Before I start picking up a DA polisher I have a lot of unanswered questions ...

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Before I start picking up a DA polisher I have a lot of unanswered questions...




Hello everyone!

I am a 59 YO newbie and I'm thinking about trying my hand at detailing my own cars. I "found" detailing by clicking on a YouTube channel of a Detailer and he made the light stuff look fairly easy, before that I was thinking it was way too hard to detail a car. I then found another channel where he also seems to give good sound advice and he really has me wanting to try and get my cars looking better.

I have already started to take care of the interior of the cars - I use Mequiar's Interior Detail for cleaning and Mequiar's Ultimate Quick Wax for protection on the surfaces. If I keep up with the cars it should be no problems keeping them clean. Yes they are consumer level products but I really don't have the need for gallon sizes of these products from their professional lines. My assumption is the wax is very similar to their synthetic x-press wax; I may be switching to another product for the interior when I use up the wax I have. Since finding the 2nd detailing channel I have seen that other products do as well as the Mequiar's products.

At this point my plan is to use the Mequiar's Ultimate Liquid wax as it can be used throughout the exterior - I used it once last year on my wife's white car and it made everything look great, hopefully it does the same on my black car. I have other ideas after watching a ton of videos. I am looking for paint enhancement at this point not paint correction (I really hope not!) My black Sonata has a lot of spider marks so I would like to take care of them.

But for the outside I have questions about using a DA polisher that I haven't really seen addressed. Maybe I'm over thinking it but I have seen and heard that it can be easy to burn the paint.

So here it goes!

Using a DA - how do you handle areas around lettering, emblems, door handles and those windshield washer protrusions in the hood? My Sonata has it's name spread across it's trunk. Is this an area that needs to be done by hand?

How do you handle body contours? My Edge has 2 large humps on the hood and both have some contours.

What about painted pillars by the windshield? I have seen videos where they tape up areas, Is that what is done along with a smaller pad and backing plate? I am assuming I need to protect the "chrome" pieces from any damage from a DA.

Where body panels meet?

I may have more :) I have watched a lot of videos on using a DA but they always show it on a hood and if the hood has contours they are usually smallish.

I appreciate any help! Thanks in advance!!
 
Excellent post, i look forward to the responses from another newbie.
 
you'll want to use a smaller polisher with smaller pad set up to get into those tight areas, anything else where the pad cannot get into will have to be done by hand. as mike says, "let the panel be your guide" and adjust the polisher/pad to the contour/panel you're buffing. when you buff where panels meet/join, it's best to either tape the edge (links below) or buff close to it. do not keep buffing on an edge/raised body line for long as there is the potential for damage to happen...

3M Vinyl Tape - 06404
3M Vinyl Tape - 06405
CarPro Automotive Masking Tape 3 Pack



here's a great thread to check out for those who are new to machine polishing...
Here's what you need to get into machine polishing - Recommendations for a beginner by Mike Phillips
 
I haven’t look over the videos from this site but the experienced and professional detailers I’ve watched haven’t addressed my questions I asked. I’ll live with spider/swirl marks vs burning through clear coat or paint. Machines, backing plates, pads and some of the polishes and or sealants I think I have a handle on, of course all that can change. It seems that some people debage their cars but I’m not interested in that. Good luck with your learning this stuff!
 
Just to chime in....

Machine buffing thin panels or tight areas can be done with just about any polisher it's just that you have to invest the time behind the polisher to learn how to make it do what you want it to do.

Or as I like to say, with enough practice you can make any polisher dance on paint.


If you're just working on your own cars, the Griot's Garage 6" DA is a great option. Add the Griot's 3" Mini Polisher with the 2" backing plate and 2" pads and you can tackle just about any panel with these two tools.


If you want to buff out cars faster then get a gear-driven orbital, FLEX, Makita or RUPES all make gear-driven orbitals and these tools are the focus of one of my classes at Mobile Tech Expo this Thursday.


