Re: Buffer advice

[jbeez]

Scott, reading your post freaked me out a little, my wife drives and escape, i have a mustang, and im presently awaiting delivery of a 2014 SHO

Back on topic though, I have NO detailing stuff, say I'm 100% paint care newb... what are some things I should pickup and is there a certain "schedule" you guys follow as far as doing things. Every 6mo wax it or something? Anything special once picking it up from a dealer? Are there any special considerations for the wheels?

[Scott13SHO]

Scott, reading your post freaked me out a little, my wife drives and escape, i have a mustang, and im presently awaiting delivery of a 2014 SHO

Hey great minds think alike...you don't happen to live in the North Eastern US do you?

Back on topic though, I have NO detailing stuff, say I'm 100% paint care newb… what are some things I should pickup and is there a certain "schedule" you guys follow as far as doing things. Every 6mo wax it or something? Anything special once picking it up from a dealer? Are there any special considerations for the wheels?

I like Adam's Polishes, despite them being the officially licenced car care products for the Camaro and Corvette :p They are a small American company out of CO and basically support other US owned Businesses where they can with their products.

If you have some time to kill or want to learn more, head over to Youtube and they have a series of Videos here that should help answer your questions...

https://www.youtube.com/user/Adamspolishes/videos

or their main website:

http://www.adamspolishes.com/default.aspx

When I got my SHO, I clayed the car, then used their older 3 step system polish out the car, applied a glaze then applied a carnauba wax over that. I haven't done anything else to the car since end of May besides wash and apply their detail spray over it to keep it nice and shiney.

I finally finished my paint correction on my 2006 Mustang GT this past Friday and here is the end result





I used their brilliant glaze and Americana Carunba wax on it, that combo isn't suggested for a daily driver though

[Lanson]

I'm a big fan of CG products and when it comes to the "buffer", I use the cheap yet pretty good digital rotary polisher from Harbor Freight.  This one to be exact http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/polishers/7-inch-electronic-polisher-66615.html

Now I'm not saying its an awesome polisher, but it does go round and round and it will speed up and slow down when I want it to and it doesn't screw that up too much, so it works.  At very low RPM settings when load is applied, it wants to speed up / slow down / speed up / slow down, etc almost like thats' what it is supposed to do, but clearly no polisher should do that.  It only happens at very low speeds and I'm not usually running that low, so I can live with this fault.  Besides, if I'm going that slow, I might as well do it by hand!

Now then, what makes this a solid polishing setup for me is the Chemical Guys backing plate and the Hex Logic pads I use.  That's the magic ticket, along with the right products.

I used to be deep into Meg's Ultimate products, and I still keep them around for cars in the family that aren't a big priority.  But I've moved on when it comes to my personal rides.

For me, detailing my '13 TBM Flex is all about getting that silica glass flake to "pop", and pop hard.  Example:




And before I bought my '13, I had a 2010 which I also lavished with CG products.



Zaino clay bar (CG or others would be fine too, I just happen to have a lot of this stuff and its good)
CG soaps (Citrus wash and gloss lately)
CG Optical grade compound polishes (32, 34, 36, and 38), used as needed to pull out imperfections and get things prepped.  I use Hex Logic orange or white pads with them.
The magic trick, Blacklight.  I use this with a white pad if I need to cleanse the surface, or a black pad if it all looks pretty good overall.  After a coat by machine I buff it off, and then coat by hand. 
Jet Seal 109.  Man I love this stuff.  Two coats by hand, following cure time recommendations in between.
If I'm feeling it, I'll top it with CG 5050 Concours wax.  I feel its just for show, and honestly the 109 does a lot on its own so this is just if I feel like rubbing down my car with wax just for the sake of doing it.  Pops flake even more I think though.


Best part, the 109 is awesome on the windshield and other places you don't want to get wax (like our dark plastic trims, which are ruined with regular waxes.) 

For the interior, I love Inner Clean.  Also gotta have the scents, right?  And for vinyl exterior I like G6, but I also use VRP sometimes.  I go through gallons of V7 detail spray / sealant simply because it does everything.


With the right pads, backing plate, and chemicals to use, it is hard to screw up even with a rotary. 

[mjhpadi]

I've been using Adam's for years.  With a Porter Cable orbital, you really can't hurt the finish, but if you don't want to invest in a machine, here's my short list of how to get a wow finish using Adam's Polishes finishes by hand.  And the finish will look as very good.  Start with washing the car with a good car wash.  Adam's Car Wash Shampoo works great.
I then would clay bar the car using Detail Spray as the lube...I like Adam's Clay Bar, for the price it is larger then most and seems to last longer then others.  I will do one panel at a time, leaving the residue on the panel.  Next I use Revive Polish (although it really is a paint cleaner) to finish cleaning the paint and remove the residue left behind by clay bar.  Next step I like to use Adam's Quick Sealant to seal the paint.  Only down side to this is the sealant should be allowed to cure for 24 hours before moving to the next steps. 
I then like to apply a coat of Brilliant Glaze, it will do final cleaning and really help make the finish "pop" after application of wax.  And of course the final step is a coat or two of wax.  Adam's offers both Buttery Wax and Americana Wax.  The Americana is a harder wax, but both will give outstanding results. 
     I would recommend buying the largest size of Detail Spray you can afford.  I use Detail Spray about 2-3 times a week to keep the finish looking sharp. Lastly, I would suggest applying a coat of Brilliant to keep the finish clean followed by an additional coat of wax at least every 8 weeks.  Hope you find this helpful.

[mjhpadi]

Lastly, once you get your car, I would suggest a good washing with a two bucket wash and follow it with a clay bar treatment...I think you will be surprised how much dirt you will find on the car....depending on the build date and when you receive the car, I would wait about 60 days before doing a full detail.

[jbeez]

I do, I live just outside of Philadelphia

Sent from my HTC One

[painterpatt]

I'm a painter by trade and have a Dewalt rotary and A Makita rotary, Hands down Makita wins. Takes a little getting used to the soft start tho, I didn't see much advice as to a raised panel cept don't spend much time on it. I deal with fresh paint mostly which is WAY easier to screw up. Always try to make sure your pad edge is spinning off/away from the edge. Lets say your on the drivers side of hood, you want the right edge of the pad spinning off the hood so it doesn't bite in, and slow it down !! If that's not possible try and keep the edge parallel to the pad. Say gap between doors, again use the right edge of pad so its spinning down (parallel) to gap. Using the top or bottom edge will give way more bite to edge. And obviously always SLOW DOWN on an edge and lighten up pressure.

[mjhpadi]

I agree with what you are saying especially when using a rotary but with a dual action polisher like the Porter Cable or the Flex, you virtually eliminate the chance of hurting the finish, and for almost all car folks either one of these will give outstanding results without the chance of damaging paint or finish like a rotary. Also you don't need much training to use a DA polisher or skill, whereas using a rotary is much more of an art and needs some skill and talent to get the best results.