So over the holidays I picked up this kit. http://www.autogeek.net/griots-garag...mover-kit.html

I have never used anything like this and have never waxed a car any way but by hand. I would appreciate and tips and suggestions or any good beginner guides anyone can suggest.

Thanks ahead of time for any knowledge you can share.

 

Even though I have one too, I still prefer to apply my wax or sealant by hand. I use the machine only to polish.

I started out by watching a lot of videos, like:

 

Wax is much easier to apply by hand but sealant goes on great with a soft black foam pad.
You use a lot less too

 

^^^wholeheartedly agree...that's what I use to apply it...either black (grey) or red pad.

 

autogeek!! tons of info there. careful...starts to get a little addicting.

 

So does taping everything off really take forever cause it seems like the most painstaking part.

 

it's not that bad...maybe 15 minutes or so. you'll go through maybe half or so of a roll of painter's tape. it beats trying to pick out polish residue out of your trim and edges.

 

So I guess I need to tape onto the paint a little to cover the gaps between the door trim? Also would you recommend always clay baring before polishing a spot or the entire car?

 

Nice pickup CC! You'll enjoy the Griot's products.

 

clay bar if the car is "dirty" (sandwich bag test). if the car is garaged from place to place there will be a lot less contaminants on the paint. if the car sleeps outside a lot...it'll have more crap on the paint. lower door panels will be the dirtiest. if the car has NEVER been clayed then the whole thing will be pretty gross and tedious.

short answer: test it. or test spot panels and see where it's dirty.

 

^What she said. Do test spots. Your horizontal, lower door panels, and the rear of the vehicle will be the most contaminated (basically the whole car, lol ).

I apply my wax/sealant with the black(grey) pad too, like Rockstar mentioned. It gives ME a better "thin" coverage using less product.

 

I'll throw my in here ..

I never apply sealant or wax with the polisher .. a) You waste a lot of sealant priming the pad b) sealant is a bitch to clean out of the pad c) You still need to do a lot of areas by hand because the 5.5" pad won't go in there.

Clay the complete car first. Then I do a wipe with 50/50 IPA & Water to remove the QD residue before polishing.

I don't tape anything at all, If you use the proper amount of polish you don't get it in the gaps. And if you use polished like the Optimum line you have long working time thus no need to gob it on to keep it moist and no splatter.

 

Thanks everyone keep the tips coming I really appreciate it. I spent lots of time reading on autogeek last night and watching those videos. It seems like jesstzn mentioned about a 5.5in pad that is what everyone likes to use. Am I not going to be happy using the 6.5in pads that came with my kit? Will they be fine and you just suggest that I get 5.5in pads from here on out?

As far as claying goes I hate to admit it but the Lexus hasn't been done ever since I bought it. The TSX has sat inside in storage for two years and I used to check it twice a year even though it saw less than 5k miles each year so hopefully it won't be bad.

Is there really anything I can screw up badly at all with the DA polishing? I could always practice on the GF car first as it has never been stored inside ever.

Again I really appreciate all the tips.

 

Your going to find even with the extra power of the Griots polisher the 6.5" pads will bog some and they are just too cumbersome and won't reach in a lot of places. Your better off with a 5" backing plate and 5.5" pads.

I don't know why these companies do that .. they know they size is too much .. maybe it sells product. Dunno ..

 

instead of a clay bar, pick up a nanoskin autoscrub. if done right, it does amazing things to the paint.

just be sure to break it in on your windshield first.

 

Ok then I guess I might as well get some ordered. Are the CCS pads really good or is there something else you suggest that I look into?

 

I wouldn't say you'll be unhappy. It's just that the 6.5" pads take a little longer to correct vs the 5" pads.

Not sure how many pads you have and how bad the paint is, but if all you bought was that kit, I'd recommend at least another 1 or 2 of the Orange and White pads. One of each that came with kit won't be enough to do the whole car.

