OZD 35

iTrader: (1)

I totally agree! The full exterior detail wasn't hard... just a lot of work!!

quakerroatmeal

iTrader: (9)

Good job! It's normally very tough to catch swirls on a silver car. Were the swirls there when you had bought the car or did you put the swirls there yourself? Great job on the detail.

Kuhan

iTrader: (17)

I have a Porter Cable 7424 with 6.5" pads: orange, white, red and blue. Do you think I can use 6.5" pads on the pillars or I need 4" pads?

Do you have these 4" pads?
http://autogeek.net/hydro-tech-4inch-pads.html

OZD 35

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, the swirls were already there when I bought and I'm sure I added some along the way! The guy I bought the car from didn't really keep up with the detailing. I spent two days washing and polishing all the caked on brake dust off the wheels... it was rediculous. Anyways... I spent a good month doing research on all the right tools to polish the paint etc... that and I now know how to properly wash and dry a car to avoid swirl marks as much as possible so I'm good to go now!

dkmesa350z

iTrader: (41)

What towels do you use? I find that most of my swirls come from my micro fibers.

I did extensive research also and can't get results near as good as yours when I polish...

OZD 35

iTrader: (1)

You could use a 6.5in but it'll probably be alot easier with the 4in pad since it's a pretty small area. I contemplated getting the 4in pads and I'm really glad I did, cause it obviously made the small, tight areas easier to work on. I saved the big 6.5in pad for the hood, roof, doors etc... and used the 4in on the rocker pannels, mirrors, pillars etc...

The pad you are showing is the Hydrotech pad, I just used the regular Lake Country foam pads and they worked great! This is the type of 4in pad I used...http://www.detailedimage.com/Lake-Co...P58/4-inch-S3/

and for a 4in pad you will also need a 3.5in backing plate...http://www.autogeek.net/lc-43085da.html

Check out this forum here...http://www.autogeekonline.net/
...TONS of good info on there!

Waiz

iTrader: (57)

Nice job.

Now go replace those wheels.

Kuhan

iTrader: (17)

Damn. I've just ordered a pack of 3 of those hydrotech pads and a 3.5" back plate for my PC 7424 along with other stuff that came out about $100 from Autogeek

Are the Hydrotech pads different from regular pads?

OZD 35

iTrader: (1)

Towels for what use? Drying or wiping of polish/wax? For drying, I blot dry using a waffe weave micro fiber towel, I use the Adams Great White Drying Towel. It works great, holds tons of water! For wiping off wax I just bought a 30 pack of micro fiber towels from Sam's Club and I've had no problems with them at all.

Hmmm... what kind of pads/polish are you using? Are you polishing by hand or machine?

That's my next plan actually! Looking to have that done by next spring.

OZD 35

iTrader: (1)

Honestly, you should be fine with those! Supposedly the Hydrotech pads is less absorbent in order to keep the majority of polish on the pad's surface. They claim you'll experience a longer working time and use less product. Both pads will get the job done! No worries!

dkmesa350z

iTrader: (41)

I use PC 7424, orange pad and Menzerna Intensive Polish, white pad and Menzerna Final Polish II. Always clay bar before. Maybe I am not working the polish in enough, but I make plenty of slow passes and doing the overlapping, multi-directional method.

How did you polish? How much pressure, how much time per area, how many passes, what speed on the buffer etc.? Thanks.

Kuhan

iTrader: (17)

Sounds good.
Hopefully my detailing skill is 50% of yours.



There are a few videos on Autogeek.net that show how to use PC 7424. Here's the link.

http://www.autogeek.net/dual-action-polisher.html

Check out Wolfgang instruction videos.
http://www.autogeek.net/auto-detaili...ce-center.html

Hope it helps.

OZD 35

iTrader: (1)

Lol I'm no pro, like I said, this was my FIRST polish! I just did a ton of research and went at it. It's very easy, just takes patience and time! After the first few panels you'll get the hang of it!

dkmesa350z

iTrader: (41)

Yeah, I've watched those videos and mimicked the process. The only time I have seen good results is with darker cars with bad swirling, but I can never get a much of the swirling out as I think I should.

BoomerZ33

iTrader: (23)

nice job with that

OZD 35

iTrader: (1)

I used the same overlapping, multi-directional method you did. Pressure wise, for the Total Swirl Remover with orange pad I used some pressure but not to the point where it slowed the pad down. Make sense? Speed setting, I mainly used a 5 but experimented with a 6. I found the 6 to be a little squirly so I kept it at 5. For the Finishing glaze I used speeding setting 4.5 and used only the weight of the machine for pressure.

Menzerna is a great polish so I'm really suprised you're not getting good results. My guess is you're not working the polish in long enough. I do believe Menzerna is a DAT polish. Which means you have to work the polish in long enough to break it down before moving on. Read this post explaining SMAT and DAT... http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...-products.html
The only other suggestion I can make is use a yellow pad with the Intensive polish which should give you more cut.

singh

iTrader: (2)

wow great job for your first time

i would like to do this but i will admit i am too lazy

dkmesa350z

iTrader: (41)

Great article, thanks
That must be what my problem is. I have tried the yellow pad with similar results. I recall once spending a lot of time working it into my trunk and the results were closer to what I expect. I will try working it in longer next detail. Thanks.

jg425

iTrader: (6)

On my PC 7424, I use the speed at 5 for polishes. When you work the polish in, it does take quite a bit of time. If the swirls are real bad, set the PC to setting 6 and add about 14lbs of pressure, that should take care of many swirls and minor imperfections in the paint. It usually takes about 4-5 minutes per section of continuous polishing. There are some really good videos on polishing on youtube. Just search for the junkman2000, his videos helped me out a lot, plus he's pretty funny to listen to.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

OK now I am impressed.