teeeejaay

Ok so I've been trying to look on here for the proper steps and materials to use to buff the car, but I've seen so many different ways to do it.

My car has some swirl marks and some small scratches, nothing SUPER deep. Its an 04 and I dont think the previous owner took it to get detailed.

The main problems are my new scratch from me a couple days ago, on the hood. Small scratch across the hood Doesn't look like it went down into the pain, mainly clear coat.
Also there is like some swirl marks or (oxidation) marks? [ON THE TOP OF TRUNK] If that's possible. It looks dull and not attractive at all LOL

The other parts of the car is just the usual swirl marks and scratches.

So I'm wondering if someone can guide me in the right direction. I don't think I want to purchase an expensive buffer like everyone mentioned $150+ I was wondering if the regular ones you can purchase at Wal-Mart or Orileys would work also?

So what type of material would I need to get started? I've been looking into meguiars wax (Swirl x, Scratch x 2.0, Ultimate compound)

I already have a cleaner wax and a carnauba wax, also have the claybar & ultimate compoud meguiars.

What else would be recommended and in what order should I do these in? (Sorry I've read different things about people doing it different way, just wanted to make sure I'm putting the right things first)

Sorry if this is a noob thread, any help would be appreciated.

AZuser

Don't waste your money on those cheapie buffer things at Walmart/O'Reileys/Sears/Pepboys/etc because they typically only have one speed setting and a weak motor. They also don't have the option of using pads with different cutting strengths.


If you don't want to invest the $150-$250 in materials (buffer, buffing pads, microfiber towels, polishing compound, etc.) then you can either have a professional detail the whole car for you (you're looking at $200+) or do everything by hand one panel at a time using what you already have (i.e. Meguiars Ultimate Compound)


If all you have are: a cleaner wax, a carnauba wax, a claybar, and ultimate compound

then you'll want to get

- wash bucket (best would be 2 of them... one for wash soap, other filled with plain water to rinse dirt of mitt)
- wash mitt (lambs wool or microfiber)
- drying towel (ex. waffle weave)
- car wash soap
- grit guard
- microfiber or foam applicator for wax and compound (I prefer foam)
- at least a half dozen good size microfiber towels to wipe off clay lube, buff off wax and compound, etc.
- clay lube/quick detailer for clay... or use car wash soap mixed with water in a spray bottle (I mix Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine with water in a spray bottle).


Steps:

1. wash car


2. dry car or skip and go straight to claying.

car using clay bar and lube if it's never been done before or if paint feels rough and gritty


3. dry car if not dry
4. apply ultimate compound or ultimate polish or Swirl X.... depending on paint condition of each panel (clear pics of each panel would help)
5. apply wax or sealant

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

OP-if you really want to do it right...get a dual action polisher like a porter cable or find someone with one and borrow it. polishing your car by hand will take you forever not to mention the sore shoulder. or pay a professional to start it out right for you and then you take care of it from there. if you go this route, make sure they know how to paint correct porperly. otherwise, you'll end up with more swirls or other types of marring than you started with.

basic steps on proper car care have been outlined above.

if you would like to read up on this type of stuff...autogeek, detailer's domain, autopia all have forums and how to's guides. i find autogeek to be fairly user friendly with their how to guides.

parasitius

Guide specifically for black TL: www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-Pro/2006-acura-tl-in-nighthawk-black-pearl-part-1/

I think I spent like $700 on car polishing shit and ... I screwed up bad, no one can even tell any improvement.. ~~~

The think about the porter cable is that beyond ~3 or so I absolutely cannot hold on to the thing, so I did the whole job at too low a speed probably. I have no idea how anyone can hold it at settings 5-7.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

^^ seriously? i've worked on a few cars and did swirl removal...no issues. sure it wasn't the pad and compound combo in addiiton to the "control"? you do have to put a little bit of muscle into it, but not a lot.

AZuser

???

Jesstzn

Really???? I do it all the time, with one hand .... Maybe you have the wrong counter weight or your pad isn't centered, or your using the larger backing plate and too big a pad.