Good opportunity to pick up the 5" pads (and maybe even the 4" spot pads too).

While the Griots is a strong correcting machine, it also very easy to use... so easy that it's virtually impossible to screw up. Start with a small test panel using the least aggressive method first. In your case, it'd be the white pad with Griot’s Garage Machine Polish 3 or white pad with Griot’s Garage Machine Polish 2... depending on severity of swirls. Do 4-5 passes, wipe off with microfiber, and inspect under good lighting. If the combo isn't enough, try a few more passes or move up to the next level... orange pad and Griot’s Garage Machine Polish 3 or orange pad and Griot’s Garage Machine Polish 2.

 

^^i've seen this...it looks pretty good. just not sure i want to spend the money on the kit though.

OP- the lake country pads are great. definitely get extra white and orange pads 5.5" variety (much more versatile in this size).

as far as messing up...it's hard to do with a DA polisher, unless you're using the wrong backing plate or you aren't holding the machine correctly to the panel. there is a learning curve, but you get the hang of it after a couple of panels. you will also figure out after you do the first panel how many passes you need to make to get the amount of correction you desire. depending on how bad the car is or how hard the clear coat is (on our honda/acuras...really easy...work on the german side of things and it gets to be annoying).

the other thing that you might want to invest in if you dont' already have one...a 1000W halogen work light. warms the garage and helps locate those nasty swirls and scratches.

 

Ok then I will have to pickup some more pads. I only have the kit I posted as of now. When you say they won't be enough to do the entire car are you saying once I use them they are no good anymore or just that having more means I can wait till I am done to need to clean the pads?

Maybe I will order the 5in backing and 2 orange, 2 white, 2 grey or red since I see they sell a discounted group of six.

I have a 1000W light so that is good.

 

i thought the same thing and was always on the fence about buying it.
my wife ended up just getting it for me.
after one use, i was completely sold.
you get the car done in half the time and it leaves it a lot smoother than many passes with clay.

plus, its re-usable many times over.
def worth the $50 bucks.

$50 bucks worth of clay will be enough to do about 4 or so sedans. maybe 3 sport utes.

economically, its a much better deal.

 

you can reuse them when they get dirty they don't cut as well. you have to clean them after each use. so having extras (3-4) usually can get you through a whole car.

 

Everything to get you started could be found here:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...-phillips.html

I also subscribe to youtube channels. My favorites are Autogeek, Junkman2000, & Garry Dean.

Happy detailing. As stated previously, it is an addiction; Much worse than modding IMO.

 

 

Well just spent more than I should have the past two days on detailing supplies. Bought a lot of Griots stuff from Advance Author cause I had a big coupon. Then bought 2 Orange, 2 White, and 2 Gray 5.5in CCS pads along with the 5in backing pad. Also bought a Wool leveling pad and several micro fiber bonnets. Hopefully I have everything I need now to be able to get started. Hopefully it will arrive by next weekend so I can get started.

 

i doubt youll ever need those wool or MF bonnets.

the foam pads have been more than enough for everything ive done.
recently did some serious scratch repair for someone and all it took was SSR3, yellow pad, SSR1, orange.

yellow does some serious cutting.

ive used a wool bonnet before and those things are kinda tricky.
now i just use it to shine my shoes. :lol:

 

You could use them for polishing aluminum maybe?

 

the wool pads/bonnets are super tricky because they retain a lot of product and it kinda cakes on and they also built up friction heat very quickly. They did the job, but sometimes they'd put that burned clumped product that doesn't come off easily back on the surface.

I'd highly recommend sticking with regular pads.

 

So you wouldn't use them to remove product then or does everyone always do that by hand?

