Best video ever on how to machine buff a car from start to finish

[Craig Parker]

Excellent video Mike and Yancy, from start to finish, complete and thorough all the way, very professional, and the Chevelle, was a beautiful car to demo on.:goodpost::dblthumb2:

 

[kesmit]

This really is a great video. I've polished a few cars, but there are a few tips in here that I'm excited about trying next time around. I do think there is one error in it though. Around the 14:30 mark, you say that clear coat is 2 millimeters (1/1000 meter) thin. I think you meant 2 mils (1/1000 inch).

 

[jdubs]

You used a 2 step approach with an initial compound followed by a refining polish. After your second test spot (more aggressive compound and pad) the paint looks phenomenal. Some may see those results and figure " hey, that got 'em...why does he need a finish polish? ". Because a compound, while effective at cutting, typically doesn't complete the paint flattening and leaves behind what the final polish cleans up. You didn't really explain that but go onto the finish polish step which is an assumption anyway. Again, Mike, just noticed a question that someone who's never done this may ask.

I agree.

My big question:
-Around 43:00 in after you show the "after" what's the deal with the specks on the paint? Is it the paint, lint, or something else? I've considered this to be lint in my cases. It's my biggest pet peeve.

My takeaways:
-I should probably work a bit smaller space then I do.
-I need a pad cleaning brush in the worst way.
-You are a great teacher that is very easy to follow.

 

[2010 F150 Lux]

As previously mentioned, I don't believe the clear coat is 2 millimeters thick.

Background music loop is slightly distracting but I was listening through headphones.

Great compilation of tips and techniques. Love the pace and flow.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[WRAPT C5Z06]

The orange pad rotated MUCH better than the white pad.

Nice video!

 

[WRAPT C5Z06]

I agree.

My big question:
-Around 43:00 in after you show the "after" what's the deal with the specks on the paint? Is it the paint, lint, or something else? I've considered this to be lint in my cases. It's my biggest pet peeve.

-I need a pad cleaning brush in the worst way.

Those specs in the paint are most likely what's called "solvent pop". Not much you can do about it.

If you're not cosistentky cleaning your pad on the fly, spent residue will cake up on your pad and you will lose cut as well as haze the paint. It's imperative to work clean.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

This really is a great video. I've polished a few cars, but there are a few tips in here that I'm excited about trying next time around. I do think there is one error in it though.

Around the 14:30 mark, you say that clear coat is 2 millimeters (1/1000 meter) thin. I think you meant 2 mils (1/1000 inch).

Correct. That's called a mistake. No one is perfect.

Bob McKee trained me to watch every guy in the TV world and watch for their mistakes. What I've discovered is everyone makes word mistakes when filming TV. Everyone.

For the record, I meant to say mils. I know the measurement is mils in fact I included this tidbit of information in my first how to book with pictures to educate everyone else on how thin paint is so they would understand how important it is to

1. Do a Test Spot.
2. Use the least aggressive product to get the job done.
3. Only use quality abrasive technology and poor quality product may remove defects but they leave their own defects and removing these new defects means removing more paint.
4: If you hire a detailer, make sure they know what they are doing and make sure they are using quality products.


I also cover this in my how to books, the first one published in 2011.

Here's the only article I've ever seen on this topic educating people on the 2 mil aspect of modern clearcoat paint.


Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips




So yep.... that was a simple word mistake.

My guess is to why this happens is because when you're filming live, without any TelePrompter, your mind is racing ahead AS YOU SPEAK figuring out where you're going next with the conversation. As such, it can be easy to make a simple, single word mistake.

If you watch the video again, there's a point where I'm working on the roof or talking about the roof and refer to it as the hood.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I agree.

My big question:
-Around 43:00 in after you show the "after" what's the deal with the specks on the paint? Is it the paint, lint, or something else? I've considered this to be lint in my cases. It's my biggest pet peeve.

That's what happens when you LIGHT UP black paint with a very bright swirl finder light and capture it on video. To the human eye that paint looked perfect, just like I stated in the video when I "looked at it" with my human eyes.

What a camera captures is much different and in this case it the paint appeared flared or blow out by the light. It's possible if the camera were further away the real appearance would have been captured.

The tiny particles were probably small particle of lint.

The BIG PICTURE is the paint was as perfect as a normal person would want to create with all thing considered, i.e. I'm not going to wetsand and then cut and buff some other guy's all original, number's matching 453 big block Chevy Chevelle to gain a tiny bit more perfection just to please others that probably don't even own this nice of a car.

This was also done after polishing, not waxing and the effect of applying a wax, a sealant or a paint coating has the effect of creating a more uniform, more perfect appearance.


So good eye... but we need to accept that videography when it comes to close-ups of black paint with bright light shining on it is not always the same thing as what you would see with your own eyes in the real world.

My takeaways:
-I should probably work a bit smaller space then I do.
-I need a pad cleaning brush in the worst way.
-You are a great teacher that is very easy to follow.