Jesstzn

Dear Charles ... finished course .. please send muscles...

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

BobbyC

LOL

are you spraying water or anything on the pad or work area to keep it lubed?
is your pad prepped? or are you working with a dry pad?

my first time trying to machine polish, i didnt know any of those things and the buffer just kept running away.
finally looked up how to do it and it helped A LOT

OP. you can get a pretty cheap polisher/buffer at harbor freight.
its not a Random so youll have to be really careful or you could burn your paint.
it does have a random setting but i dont think its too effective.
it def gets the job done. you just have to keep moving.

http://www.harborfreight.com/power-t...der-92623.html

its what ive been using for a while.
its got decent power.
cheap.
vibration isnt too bad as long as you have the pad centered right.
never had a problem with it.
just be sure to keep it moving.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

this girl is stronger than parasitius.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

can't tell if serious...

parasitius

One hand?? OMG.

It's not so much I literally can't hold on, but the vibration is physically painful at high settings, I cannot tolerate it more than 3 or 4 seconds. After doing like 10 hours on the slower setting it was about 3 days before my hands stopped hurting.

Is everyone wearing gloves or some sort of heavy padding and not telling me? I'm using the counter weight that came in the box with the porter cable, for the pad I'm using a regular Lake Country Rotary Hook & Loop 6"and pads by the same brand.

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

you need to let the PC do the work for you. with the right pad/compound combination, you wont need to press down so hard.

parasitius

The sun was beating down so all my masking tape got baked onto the paint and I still haven't gotten 100% gunk off 3 months later. I didn't have an inspection light, thought the sun would be good enough. It was a nightmare. I had to drive 3 hours to my parents' house just to have a driveway to do the polishing in, $50 in gas round trip... ugh.

The pads and compounds were highly recommended everywhere (did meg105 & meg205) and I followed precise directions. A week later I got an oil change at the dealer and they washed it against my wishes, it wasn't till after that I saw the paint looked all swirly and I don't know if it was because of them (is it even possible from one wash?) or because the sun was finally at the right angle to reveal that my efforts sucked.

Anyway at least the final sealant works awesome, 4 months later and when it rains the water on the whole car just beads up and leave absolutely no marks behind (water marks before were horrible)... never mind that m205 is stuck UNDER the sealant in some spots because the sun didn't provide the light needed and I didn't realize there was residue before adding the final sealant...

BTW I spent at least 30 hours reading websites on technique and so on before this last attempt, so... really not sure if I can figure out the problem from reading, maybe need to have someone show me IRL before I can get it done right next time around.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

we're being trolled...
nobody spends that amount of time or money and ends up with the hiccups you did. sorry, not this time.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^duh, you just know noticed that he's a troll?
the first time i took notice is when he was stating "now that I have a cool car, I can get laid"

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Sell all of your equipment and take your car to someone who knows what they are doing.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

No Justin, I thought he was KingKongDave with a new screen name the first time I read any of his posts actually.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

parasitious-mistake 1...you did this under direct sunlight. if the adhesive is on your paint, try and use a bug and tar remover. if that doesn't get it...go at it with scratch X 2.0.

and yes, that one trip through the car wash can ruin all of your efforts. you may have actually gotten a lot of your swirls outs, but the dealer washed your car . i always leave a note in my car as a reminder for the tech NOT to wash the car. there is a reason i actually wash my car BEFORE i take it to them.

give it another go next spring...there is a little bit of learning curve...it takes a bit of practice. that is, if you haven't already given up. if i can use a PC successfully...

potmilkz

now it sounds like hes trolling..

his avatar screams TROLLL!

AZuser

parasitius

Thanks, I have scratch x 2 handy so will try that. I got most of it a few weeks back with mineral spirits on a microfiber cloth.

I *definitely* want to learn this proper because one day I'll have a garage-only IS-F or sparkling new 5th Gen TL-S SH-AWD or something, and won't want to use them for my learning curve!

