What did you do today Auto Detailing related?

[CG6Lemon]

Re: What did you do today Detailing related?

So I've got another question for you. By the way, interior stuff you recommended was fantastic. Thanks so much for that

I'm going to do a whole exterior detail now.

Here's what I'm working with:
Meg's Gold Class Car Wash
Mother's Clay Bar
Meg's Swirl X
Meg's Ultimate Compound
And some Carnauba Wax at the end

Someone also recommended to me a polishing compound also, havent heard much about this.

Good route to take?

Doing this all by hand, no DA polisher. Need to get me one of those

No problem. I'm glad one of my "go to" products worked out for your situation as well.

In terms of a systematical order, it would go:

Wash
Claybar
Rinse with water to get all the gunk off from claying
Test spot with Meg Ulti compound followed up with Swirl X
If you like the results you see on the test spot, do the rest of the car
Wax it afterwards

The detailing industry is very vague when it comes to terminology due to not being standardized. When someone tells me they are going to use a polishing compound, it literally means "rocks in a bottle" to me because of all the 3M polishing compound in body shops. The formula for their compound is meant to cut fast in order to be time efficient, but they do not finish down well and it leaves lots of swirls, and micromarring.

But, pretty much they all do the same thing in terms of compound, polish, and finishing polish. All 3 abrade the surface of the paint film with abrasives in order to level the paint. I am sure that person meant compound which is the most aggressive polishing liquids you can get. The Meg Ulti compound you have is already a compound. Now unless you are not happy with the level of correction you are getting with it by hand, then you will need another compound that can provide more "cut" to level the paint.

Give the above process a shot first before buying something else because I know the auto parts store only sells Meg Ulti compound as the most aggressive OTC product there is. Otherwise you will need to buy online.



I would recommend getting a Harbor Freight 6" DA if money is tight. Griots Garage 6" would be my 2nd recommendation if you have a little bit extra. Both are excellent machines.

WOW
time for me to buy a DA polisher lol

If you are on a budget, the best bang for buck atm would be the Griots Garage 6" DA or the Harbor Freight 6" DA. I currently own the HF DA and put about 20 hrs of polishing on it so far, and still works like a champ. I would definitely recommend going the HF DA if you are really on a budget.

I polished my exhaust tip, for one reason or another it was painted the same color as my car.

[Tools used]
* 60 grit sandpaper
* 140 grit sandpaper
* 2000 grit sandpaper
* water
* Elbow Grease

If I may ask, is there a reason why you jumped from 140 grit to 2000 grit without using something in between to refine the deep scratches left by the 140 grit?

I tried to detail my car today, fuuuuu

So ya, roof, hood, trunk lid, washed, clay'd, waxed. Tomorrow, I'll do the sides. I was going to do the whole thing, but that took ~5hrs. The clay was new when I started, and might be dead when I'm done!

Nice job on getting 1/3 of the car done haha. It takes a good amount of time to "do things properly". In time you will be more comfortable with the process and you will get faster before you know it.

 

[xci.ed6]

Re: What did you do today Detailing related?

I used to detail for fun, I wore out the first clay that way. My car has been too long, and I'm about 25% slower than normal.

Yeah, fer polishing, go to you local store and see what they got for wet sand paper. Most have something like 500, 1000, & 1500 between those that will smooth the larger 'scratches' earlier. I know my plate frame (similar condition) needs only 2000 (or equivalent). My exhaust just gets cheap-*** flat black spay paint (wally world brand), the tips are polished so only scotch-brite if bad.

 

[BullAccord]

Re: What did you do today Detailing related?

If I may ask, is there a reason why you jumped from 140 grit to 2000 grit without using something in between to refine the deep scratches left by the 140 grit?

240 was the finest grit that came in my dollar store variety pack i could've used that after the 150 but i didn't think it would make a huge difference with me having to jump to 2000 afterwards.

 

[agginline86]

Re: What did you do today Detailing related?

