Help me polish my turds..Improving fleet appearances

[320touring]

Fellow shiterests I have a motley assemblage of chod at my disposal.

 

In an attempt to avoid buying more I am considering actually trying to improve the existing fleet.

 

Mechanically I am sufficiently savvy to avoid deathtrappery, but aesthetics are a source of connsternation..

 

I can clay a car, and have recognition of the 'two bucket' method (steady!)

 

but the big unknown is paintwork correction.

 

I know I need a rotary polisher/pads/cutting compounds- but whicha re best on a shiters budget?

 

so far have seen some polishers which look ok on ebay sub £70.

 

i'd appreciate opinions and options-including decent 2nd hand gear!

 

cheers

[chaseracer]

 

Sorted.

 

[Matt]

Fellow shiterests I have a motley assemblage of chod at my disposal.

 

In an attempt to avoid buying more I am considering actually trying to improve the existing fleet.

 

Mechanically I am sufficiently savvy to avoid deathtrappery, but aesthetics are a source of connsternation..

 

I can clay a car, and have recognition of the 'two bucket' method (steady!)

 

but the big unknown is paintwork correction.

 

I know I need a rotary polisher/pads/cutting compounds- but whicha re best on a shiters budget?

 

so far have seen some polishers which look ok on ebay sub £70.

 

i'd appreciate opinions and options-including decent 2nd hand gear!

 

cheers

 

Youtube. There are a few guys making high quality detailing videos. Larry from AMMO NYC &  /DRIVE CLEAN is great and I would suggest you peruse his videos. He sometimes works on motors worth two million bucks so he knows his stuff. Other than that get a scrap panel or two or three and just learn by yourself. I'll be doing the same soon hopefully.

[Crusty Sills]

As a beginner (no offence) you should look at Dual Action polisher rather than a rotary, they don't build up as much heat as a rotary polisher and are less likely to 'burn' paintwork.

The weapon of choice seems a DAS 6 but I'm looking at getting this set http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360715194447?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT from the fatherland.

As for compounds there a whole host to use but I used Farecla G3 for years and found it worked well and is easy to get hold of.

 

Have a look on http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/ for inspiration and ideas although a lot of it is rather anal and a bit much some on there do some awesome work!

 

[320touring]

As a beginner (no offence) you should look at Dual Action polisher rather than a rotary, they don't build up as much heat as a rotary polisher and are less likely to 'burn' paintwork.

The weapon of choice seems a DAS 6 but I'm looking at getting this set http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360715194447?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT from the fatherland.

As for compounds there a whole host to use but I used Farecla G3 for years and found it worked well and is easy to get hold of.

 

Have a look on http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/ for inspiration and ideas although a lot of it is rather anal and a bit much some on there do some awesome work!

no offence taken:) kit looks a good setup-imagine a plug swap would be in order?

 

 

re detailing world I"ll stick here;) got some mates on there-saddos (lol!)

[Matt]

saddos (lol!)

 

Oi! I'm just in having started on my car at 1pm minus a 45 minute dinner break! Only a wee bit more to go, lower left side, front bumper... glass... Interior... Re paint wheels... 

[beko1987]

I miss detailingworld, really must get back into that sprt of thing. Would need to sink £200ish into new kit though which i just dont have.

 

Junkman (on dw) taught me how to use a rotary, he has some good techniques.

 

Basically, you decontaminate amd clean, then polish for the finish then wax to seal it all in!

 

The zx is the perfect canvas, i just need 3 or 4 days to do it justice (which i also dont have!)

[320touring]

I miss detailingworld, really must get back into that sprt of thing. Would need to sink £200ish into new kit though which i just dont have.

 

Junkman (on dw) taught me how to use a rotary, he has some good techniques.

 

Basically, you decontaminate amd clean, then polish for the finish then wax to seal it all in!

 

The zx is the perfect canvas, i just need 3 or 4 days to do it justice (which i also dont have!)

yeah got the procedure down pat based on watching my mate-really the kit I need to know about. have poorboys bubblegum wax ftw

[Matt]

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=66024

[oldcars]

I have a DAS-6 polisher i got a year ago. Used it twice and very happy with the finish i can get from it. I'm not trying to get 100% perfect but it adds gloss and removed some small marks so i'm happy. Think i paid about £109 for a kit with polish, wax and some polish pads and a couple of microfibers.

[beko1987]

I bought the Silverline kit with Menzerna polish, which was ok, but after trying out many different machines at the first Waxstock event, realised it was pretty shit. 

 

I went over the Puma with it and it was good, but the dodgy speed control and sheer weight of the thing made it horrible to use. I want a DA now, although I;ve heard their not as good at getting scratches etc out of paint, just swirls.

 

Have seen some properly sexy work with a rotary though, but it takes about 4 hours per panel to do it properly, and that's after it's been washed and clayed. hour per gade of compound, half an hour of jeweling, then application of wax/sealent, wait for the oils to flash and re-buff.

 

I spent a weekend on the puma and got half of it done... With a DA you should be able to remove the light stuff that makes paintwork look shit, hide the deep stuff and fill the panel with gloss. And it wont chuck polish splatter everywhere either. Was a bad day when I looked round after a day of machining my car to see my stepdads car covered in properly hard polish splatter, that was a bastard to get off.

