Spring car detail.

[13lstuner]

Also about the rear bumper. I completely agree there are many tight spaces and small lines.

I would follow the same basic primse as above. Tape off EVERYTHING you don't want pollished to get every spot throughly. Of course if your skill level is high enough you may tape off less stuff than a complete beginner. But some things that are ok to tape for comfort: tailight bezels, reverse lights, top of the diffuser(this one would be for a complete OCD freak lol).


One thing I see people neglect is taking off the liscence plate when polishing. This would be what some people would call completely anal but in my opinion the most minute detail is what seperate good from great. Now you have no need to polish behind the license plate but you can more effectively polish up to where the liscence plate comes to, and clean effectively behind the plate (which holds ample amounts of dirt and grime).

Also if you feel, for example, that while polishing the section above the tailights that is on the trunk lid that you are going to bump the backing plate into the spoiler you could tape the top of the tailights and bezels and avoid touching the spoiler at all.

And on the thin lines on the bumper you will just incure dusting as on the "hips".


Just remember be EXTREMELY slow and methodical over the lines where your whole pad isn't touching the car, make sure your pad is spinning and really really work that product in.

[13lstuner]

Originally Posted by CamaroDreams07

Ok I have to stop you here. You do not need to, nor should you, crank up the power for tricky areas. Less surface contact=less resistance. Why would that necessitate higher speeds? If you're having to crank up the speed to keep the pad moving you're doing something very wrong.



Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Generally applying pressure to specific areas of the pad would cause more friction on that particular area. And why would you continue to apply pressure to the middle of the pad(which would be on the trim of the window in this area) and not to the area of the pad that is touching the paint? And the fact that the part of the pad that is further away from the crank would mean it is getting less energy tansfered directly to it by the motor of the machine. Which would nessicitate the need for more energy to be put out to enchance the energy throughout the pad.

Not being confrontational here. And I am not saying more speed when part of the pad isn't touching the paint is necessary (although this would increase energy transfer onto the paint because the part of the pad that is touching the pad is getting less energy than the middle of the pad) but it makes the process easier in my experience. Also, you are not going to be doing any damage to the paint that you wouldn't have done to it if you step up from 5-6 in speed on a DA. It simply makes the whole process quicker and easier.


Edit: just so I am clear, when I refer to the pad being on the trim of the window I am talking about the paint that is vertical directly below the triangular window. And the need for extra speed on the horizontal area was also explained.

[13lstuner]

The picture that will be at the bottom of this comment represents a fairly good idea of energy transfer throughout the pad(although this is a cooling propeller designed by engineers at MIT and isn't what the heat caused by friction from a DA polisher would look like). Although on a da polisher the pad would have the most heat in the center(because of the motor and the as the circumference gets larger the pad will be rotation less times per minute than the center) and the heat would get less intense as you go towards the outer edges of the pad.

But you want and need energy transfer to the paint for correction, so what logic dictates that the part of the pad that has the least amount of energy transfer wouldn't need all of the energy possible to complete the task in a quicker and easier fashion?

[CamaroDreams07]

Any seasoned detailer knows that different paint types require different technique with speed and pressure. This is your thread, so I'll just go about my business and let you be wrong.

I do get a kick out of you newbies that are asking questions one day, get your first couple details under your belt and are self proclaimed experts the next.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[13lstuner]

Originally Posted by CamaroDreams07

Any seasoned detailer knows that different paint types require different technique with speed and pressure. This is your thread, so I'll just go about my business and let you be wrong.

I do get a kick out of you newbies that are asking questions one day, get your first couple details under your belt and are self proclaimed experts the next.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

As stated in the message I am taking this to PM's instead of having a pissing match in an otherwise positive thread.

[WiSSDiver]

Originally Posted by 13lstuner

I'm assuming since you are having trouble in that area you don't have a smaller polisher for those areas?