Picked up meguiars DA Power System Kit (G55107) on amazon for $75
was starting to get some oxidation on my trunk lid

I clayed my car a few months ago so i just gave her a wash before trying it out
compound, polish, and waxed the troubled areas and the rest of the trunk lid with the polisher.
looks great now and removed all the oxidation (granted it was a tiny amount but i wanted to get rid of it early before it got worse)
The DA polisher in the kit attaches to any corded drill
works really well based on the hour or so I used it
will keep you updated after I put some more time into it and do the rest of the car

 

[CG6Lemon]

Re: What did you do today Detailing related?

^
Nice purchase Matt. Any reason why you decided on this route instead of a standard buffer that does not attach to a drill? Price point wise this is in the middle of the Harbor Freight Da and the Griots Garage Da. We need some pictures! Well... at least I'm demanding some....

 

[puzzlemaster94]

Re: What did you do today Detailing related?

^

Nice purchase Matt. Any reason why you decided on this route instead of a standard buffer that does not attach to a drill? Price point wise this is in the middle of the Harbor Freight Da and the Griots Garage Da. We need some pictures! Well... at least I'm demanding some....

So you'd recommend the Griots Garage DA? If I were to purchase one

 

[CG6Lemon]

Re: What did you do today Detailing related?

In terms of power from least to greatest for budget DA's:

Porter cable 7424XP

Meg G110v2

Harbor Freight Da

Griot Garage Da



If I were to start over again and you are limited on a budget, I would purchase 2 HF DA's. The reason why I am recommending this route is because you want to regulate each DA to one specific task. One DA would be only for 5" pads, and the other DA would be for 3" pads. Every panel is different, and some panels require a more surgical buffing approach for small and tight areas. That is why I recommended buying both if you are on a budget. Going this route will save you a lot of time by not having to constantly swap backing plates during the buffing process throughout the car.



Price break down:



Griot garage DA-125
3" and 5" backing plates-13+18=31
total=156



2 HF DA-65x2(before coupons)11x2(each 1 yr warranty)-152
3" and 5" backing plate-13+18=31
total=183 for two machines set up and ready to go



3rd option


Griot garage Da-125
HF Da-65
3" and 5" backing plate 13+18=31
total=221



The benefit of this slightly more expensive set up would be to get as much power and torque out of your main polisher to yield better correction power. It will be able to correct hard clear coats slightly better, and faster compared to the HF DA. While your backup will be delegated to small areas with good power correction still intact, but slightly weaker. The smaller pad size will make up for the slight loss of power due to less mass to spin/rotate so it doesn't matter much.



In summary, I strongly recommend option 2 or 3 if possible. You won't go wrong with either option because they are all capable machines of removing swirls and scratches. It all depends on your personal preference of working style, time management, and money. I hope I was able to share some insight of my personal experience when I first started with this adventure.

 

[99cfENVYv6]

Re: What did you do today Detailing related?

Well I started on the front wheels today...the brake dust is about a million times worst, but at least the lips are smaller so it should take less time to finish them.

Also, kind of a detailing question...does anyone know how to remove plastidip from plastic in an easy manner?

 

[CG6Lemon]

Re: What did you do today Detailing related?

Well I started on the front wheels today...the brake dust is about a million times worst, but at least the lips are smaller so it should take less time to finish them.


Also, kind of a detailing question...does anyone know how to remove plastidip from plastic in an easy manner?

Damn Chris haha. Should be expected since the front get more action. You going to use the same process to remove the brake dust as before or different approach now?



I have some experience with plasti dip, but not a ton. Are you trying to remove it because you applied too thin, or the outcome looks bad? What type of plastic surface are we working with? Smooth? Textured? Rough?

 

[99cfENVYv6]

Re: What did you do today Detailing related?

Same process as before. The brake dust is just heavy on the inner barrel and back side of the wheel face. I used some water + simple green + wire brush on the other wheels and they turned out good.

I need tp figure out how to get the plasti-dip off a part I bought. I got one of the canadian cubby holes with the heated seat switches and the previous owner put a thin layer of plasti-dip on it. I'd leave it but its worn off on the edges and looks like crap. So its on textured plastic...every method I can think of will either deform the plastic or scratch the plastic up.