little excited bought my first polisher

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So i've been poking around a whole on forums and youtube.

I've been wanting to do my own detail for a while, but very scared to mess up. Finally grab everything and just waiting for next weekend to do a test panel.

I grab the HF DA polisher, Astro backing plate and some chemical guys hex pads. For now i just grab meguair's claybar and chemical guys VSS polish/wax.



My thoughts are going to be doing the trunk lid first and see how that comes out. Its small and nice and flat. I'll be taking my time and hoping for the best.
 
i have the same da polisher and it works fine....dont use to much product and take ur time working roughly a 2x2 area slightly overlapping ur passes.
thumbsup2.gif
 
proceed with confidence...the DA polisher's design is such that you cannot really do any permanent damage

practice makes perfect, so start practicing
 
I've used the Megs claybar a bunch, so take this how you will... Do yourself a favor and get a nanoskin. 10x-100x easier.
 
Haven't used one - but it appears you can get quite a lot better shine, smoothness, etc. from a power polisher than to do it by hand !
 
Use this pattern, try not to go bigger than 2'x2' at a time so the product doesn't dry on the panel. Use the right pad for the job, and don't try to do the whole car with one pad.



You'll want to upgrade from the HF polisher eventually to something with a little more power. Right now I have a Griot's 6" and a Rupes 3". Have a ton of pads - different pads for different products and multiples of each. You'll figure out what pad/product combo works best with your finish. Have fun!
 
UPDATE:

So i finally did it. Not the whole car, i used my black maxima as a test subject. Whole car is giant swirl.

I only did a few sample panels. Mainly top of trunk and half the hood.

Overall the clay made things 10x smoother but the Chemical guy VSS did not do much IMHO. But i think its because i used too much product. I used 5 dime size drops on a pad to do the whole top of trunk. I made 3 passes. L to R and Up to down, like the image above. And stopped. The car has the wet black look but still swirls beyond anything. I want to say i was not able to remove any swirls at all. But after watching more videos, i think i should have made more passes and applied pressure to the machine. Will try next weekend, but small part of me thinks the car is way too far gone and i should have done something like a M105 and m205 type of product.

Also quick question, for those with the HF DA, do you have to hold the on button? I thought it was more of a ON/OFF switch not a HOLD for ON switch.
 
Originally Posted By: bowlofturtle
UPDATE:

So i finally did it. Not the whole car, i used my black maxima as a test subject. Whole car is giant swirl.

I only did a few sample panels. Mainly top of trunk and half the hood.

Overall the clay made things 10x smoother but the Chemical guy VSS did not do much IMHO. But i think its because i used too much product. I used 5 dime size drops on a pad to do the whole top of trunk. I made 3 passes. L to R and Up to down, like the image above. And stopped. The car has the wet black look but still swirls beyond anything. I want to say i was not able to remove any swirls at all. But after watching more videos, i think i should have made more passes and applied pressure to the machine. Will try next weekend, but small part of me thinks the car is way too far gone and i should have done something like a M105 and m205 type of product.

Also quick question, for those with the HF DA, do you have to hold the on button? I thought it was more of a ON/OFF switch not a HOLD for ON switch.

Both of my polishers slide to up to turn on and lock, then push to unlock and the switch slides to off. Not sure about the HF. Maybe compare to another in the store?

Post a photo of the damage. If it looks like the picture I have in my head, you'll likely need M105 and an orange pad, followed up by M205. I have a few microfiber FAST cutting pads (Griot's) that helps M105 do its best work. You may need a rotary. I have to get the rotary out from time to time, but it is VERY easy to go too far.
 
Originally Posted By: bowlofturtle
Overall the clay made things 10x smoother but the Chemical guy VSS did not do much IMHO. But i think its because i used too much product. I used 5 dime size drops on a pad to do the whole top of trunk. I made 3 passes. L to R and Up to down, like the image above. And stopped. The car has the wet black look but still swirls beyond anything. I want to say i was not able to remove any swirls at all. But after watching more videos, i think i should have made more passes and applied pressure to the machine. Will try next weekend, but small part of me thinks the car is way too far gone and i should have done something like a M105 and m205 type of product.


It seems the VSS was not aggressive enough to cut the defects your have, or the pad was not aggressive enough. Never really been a fan of Chemical Guys; tried a few of their products, but nothing stuck out. Not sure if those era Maxima's have hard paint or not, but if they do it will take a long time on a DA. Definitely would not step up to a rotary at this point, that's just asking for trouble for a beginner. M105 would be a good start since you can get it locally. Lots of patience is going to be required to get black paint up to snuff.
 
Just pick up Ultimate Compound from your local Walmart type store under $10.00 and try that before stepping up to M105.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Just pick up Ultimate Compound from your local Walmart type store under $10.00 and try that before stepping up to M105.
+1
Worked very well at removing 17yrs of scratches, swirls and defects from the sled's clear coat.
 
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