Polishing small areas by hand?

R

rypkr937

New member
Joined
May 20, 2015
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
I'm getting ready to do a paint correction for the first time and may have overlooked some things.

Last week I order a GG6, a bunch of lake county pads, some meguiars ultimate polish, as well as ultimate compound if needed. I have lots of good microfibers and other non-paint correcting specific supplies.

However, I really didn't give it much thought how I'm going to be polishing the tighter areas on my car like the around the front grill/bumper area (car is a 2015 mustang gt). I went with a 5" backing plate for the GG6 and corresponding pads. Will I be able to just use one of these by hand for anything particularly tight that I don't feel comfortable jamming the DA into? If not, is there anything available over the counter at advance or autozone that I can just use by hand to achieve the same results as the DA and pad?

My other questions is if I can polish plastic that I'm not sure is painted. I'm pretty sure my rear deck lid is just a glossy plastic and doesn't really appear to be painted to me. If so am I safe going over it the same as a body panel? Here's a link to a similar deck lid (just no emblem).
https://www.google.com/search?q=201...-trim-panel-2015-all-161-m-16600-m%2F;950;650

Thanks,
Rory
 
There are a couple of options:

- You can cut a pad up and use it by hand. I don't really recommend this since your pads are brand new
- You can purchase a smaller backing plate (3" to 3.5") for your GG6 and get smaller pads. There will be areas you cannot effectively polish with 5" to 5.5" pads
- You can purchase something called 'handjobber' which is a handheld rubber with a velcro and it comes with a few pads. I forgot the sizes for this but it is what I use where my 3" pads can't reach.

For plastic, there is Meguiar's plastic polish called PlasticX (haven't tried it myself). If you have a gentle polish (not compound), you can try an area and see if it works
 
Another option is the harbor freight 2" pneumatic DA sander, you can get 2" hydrotech pads and microfiber pads for it. You do need an decent size air compressor
 
rypkr937 said:
I'm getting ready to do a paint correction for the first time and may have overlooked some things.

Last week I order a GG6, a bunch of lake county pads, some meguiars ultimate polish, as well as ultimate compound if needed. I have lots of good microfibers and other non-paint correcting specific supplies.

However, I really didn't give it much thought how I'm going to be polishing the tighter areas on my car like the around the front grill/bumper area (car is a 2015 mustang gt). I went with a 5" backing plate for the GG6 and corresponding pads. Will I be able to just use one of these by hand for anything particularly tight that I don't feel comfortable jamming the DA into? If not, is there anything available over the counter at advance or autozone that I can just use by hand to achieve the same results as the DA and pad?

My other questions is if I can polish plastic that I'm not sure is painted. I'm pretty sure my rear deck lid is just a glossy plastic and doesn't really appear to be painted to me. If so am I safe going over it the same as a body panel? Here's a link to a similar deck lid (just no emblem).
https://www.google.com/search?q=201...-trim-panel-2015-all-161-m-16600-m%2F;950;650

Thanks,
Rory
Click to expand...

I had the same question as you last fall before detailing season ended form me (no indoor work space for me). This weekend, weather permitting, I am going to be using some pinnacle swirl remover and these pads:

CCS Euro Foam Hand Polish Applicators - Hand polish, hand detail, foam applicators, CCS foam pads, polishing pad

to try to work out the swirl marks on pillars and other spots I am not comfortable using even a DA near (since I am very inexperienced). To start I am going to mask off the C pillar about half way and test things out. If the weather holds and I can get a decent pic, I'll post the results and some details about how long/how much effort.

My vehicle is a '13 mustang with deep impact blue paint, which I have found to be almost worse than black for swirls marks. So, it should be a good test.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top