[nacho man]

I bought one of these cheap silverline jobbies.

 

 

A load of eBay waffle pads in all sizes, and some G3.

 

I watched a few vids and used a old glass cleaner bottle full of water to keep the area cool.

 

And went for it, polished up some proper cloudy headlights on my old st170 a treat, took a massive scratch out of my missus Yaris. Have done a few whole panels as well and I just polish it after, with some autoglym then just bang some maguires wax on, nothing fancy.

 

Well pleased to be honest with the results I have got, I haven't done a whole car yet, as to be honest I can't be arsed as its alot of work.

[jonny69]

What happened to a bit of T-Cut and Turtlewax on a Sunday afternoon, or has everyone now been completely mugged off by the likes of Detailingworld and Meguiars that you need special equipment and products to polish a fucking car?

[nacho man]

No but I would need arms like Popeye to have removed a scratch from my missus Yaris, and polishing headlights would of probably taken me till 2034.

[brickwall]

Aye, I do pop over to Detailing world now and again to admire some of the work that those folk do. Personally, I couldn't be bothered.

 

this is nice:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=86577&page=11

[Sealtainn]

The limit of my bodywork experience was tidying up this abomination:

£60 worth of graffiti paint and 24 hours later:

 

I've already said I have no shame

[Taff]

The limit of my bodywork experience was tidying up this abomination:

10365941_699726040081989_4474764201444727864_n.jpg

£60 worth of graffiti paint and 24 hours later:

10565283_699727546748505_5755041493999153344_n.jpg

 

I've already said I have no shame

 

I think I preferred it before, mate

[Skizzer]

The only way the appearance of my fleet improves is when I periodically get rid of the shittiest one, thereby moving the average up.

[fordperv]

What happened to a bit of T-Cut and Turtlewax on a Sunday afternoon, or has everyone now been completely mugged off by the likes of Detailingworld and Meguiars that you need special equipment and products to polish a fucking car?

Couldn't agree with this statement more, i use t cut for marks also coloured t cut, sometimes G3 and polish up with Farecla wax top, sometimes glaze but it doesn't need it, everything is applied by hand, the only special tool I need for the job is me, I have physically proven to mates that all this expensive stuff is shite on their own cars and that better results can be achieved with regular products.

 

Here's my saph to give you an idea

 

 

This is my mates vectra I polished up for him as it was covered in scratches and looked grey

 

[Jim Bell]

That looks like glass.

[oldcars]

Couldn't agree with this statement more, i use t cut for marks also coloured t cut, sometimes G3 and polish up with Farecla wax top, sometimes glaze but it doesn't need it, everything is applied by hand, the only special tool I need for the job is me, I have physically proven to mates that all this expensive stuff is shite on their own cars and that better results can be achieved with regular products.

 

Here's my saph to give you an idea

 

 

This is my mates vectra I polished up for him as it was covered in scratches and looked grey

 

Looks great, your arms must have fallen off by the end.

[beko1987]

Handjobs are gr9

 

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=218015

 

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=221002

 

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=212632

 

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=207445

 

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=270373

 

In a way I'm glad I'm not so anal about it now, indeed I quite like it when the ZX looks like shit over the winter, but part of me would love to have a driveway and spare weekends to proeprly get into it again (Meriva could do with some lacquer fixing, a good wetsand and polishing back up - never gonna happen though!

[Craig the Princess]

Wow, that first puma thread looks great. Apart from the rust scab on the ready arch where the paint has come off.

[beko1987]

There wasnt much arch under that! I just ignored it, seemed to do the trick! Was only the drivers side though. Passenger side was a bit blebby but solid still.

 

Was the rust bubbling up through the front floors that surprised me the most tbh!

[Craig the Princess]

That was meant as a compliment, the effort in getting that shine was great espically on a car with issues. I struggle to get a car clean for more than about 30 minutes, so was impressed.

 

Not much you can do about Ford's floor pans!

[beko1987]

Cheers! It was lucky as i was free and single, so could wash it every weekend!

 

It helped me find my technique for a good honest cleanup though!

 

Rinse

Tightwork

Foam

Rinse

Wheels and arches

Rinse

Wash

Rinse

(clay and wash and rinse again if needed)

Dry

Polish

Trim gel

Buff

Glaze

Windows

Full buff

Wax

Tyres

Buff

Wax

Interior

Windows

Buff

Seal windows

Wax

Pack stuff away

Wax

 

Does take a weekend though, but satisfyig when done. Autoglym ultra deep shine is tbh my favourite product, then black hole on top. Then nattys blue wax (although i really want a pot of dodo juice rainforest rub for the zx when the time comes!

[plasticvandan]

T cut and turtlewax

[Taff]

Aye, I do pop over to Detailing world now and again to admire some of the work that those folk do. Personally, I couldn't be bothered.

 

this is nice:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=86577&page=11

 

fuck my aching old boots, the owners of those cars would shit themselves if they saw my definition of a clean car

[320touring]

lol, incase you hadnt guessed i've done sweet fa re this so far!

[Taff]

lol, incase you hadnt guessed i've done sweet fa re this so far!

 

I don't blame you, me method of washing the car is as follows:-

 

wash

 

45 stages and spend all weekend on it? isn't that we import Ukrainians?