Worst case scenario is to work the thin and intricate areas by hand and tackle the larger, flatter panels by machine. You can go nuts over making each square centimeter of your daily driver's paint perfect of just do BIG PICTURE detailing and get most of the paint and move on.



Free Spinning Orbital Polishers

Tool_Movements_02.JPG





Gear-driven Orbital Polishers

Tool_Movements_04.JPG







:)
 
To address some of your last questions:

Yes, Masking off badges, trim, handles, etc is very wise to do before going to work with any machine on a vehicle.

Because once you damage them, or stain them with polishes or waxes, it is often too late to undo the damage caused.

Some even go to lengths to mask seams of where fenders meet doors, etc., as if you get excesses of polishes into those areas, it can be pretty tough in certain instances to remove those residues.

If not buying masking tapes here, then usually auto paint supply shops, the big box auto parts stores, and even places like Walmart will have some on hand. It's good to have a few different widths on hand.
 
Another point with the badges and trim: You're not necessarily going to damage badges and trim with a DA, but you will likely damage your pad if you hit up against badges or trim.
 
Don’t worry about burning your paint with a DA polisher. While it can be done you would have to let the polisher sit in one spot for an awfully long time. Keep the polisher moving and you will not hurt anything.
 
Grimm said:
Another point with the badges and trim: You're not necessarily going to damage badges and trim with a DA, but you will likely damage your pad if you hit up against badges or trim.
Click to expand...

Yes, a very good point also. Sorry I forgot mentioning that, but glad you did, thanks!
 
I would look at more videos on DA as well as techniques or get Mike Phillips book the Art of Detailing (I believe it has been updated since then). That will give you all the information to have a good start. Good luck and good hunting! But the biggest and MOST IMPORTANT thing when you are detailing is HAVE FUN!
 
Get Mike's "Art of Detailing" book.

I'm an amature, I've corrected 4 vehicles a total of maybe 10 times.

I went with a Porter Cable polisher because of the price, and reputation. If I had to do it again, I'd probably get the 6" Griots polisher. Both are good, but the PC leaves me wanting a little more sometimes. For a newbie, that's a good thing. The moment I put too much pressure on it, or get in a tough spot that I could make a mistake, it stalls.

When you decide which route to go, buy as many pads as you can. Clean pads are the most effective and changing them often will give the best results. Using an AIO on my truck or explorer I use 10-12 pads. Pricey, but faster and ultimately it saves money because the pads will last me years.

As far as your edge, depending on what year it is, they're very easy to do. This was my second or third car, and by far the worst shape. I ended up doing a 2 step using Compound, then all in one as documented. https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/108017-mother-laws-ford-edge.html?highlight=

The amount of products, and info here is daunting. Whatever you decide, stick with it for a while then start branching out. Meguiars makes great products, and much of the stuff you buy at the local auto store is sold here in bulk quantities for much lower prices. As for worry about damaging anything, don't. Take your time, stick with an all-in-one or a lighter polish for the first couple goes and you'll be addicted. Even a slight correction is going to make your paint pop and will look 10 times better than almost every one of the cars in the parking lot where ever you go.
 
Thanks for the info and thanks Mike Phillips for chiming in! I thought every last millimeter of the car's paint was detailed but it makes sense that there will be places you just can't get to. I thought that the pad was a sacrificial item, choose one you know will get destroyed and get close to whatever to get the job done. Pilotpip, thanks for the tip of multiple pads, I did see a video where it was said to use 4 to 6 pads per car... I thought 1 pad would do it! And nice job on that Edge.

Taping seems the way to go, so I will plan on doing that to the areas I want to protect. I see I'll have to get at least 2 sizes of backing plates and pads. I was planning on going cheap with the DA and get the Harbour Freight one as it's only 2 family cars and it has gotten good reviews from people. The backing plate(s) will probably be from someone like Lake County. I won't be buying 2 machines anytime soon as I may attempt this once and say forget it.