If this is the case then the trick is to KEEP THE PAD SPINNING. I see many many beginners that go over tight areas with huge pads and the pad stops spinning. At that point you are doing little to no correction at all. If you haven't already, mark a very thick sharpie line on your backing plate so that you can confirm if your pad is spinning. To keep the pad spinning over this area and effectively correcting the paint you will need to turn the machine up in power more than likely if you already aren't on max already, and over half of the pad will be hanging off. This will cause significant dusting but it is a trade off you must make to effeiciantly polish this area. Now admittedly the paint right below the small triangular window that is verticle and not horizontal is extremely difficult to polish effeiciantly with only a huge pad so you have two options.


You can either hand polish those areas and live with 50-70% correction or you can tape the trim and window VERY THROUGHLY with masking tape and direct the pressure that you are putting on the machine to that specific area.

I did the latter of the suggestions and it worked flawlessly for me. I really hope this helps!

Another option is to use a smaller pad. I use the small 4 inch pads in areas like the pillars and bumpers and keep my technique consistent.

I agree withCD07, you should not be cranking up the speed to get into these areas for a number of reasons.

[13lstuner]

Originally Posted by WiSSDiver

Another option is to use a smaller pad. I use the small 4 inch pads in areas like the pillars and bumpers and keep my technique consistent.

I agree withCD07, you should not be cranking up the speed to get into these areas for a number of reasons.

Ok I will restate what I meant in a different fashion.

When only the outer portion of the pad is touching the paint, you will undoubtedly be getting a slower rate of paint correction than if the center of the pad was able to help with the work. In my personal opinion, this could be a reason to use a higher speed than when working on a portion of the paint where the whole pad was able to correct the paint. If you would like to use the same speed just make sure to keep the pad spinning when working in those areas. With a slower speed and with the part of the pad that has the least amount of energy transfer this will simply slow the process of paint correction down. By how much? I do not know. I didn't use a slower speed on those particular portion of the paint.

I apologize for stating what I meant in an inappropriate manner.

I also agree that a smaller pad is ideal for these areas of the paint, but since he is asking these questions I went under the assumption that he did not have access to a smaller pad set up.

[SSTG]

Your work speaks for itself. And your not coming on here claiming to be the next big thing but only trying to help others.
In the future, be clearer in your replies, remember many have no clue what you're talking about.
Don't let negative comments tear you down.
We all started somewhere and got to where we are now.

[WiSSDiver]

Originally Posted by 13lstuner

Ok I will restate what I meant in a different fashion.

When only the outer portion of the pad is touching the paint, you will undoubtedly be getting a slower rate of paint correction than if the center of the pad was able to help with the work. In my personal opinion, this could be a reason to use a higher speed than when working on a portion of the paint where the whole pad was able to correct the paint. If you would like to use the same speed just make sure to keep the pad spinning when working in those areas. With a slower speed and with the part of the pad that has the least amount of energy transfer this will simply slow the process of paint correction down. By how much? I do not know. I didn't use a slower speed on those particular portion of the paint.

I apologize for stating what I meant in an inappropriate manner.

I also agree that a smaller pad is ideal for these areas of the paint, but since he is asking these questions I went under the assumption that he did not have access to a smaller pad set up.

I don't think it's a matter of inappropriateness as much as some misinformation being communicated. For some of us, we don't want to see anyone jack up their car because it's hard to gauge someone else's level of DIY comfort, but there are basics that should be understood.

My point above was you probably wouldn't take your car to be mechanically worked on by someone with only a pliers and screwdriver in their tool box and it's a good idea to have multiple tools in your detailers tool box when you're working on your paint and interior. The smaller pads are just one additional tool, but its probably a good idea to indicate that if you're going to speak with some authority on the topic.

Your car looks fantastic and what you experienced developing your technique worked for you but it's probably important to remember that it may not work for everyone on the forum and there are those of us here that will chime into the public forum if the information is contrary to what has already been established.

Thanks for being willing to share your experience and we look forward to sharing this crazy passion with you.

