Comments
This was the first time I buffed out an entire car using the Flex VRG 3401, the new Lake Country Hydro-Tech Buffing Pads and the Wolfgang Paint Polishing System, so that's a lot of new products to tackle at one time but everything performed as advertised and expected.
Below are a few comments from this experience.
Flex VRG 3401 Forced Rotation Dual Action Polisher
Lots of power, in fact no lack of power for serious correction work just choose and use the right pad and product for the task at hand. The tool is lightweight and this is a plus for any tool especially when doing complete, multi-step buff-outs to large vehicles.
Because of it's power you can tackle a larger section than you would normally tackle when using a PC style DA Polisher but don't go crazy and try to tackle areas like half a hood at one time as it's too hard to focus on UMR if your section are too big. Try to never buff a section wider than the with of your shoulders and usually a little smaller. (UMR = Uniform Material Removal for a Uniform Appearance)
This tool is well made with good fit and finish. I will be tempted to try it without the forward handle next time as the placement of this handle did get in the way when trying to get into complex curves and panel designs. This would mean man-handling the tool a lot more because you would lose leverage over it. So I'll give it a try as I tend to never use handles on Rotary Buffers or DA style Polishers as a personal preference.
The body of the tool around the motor got quite hot, this was expected, not a surprise but some people might not like this characteristic. As long as you keep you hands on the handle up front and the grip in the rear it's not a problem, just an observation I wanted to mention.
I discussed and demonstrated in one of the YouTube videos how holding the pad on edge will cause the polisher to want to walk around, rotary buffers do something similar so no surprise here but did want to point it out as a lot of people may purchase this as their first time entering into machine polishing. Again this isn't so much a problem as an observation as it's a best practice to hold the face of the buffing pad flat to the panel whenever you're buffing out a flat surface.
I used the pad on edge for tight areas and for thin panels, this can be a tad on the risky side so be sure of your purpose first and your grip second and make sure you have plenty of product on the surface for good lubrication. I would not recommend this practice to anyone and instead switch to a tool that offers a smaller pad.
If you're experienced with a rotary buffer you'll figure this tool out in about 60 seconds. If you're new to machine polishing my honest opinion is you'll find learning to machine clean and polish easier with a PC style Dual Action Polisher. Note I didn't say you'll find a PC style Dual Action Polisher BETTER, I typed...
easier.
The word
better is too subjective for use with online enthusiasts on discussion forums and able to start a Flame War with a handful of hardcore Flex 3401 devotees.
Wolfgang Paint Polishing System
The Wolfgang Paint Polishing System is a Bubba-proof multi-step system that is well suited for restoring most daily drivers from neglected condition to excellent condition.
Total Swirl Remover 3.0
The Total Swirl Remover 3.0 is easily capable of removing medium swirls and scratches while finishing out LSP ready on at least the paints I've used it on so far. It has a long play-time or buffing cycle so it's pretty hard to buff too long with this product and as long as you're making at least 4-6 "Section Passes" on any paint with any tool you're going to have a hard time messing up anything by not buffing long enough, i.e. it's Bubba-Proof.
Wipe-off is also easy and when buffing out large real-estate vehicles like this 1957 Chevy, easy wipe-off is a real blessing a few hours into the project.
Finishing Glaze
The Finishing Glaze does a good job of maximizing the clarity and gloss created by the first step product and also offers a long play time or buffing cycle. Wipe-off is easy as long as you wipe the product off as you go around the car. I let it dry in a few places just a tad to long as I was hustling pretty fast on this project to to get it done in time for some sun shots, (which just didn't happen), and wipe-off became a little more difficult. If you do leave it on too long, a little mist of any spray detailer makes it easy to wipe off.
Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant
Application by hand or machine is easy with this paint sealant. I would say again from experience, a DA style polisher like the Porter Cable units, the Meguiar's units or the Griot's Garage Polishers seem to work
smoother and thus easier for applying a finishing wax or paint sealant at low OPM's but this tool is certainly capable of being used for applying a wax or paint sealant and as long as you're focusing on the task at hand you can lay down a nice thin coat of this paint sealant which is the goal.
It took me about 20 minutes to remove the 3M Painter's Tape and another 10 to 15 minutes to rub-off any residue lines left by the different products accumulating next to the tape lines. After that I removed the Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant and it wiped off very easy with no streaks, smears, or splotchiness.
On a personal note I try not to use spray detailers to remove or even-out the end-results but instead would prefer to wait for 24 hours to allow all the protection ingredients to fully dry and set-up. I'm happy to say on this single stage paint system the results were even, slick and glossy. Wipe-off was a breeze, it took me about 20 minutes to make my first pass all the way around the car using a Cobra Indigo Microfiber Polishing Cloth in each hand with a Rock Star primer. A final wipe using the techniques outlined here,
The Final Wipe
Lake Country Hydro-Tech Foam Cutting and Polishing Pads
Love these pads. (Do I need to type more?)
The Cyan foam cutting pad is very nice because it's not as aggressive as most foam cutting pads but offers more cut than most polishing pads. Use it with the right chemical, tool and technique and it offers a lot of correction ability with the ability to still finish out quite nicely. Besides that, the foam itself appears to be very durable as I used only 2 pads for the entire car with no signs of wear to either pad and that includes
a lot of pad cleaning. I believe I could have easily done the job with just one but I'm used to switching pads out more often than I did with this job.
The Tangerine Polishing Pad seems a little more aggressive than the average polishing pad like both the white LC foam formulas and the Meguiar's 8000 series foam pads and this is good and bad. If you're looking for a versatile foam polishing pad with plenty of cleaning power this this is a great pad. If you're looking for a soft, cushy foam polishing pad for light cleaning then this might be just a little too much in the way of density and aggressiveness and you might like a softer pad. This just depend upon what you're trying to do. A good example would be when using a one-step cleaner/wax to restore a neglected finish in one step, this would be a great polishing pad for this application. For applying a finishing wax to a perfect finish I think it's just a tick or two on the aggressive side as compared to a softer polishing foam pad or even a finishing foam pad.
This is very nice new entry to the foam pad market and I would really like to see a finishing pad introduced to complete the Hydro-Tech line. Also a smaller size option in all 3 foam formulas, like 5", maybe 4.5" for use with PC style polishers, especially because there are literally
thousands of first generation PC style polishers in the hands of enthusiasts all across the country and segment of the market really needs a smaller pad than 6" due to their lack of torque and power to rotate a pad for correction work.
Large finishing pads just use up a lot of wax and don't work well for thin panels, especially new cars with all their plastic and rubber trim. So a smaller size like 5" might be a strong niche market for this new system with a good matching backing plate for both rotary and DA Polishers.
The above complete system, including the Flex 3401, Wolfgang Paint Polishing System and LC Hydro-Tech Buffing pads, (plus a finishing pad from another line to apply a finishing wax or paint sealant), is a well rounded system-approach capable of tackling a good chunk of swirled-out daily drivers across the country.
A Big Thank You! to Frank at
F.M. Custom Trim & Upholstery for allowing us to touch his baby. It was fun working at your shop with you and Derrick and the rest of the crew. On a side note, if you're in the Port St. Lucie, Florida area and looking for some top notch upholstery work I would whole heartedly recommend Frank and his team for high quality, custom work.
I met Frank while looking for someone to make a Bikini Top for my hot rod 1975 Jimmy and after one phone call to Frank I could tell he was the man for the job. Here's a picture of his handiwork and just in time as the rain has been coming down in buckets lately. As I sat in my office processing the photos and videos for this write-up I could look out the window and take comfort knowing my seat was dry.
Oh yeah! Bring on the rain!
