow, no real need to take the rotary over 1500 rpm, I tend to use the "Zenith" technique which is outlined in the guides section over at detailing world. I basically spread the product at around 900 rpm, build up to polish at 1500 rpm until the product is fully worked and broken down and then work a few passes at 1200 rpm to ensure a perfectly refined finish.
If you do not keep the pad flat and whizz across the paint and don't fully break a product down you can get hologram like marks.
You can pick these up if you quickly pass a torch over the painted surface.
Looks like you are picking things up just fine.
A paint thickness guage could be a wise purchase now so you have a basic idea of how thick or thin the painted surface is and to get a better understanding of what you can safely polish and how far you can go.
As a reasonably experienced rotary user (Metabo), some of the lessons I have learnt are...
1) Tape up exposed plastics and be careful when polishing painted plastics. Metal bodywork dissipates heat quite well, plastics do not and you can easily burn through the paint.
When doing the back of a boot I once momentarily touched the top of the bumper and it instantly burnt through. I now always tape up exposed areas just in case.
2) Take it slow, no real need to take the rotary over 1500 rpm, I tend to use the "Zenith" technique which is outlined in the guides section over at detailing world. I basically spread the product at around 900 rpm, build up to polish at 1500 rpm until the product is fully worked and broken down and then work a few passes at 1200 rpm to ensure a perfectly refined finish.
If you do not keep the pad flat and whizz across the paint and don't fully break a product down you can get hologram like marks.
You can pick these up if you quickly pass a torch over the painted surface.
Looks like you are picking things up just fine.
A paint thickness guage could be a wise purchase now so you have a basic idea of how thick or thin the painted surface is and to get a better understanding of what you can safely polish and how far you can go.
I'll buy a paint guage if I can find one cheap on my travels, not sure if that is likely.
Otherwise need to examine the paint for the possibility of holograms because obviously started from fresh on this car and I suspect teh first panel I did (the roof) has not been done to perfection.
The bumpers are clear coated but unpainted by the looks of things. I tried rotarying one section of the rear, it just seemed to highlight scratch marks more, I suppose I was getting polish into the scratches. So I gave up on that. They don't look a problem but don't look good either. What can I do with them? I'll get a photo of where the coat is coming off for proof.
Otherwise need to examine the paint for the possibility of holograms because obviously started from fresh on this car and I suspect teh first panel I did (the roof) has not been done to perfection.
The bumpers are clear coated but unpainted by the looks of things. I tried rotarying one section of the rear, it just seemed to highlight scratch marks more, I suppose I was getting polish into the scratches. So I gave up on that. They don't look a problem but don't look good either. What can I do with them? I'll get a photo of where the coat is coming off for proof.
If you're ever in the mood for a bit of reading...
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/guides_pol...
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/guides_pol...
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