Thank you.... I appreciate all your feedback and observations as if you're thinking the above then others are too and I never mind discussing and trying to answer questions about the work we do here at Autogeek.



:dblthumb2:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

As previously mentioned, I don't believe the clear coat is 2 millimeters thick.

Since this is your first post to our forum,

Welcome to AutogeekOnline! :welcome:

And as for the word mistake, see what I wrote above...

Background music loop is slightly distracting but I was listening through headphones.

Great compilation of tips and techniques. Love the pace and flow.

Thanks for the kind words and as for the music, what I've noticed is that no matter what music Yancy uses it's hard to please everyone.


Again, welcome to the AGO forum...



:dblthumb2:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Did you know?


Did you know there are actually written tests for all the videos in this new series?


Honor System


Would anyone here like to challenge themselves and take the test? The thing is you can't go back and watch the video to get the right answer and for this we would rely on the honor system for integrity and honestly.

There are 21 questions for this video.



I wonder if there is some kind of online test taking software we could use that's not cost prohibitive?

 

[Mantilgh]

Great video Mike and Yancy!!!

Very thorough and I like the recap at the end.

I also like that it was done with less expensive tool and pads.

I think it would have been an added bonus to show the stack of pads you went through to give newer people an idea of how many pads are needed to properly do the job.

 

[jdubs]

Did you know?


Did you know there are actually written tests for all the videos in this new series?


Honor System


Would anyone here like to challenge themselves and take the test? The thing is you can't go back and watch the video to get the right answer and for this we would rely on the honor system for integrity and honestly.

There are 21 questions for this video.



I wonder if there is some kind of online test taking software we could use that's not cost prohibitive?

Set up a "survey" in google docs. There's gotta be some way. I'd love to take it!

 

[Paul A.]

I would also like to take the test, Mike.

 

[2010 F150 Lux]

I think it would have been an added bonus to show the stack of pads you went through to give newer people an idea of how many pads are needed to properly do the job.

Great thought. That caught me by surprise when I was first starting. Ruined an orange cutting pad not knowing any better.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[kesmit]

I totally agree about the number of pads comments. I also agree that it's nice to see you using the PC and basic flat pads (which is what I use). I know a lot of people complain that the PC doesn't have enough power, but recently I've done a 1999 Chevy truck and a 2011 BMW (both with notoriously hard paint) using a PC. While it may take a bit longer, it feels safer to have a bit more working time than to try to save a few minutes by powering through with one of the higher-end units. I guess if I was doing this for a living, I might want to move up to something that I could work quicker with. But for just doing my own cars once a year, the PC is plenty.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

How many pads - a great question and popular topic....




Just to note... we shot these 9 videos back in August I think? Any pads used on that car have been washed and reused since then probably multiple times.


But I hear you... I realize that most people don't understand how many pads it takes to do the job right. For this reason I wrote an article about this topic here,


How many pads do I need to buff out my car?






And in most of my personal car detailing work I now make it a practice to take a picture of all the pads used for the project. Here's one example...


How to use Griot's Garage to detail your car - A detail job Richard Griot would be proud of!

Towels used and even products...

The year RUPES introduced the new Mark II series polishers, I was lucky enough to be one of the first guys to use them thanks to Todd and Alberto brining them to Autogeek for me to test out. As a favor to RUPES I brought in a CURVY car to show the improved pad rotation for the new tools.


I also took a picture of all the pads we used to buff out a very swirled out lead sled...



Buffing curved panels with NEW RUPES Mark II BigFoot 21 & 15 Polishers

That was a fun car to buff out...

Still looks great today with the Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Paint Coating we applied...

Review & How-To: Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Paint Coating

Great feedback guys... and in the future I'll make sure to capture pictures of how many pads were used for all of our projects because it's important to relay this information to people new to machine polishing.



:dblthumb2:

 

[rcoops77]

Great video Mike. Thank you.


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app

 

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[cyclops]

Great video, absolutely perfect for beginners. As a novice I picked up several great tips such as only working an area the size of a towel and the importance of things such as cleaning pads on the fly.
Would have liked to see the differences of one buffer to another but understand that would have turned it into a 2 hour video.

Thanks to Mike and Yancy for putting this together.

 

[AZpolisher15]

Great video. I watched it twice. The first time concentrating on what was being said. The second time focusing on physical things such as pad rotation, compression, speed, etc. We're so used to "instant results" these days. The video makes it clear just how much time and focus goes into a start to finish job on one vehicle.

When I first contemplated buying a DA, I honestly thought I could probably polish out a car in an hour (I knew absolutely nothing about the process, nor had I thought much about it). And I think that's a common perception. It's awesome for people to see videos like this so they know more about what's involved before jumping in. A lot of the frustration one might encounter when first starting out can be generally avoided with realistic expectations. And this video does a great job showing what is involved.