I don't plan on getting too aggressive with any correction and will probably use a polishing cream, something like Sonax perfect finish. I like the fact Mequiars liquid wax can be used on anything. As I am looking around at other waxes/sealants I'm looking for that quality in them. If I gain experience I may venture to be more aggressive but these are daily drivers and not show room pieces.

I was thinking about using a fine or very fine foam pad but I notice that orange pads are used a lot and it sounds like there's a standard color coding. I've seen orange pads used with finishing polishes to keep things not too aggressive. Recently I've seen things about wool pads being better as they run cooler and produce a better shine. I'll have to research some more on that.

I will watch and/or read the links given and appreciate all the advice given so far.

Thanks!
 
if you're looking to get your first DA polisher, i would get the GG6. it's versatile with all the backing plate and pad options available. plenty of torque/power and a lifetime warranty too...


Griots Garage 6 Inch Random Orbital Polisher

Griots Garage 3 inch HD Backing Plate

Griots Garage 5 Inch Vented Orbital Backing Plate

Griots Garage 3 inch BOSS Foam and Microfiber Pads

Griots Garage 5.5 inch BOSS Foam and Microfiber Pads

OR (pad choice)

Lake Country ThinPro Foam Pad System 3.5 Inch

Lake Country ThinPro Foam Pad System 5.5 Inch

in the video below they (Dave and Mike) are discussing the force hybrid foam pads which are thicker than the thinpro's, but use the same exact foam just thinner with no center hole...
 
The griots polishers and boss line of products are very highly regarded here. Check them out. The short-throw GG-6 could easily grow with you if you decide to upgrade to a long throw later by switching it to a 3" pad and using on those hard to reach places. They also have a lifetime warranty.
 
I'd like adding about the mention of getting around areas like windshield washer nozzles that are sometimes placed right on a vehicle's hood-bonnet.

I agree that this is an area that by going around such, in time you will see the evidence of swirling in this area. Same can happen around badges.

Many badges on today's vehicles are often applied with double faced tape, thus no easy way to remove and re-install them. Best to then detail-polish by hand best you can.

As for the washer nozzles, they can be removed, and re-installed with no problems if you are careful. I've done it on a number of vehicles myself.
 
I'd caution against a HF polisher. I had the same thought a few years ago when I bought one of their inexpensive rotary polishers. I figured doing my own cars once or twice a year would be fine. I was wrong. I only got partway through I think the second time of polishing a car and it died. It's not that much more for a Griot's which has the lifetime defect guarantee, and it's also more powerful.
 
I started with a Porter-Cable, but got tired of spending hours polishing. I bought a Flex and it cuts polishing time in half at least. The Porter-Cable is a good machine and I use it now with 3 inch pads. The 3 inch pads allow you to get into tighter spaces, but as Mike says, it's not worth getting too crazy about it. You just don't get reflected light off those tight spaces and therefore, you don't see any swirls there anyway. The big flat spaces are what are visible, focus your efforts there.
 
Badges do rip foam pads. I always tape them over and clean them thoroughly after I've polished and removed the tape. I also raise the hood and trunk lid when polishing to avoid polish deposits in the seams.

I don't tape any seams that can be opened, like doors. I open the doors when done and carefully wipe away any polish. It does help me immensely to tape up any immovable panels, trim etc that don't get machined. I hate spending time cleaning white polish residue unneccesarily. It's much easier to take a few mins to tape and remove.
 
Thanks Paul A! I knew about the tape but didn't realize it was used frequently. If I do this, tape it will be! I remember the days when I was in my 20's hand waxing a car and getting white residue from slipping on areas of black plastic trim ... what a PITA it was to remove. I heard about the Mequiar's Ultimate liquid wax and was happy to find a wax I can go from top to bottom of the car without worries of residue.

Based on all the advice I have gotten here I need to do some more learning. I had the HF DA in mind but the Griots is not that much more and I was being cheap.

I appreciate ALL the help I've received so far - THANKS!
 
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