I'm not trolling on this one guys, it's been extremely frustrating because I saw the absolutely mind-blowing beautiful results of the URL I posted above -- making a NBP TL look like... god and jesus's own family car... and yet,... my labor was nullified after just a day or two.

When I said 13 hours here is what I did: iron-x to my wheel, citrus guys wash, claying, m105, m205, blackfire sealant.

I was under the impression that you can only do Meguiar's 105 + 205 on a car maybe 2 or 3 times in it's life before your clear coat will get dangerously thin. Is it safe to try it again in the spring, or should I get a pro before I wear off the clear coat on my "learning" attempts that might not come out?

Worst part, I told the dealer DO NOT WASH. No one online mentioned: probably the only reliable way is to put a sign on every window of the car "DO NOT WASH" before handing the keys over for an oil change...

potmilkz

how can you not use a pc correctly?

only thing you have to do to use it correctly is all in 4 steps.

1. center the pad
2. prime the pad
3. put right amount of polish on the pad
4. up, down side to side motion for 2- 3 passes.

i have also teached my little brother which was 16 at the time how to polish. he got it within an hour..

pc is idiot proof if you follow those 4 steps...

only way to fuck up is if your car isnt really clean to work with.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

taught*

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

like...that rope sure is taught?

or taut?

No, pretty sure it's "that rope is really teached".

Just being a dk...

TL girl...stop replying to him. He's having fun with you.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

Para-if you feel you didn't make much of a dent in your swirls the first go around...then i highly doubt you'd be in danger of eating through your clear coat. only way to know is to have a paint meter, but those things for a hobbyist are quite pricey.

ideally once you actually get the car polished out to your liking, KEEP IT THAT WAY. i know that there is always risk every time you touch your paint to possibly swirl or mar it, but you try your best to minimize it.

as far as the dealer washing it...it's a matter of emphasizing the NO WASH to your SA then placing a nice sign IN the car as a reminder even though it is written up on your work order. the NO WASH rule was written into my file for both cars. plus i go to the same SA EVERY time. sh!t happens though. not that it should be acceptable.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

i'm trying to give him benefit of the doubt here...

i suppose there are other ways of trolling like some others where they troll and antagonize the hell out of you to get a rise out of someone just by being an a$$. this is not directed at you rockstar....i think we know who some of the resident d!cks are.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Raises hand.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

i'm not referring to you either justn...but there have been times....(i'll leave it at that).

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Yeah, but Justin means well.

Parasitus just wants to waste your time/life by giving semi serious responses so people that are nice actually reply with a resolution. I don't get why he gets a kick out of it, but I wouldn't waste any more time on it.

I'm sure it's not by chance that his SN has parasite in it.

parasitius

I don't know, the car was super clean after citrus wash and claying. Could the lower speed setting make a qualitative difference? I thought going lower on speed would only make a quantitative difference and hence 2x the time could compensate, so I wasn't worried at the time..

Good to know, so I will be trying again then-- hopefully this time with a spot light and the use of a friend's mom's garage.

The main reason I still have some faith I may figure this out is that I think my learning of how to wash at least went perfectly. I do ONR one panel at a time and dry with a microfiber without rubbing -- just lay and drag with the cloth's own weight -- still blows my mind how well that works. And at least 3x better than the best $10 no-touch washes (which leave behind way too much gunk).

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

derp...
notice how he's only quoting people he's roped in?

derp, dat orange citrus cleaner. did i do something wrong? yes....you did.

parasitius

derp... I think I trust a guy who is paid $1000's to detail Ferrari's before the new owner even takes delivery from the factory:

http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-P...-pearl-part-1/
"Since I’m going to be polishing, I want to make sure that any existing wax is removed so I am using Chemical Guys Citrus Wash & Clear at paint prep ratio (2oz/gal). For my maintenance washes on my NBP TL-S, I use Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild soap. It’s very gentle, provides a tremendous amount of lubricity, leaves no soapy residue, and it smells nice too."


But I'm still willing to hear what you think is wrong?