 

i always remove leftover product by hand
if you use MF or wool bonnet to remove product, youll end up frustrated and may even mar the paint again.
wool has a tendency to do damage if not used right.

heres my process.

pre rinse with pressure washer
foam spray
2 bucket wash (add dish soap if i want to strip all sealants/waxes)

autoscrub / clay

polish.
if the finish is in rough shape id end up using
heavy cutting yellow pad and SSR 3.
polish and then wipe off polish with MF towel.

Polish again with a softer pad. maybe a cyan pad and SSR1 or Prima Swirl. (very light polish).

wipe clean with alcohol and water mixture and MF towel

apply sealant using soft black finishing pad.

wipe off with buffing MF towel.


this is a pretty idiot proof process as foam pads and a DA cant really do any damage.

 

they have their own corrective quality (the wool itself) and it's pretty aggressive. Removal of products, I do with a microfiber towel.

 

Ok sounds like a good plan. I can always return or exchange it for something else from autogeek. The wool pad was just for putting the MF bonnets over but seems like that isn't suggested so I will try the route you mentioned this weekend.

 

You're going to love it...I'd say that my advice would be, don't be afraid to go at it. I was WAYYY too conservative with my correcting initially thinking I'd immediately burn the paint. With the Random Orbit, you'll be just fine.

 

That is my same fear and why it has taken me this long to do it. Still trying it out on the GFs car first. The trunk is terrible and super flat so perfect place to learn. It just might be the only part that gets done cause I might be excited to do my own car after that.

 

^ lol it's addicting! Have fun, and post some pics!

 

yup just take your time and use proper pressure on each pass. go slow, don't rush it. and don't add too much product to the pads, people have a tendency to do that and its a waste.

you won't burn your paint with your polisher, even if you tried your hardest.

 

^^^All true.
Hey, I started with the Zaino HAND polisher with almost no results. What a waste of time and money that was, but my shoulders got a good workout.

Tape off 1/3 of the trunk. Hit it with Orange pad and most aggressive compound. Then white and polish. You'll be AMAZED.

 

So last night I finally got around to testing out my setup for the first time. I only did one panel, the trunk, on my girlfriends car as I wanted to use it as a test before doing my own car haha. I got a lot of marks out of the car and definitely brought a little more shine to the car but with my 1000w work lights I can still see minor light scratches that I can't feel in the clear coat. I am not sure why I can't get rid of them. I didn't want to do it to much as I had already done 2 times of 5 with an orange pad and polish 2 and 3 times of 5 passes of the white pad with polish 3.

I am not sure if I am not applying enough preasure or what. I have not had a chance to inspect the car in the daylight at all yet and probably won't get home in time to do so tonight either. At this point I have already applied two coats of paint sealant to it so it is what it is but just curious as to any suggestions as to what I may have done wrong. I tried to take before and after pics but since it was fairly dark and I was working by my work lights they didn't really show anything at all. Not even the 50/50 shot I tried to do.


Washing and claying my TSX tonight and then starting on on polishing out a few spots on it that have scratches. Going to do the entire car with a white and polish 3 and just one 4 bad scratches do the orange and 2. I hope I can get rid of those scratches and even more I wish I knew what had caused them in the first place.


Oh and you were all right I hated the 6.5 pads and maybe that was why I didn't get enough correction either. Even doing a big flat trunk on the Buick they were terrible for trying to stay close to the edge ever without going over it.

 

nice results, man...without a wetsand, you can't really get them ALL out either...and even then. Remember, even the pro's say, "I got it to the point where I was happy at 85% corrected" etc...so plan for perfection to be slightly less than perfect.

I bet if you stand back tomorrow in the sun, the overall look will give you wood.

 

Yeah good point. With how long the car has lived outside and how old it is I know it definitely isn't worth it. The only car I guess I am looking for perfection on is my show TSX. Even when I do the Lexus I don't expect perfection as I have almost 100k miles on it now.

 

Also just realized I have from 8 till 12 tonight, 6 to 12 tomorrow night, and 6 to 12, the following night to wash, clay, polish, and wax 3 time the TSX before IA Friday.