[13lstuner]

Originally Posted by WiSSDiver

I don't think it's a matter of inappropriateness as much as some misinformation being communicated. For some of us, we don't want to see anyone jack up their car because it's hard to gauge someone else's level of DIY comfort, but there are basics that should be understood.

My point above was you probably wouldn't take your car to be mechanically worked on by someone with only a pliers and screwdriver in their tool box and it's a good idea to have multiple tools in your detailers tool box when you're working on your paint and interior. The smaller pads are just one additional tool, but its probably a good idea to indicate that if you're going to speak with some authority on the topic.

Your car looks fantastic and what you experienced developing your technique worked for you but it's probably important to remember that it may not work for everyone on the forum and there are those of us here that will chime into the public forum if the information is contrary to what has already been established.

Thanks for being willing to share your experience and we look forward to sharing this crazy passion with you.

I completely agree.. And again, I do apologize for not being clear enough on the topic. I also agree that you should definately have a multitude of tools to choose from when detailing. Especially when working on a car as difficult as ours. I also do realize that some people may not be willing to spend any more money than is absolutely needed to correct their paint once and fix any bad habits that caused the scratches in the first place. So this is why I tried to give another option around buying extra supplies.
Thank you for the comment on my car, And the explination.

[jshaf]

Originally Posted by 13lstuner

I completely agree. Did you finish with a polish? The UC and UP by meguires are very user friendly and allows a very long work time!
Also I love the #26 wax! Don't let anyone give you shit for using it because it's commercially avaliable!

Post some picks up of that beauty!

Ye I finished with UP but to be honest UC finishes like a polish a person could almost skip the UC in some cases IMO. I have a variety of items but I really like Meguiars products, both the over the counter stuff and the professional lines. there all great IMO. I also use Klasse, Collinite, Poor Boys, mothers and so on. not a brand zombie/fan boy like some when I find something that works I usually stick with it.

[13lstuner]

Originally Posted by jshaf

Ye I finished with UP but to be honest UC finishes like a polish a person could almost skip the UC in some cases IMO. I have a variety of items but I really like Meguiars products, both the over the counter stuff and the professional lines. there all great IMO. I also use Klasse, Collinite, Poor Boys, mothers and so on. not a brand zombie/fan boy like some when I find something that works I usually stick with it.

I agree with you. Meguires is one of the few companies that has decent all around with a few very good things like 105/205 and there microfiber cutting pads. I do see a lot of people only using one brand of products which is cool but more than likely you aren't getting te best of everything, but just 1-2 excellent things and the rest are decent to ok products. To each there own I guess!

What polisher/pad combo did you use with the UC and UP? And how many passes did it take to get to perfection with it, or did you not go for 100% correction?

[jshaf]

Originally Posted by 13lstuner

I agree with you. Meguires is one of the few companies that has decent all around with a few very good things like 105/205 and there microfiber cutting pads. I do see a lot of people only using one brand of products which is cool but more than likely you aren't getting te best of everything, but just 1-2 excellent things and the rest are decent to ok products. To each there own I guess!

What polisher/pad combo did you use with the UC and UP? And how many passes did it take to get to perfection with it, or did you not go for 100% correction?

when it is just lite swirls in the clear it usually only takes me a few passes with a lake county orange pad, guessing 4-6 at between 3 and 5 speed setting but this last time I had to wet-sand a bunch of spots to get out some calcified cherry tree sap spots. previous owner didn't do a good job of getting them out or washing correctly in the first place. had a lot of marring to clean up afterwards. not all the sap came out but was able to reduce or eliminate a lot of it. where the sap didn't stick it looks pretty much crystal clear to me. looks awesome in the sun, you would have to be pretty close to see the sap spots. still a good looking appearance! I can find a couple spots that I missed but I am pretty particular, most people will never notice.

[ChadG]

Well it's good to hear those areas I mentioned aren't just challenging to me alone. I use 4" pads for those areas, and they still kick my ass. Perhaps investing in a smaller polisher for those specific areas might help, but I probably just need to work harder on perfecting my technique in those weird spots.