Purpose: To use an abrasive to polish away small marks and swirls and to shine.

Pro: Theres nothing like the look of a polished car.
Con: Can, especially by hand, be time consuming.
Frequency: Only if you need to (if your car has swirl marks ect.)

Products needed:
2-Polsihes of different abrasiveness (3M and Griots make the best polishes)
2-cotton towels
1-Orbital polisher (Preferably the Porter Cable Polishing machine) (DON'T get a "rotary" polisher unless you have LOTS, and LOTS of experience)
3-pads of varying agressivness

Procedure: Polshing a car gives it its shine, and the wax is the protection. That sums it up. Polishing's main goal is to remove surface imperfections such as mild scratches and swirls. Problem is to REMOVE them you NEED to have a machine. Your hand just doesnt generate enough heat to remove them, thats why all hand polishes out there merely fill them in with oils. AND if you tried to use a machine polish with your hand, you wouldn't generate enough frictiont o break down the tiny abrasives in the polish and end up hazing you finish.

I recomend the Porter Cable Orbital polisher. Why? Well, its orbital polisher, meaning it moves in many directions at a time (the head spins and moves), rather than a rotary polisher, which just spin. Rotaries IN THE HANDS OF PROFESIONALS will take out swirls with ease, but in the hands of anyone less experienced, it will cut right throuhgh the finish. I don't use a rotary. Most orbitals like the "Waxmaster" and other over the counter ones are low powered and are really just time savers. The Porter Cable, which can be found at Griotsgarage.com, properautocare.com, topoftheline.com, (shop around though, it can be found online at hardware stores heavily discounted) is much higher powered and with the right polish, can really lessen, and is some cases, completely remove the imperfections. I highly recomend Griots Garage machine polishes...easy to use, made just for the Porter Cable. All three of those places have the pads you will need.

If you go this route, some simple guidelenes to follow are this. Choose the least agressive pad and polish needed to do the job. Put a ring of polish around the pad, PRESS TO THE CAR, and THEN turn the machine on to prevent it from slinging everywhere. Choose a slower speed to start, and slowly increse the speed, and then, decrease your pressure. Take your time and work in small sections. Once the polish begins to haze over, turn off the machine, and use a towel to clean up the residue. Repeat if needed.

If ou doont want to spend the money on the machine, dont wory, there are alternatives. Go out and buy 3M "Swirl Mark Removal for Dark Cars" This you can use with your hand with decent results, but it will mostly just be filling the in. Same guidelines follow. Put a little on a terry cloth, take you time and REALLY work it into the paint, like a facial cream. Slowly decrease pressure and increase your speed. Wipe up with a clean towel. Don't get discuraged if you dont see great results right away, it takes time.

You ALWAYS have to wax/seal after polishing as it removes any wax/sealant you had on there before.

Good luck.

Next: Waxing/Sealing

 

Thanks Brad. Sounds good.

 

Thanks Dr. Bonz. It was hard for me to write this one because, I know from my experience that to truly get good results, you have to have 1) The Porter Cable. 2) the right polishes 3) Patience ...to most people thats too much to ask for. I say that if you really care about your Z, then his is the way to go. But some people dont have the time and money to devote to it, thats why I included the hand polishing section. You can use a hand polish/filler (also called a glaze) and get the car looking great, just dont be suprised that after your first washing, that themarks re-appear. Again, if you want the Porter Cable, shop around on mysimon.com. You can find some great deals.

 

Brad,

I know you were concerned that many people weren't reading your Detailing Sessions.

In the past I brought my cars to the local car wash and let them clean and wax them. I know they don't do it the right way, but it has always been good enough. Now with Z fever hitting me, I want to take the time to learn to professionaly detail the car myself. I am taking notes from your sessions and plan on using your tips when my car arrives in Oct/Nov.

Thanks!
Greg

 

I wanted to express my appreciation to you for taking the time to educate us all. If you don't get many replies, it's probably because people can't or don't want to argue with you!

I look for your detailing session posts and I'm saving them for future reference. I can't swear that I'll always have the energy and time to follow your advice, but I will always have a better-looking car thanks to you.

Thanks!

 

Thanks. Best thing you can do is learn more about something. Thats the most important step to detailing (amung other things IMO). Now I just have to get my lazy *** to finish the sessions...