Buffing CURVED PANELS with NEW RUPES Mark II BigFoot 21 & 15 Polishers

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

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

Below you'll find a full picture essay showing the new RUPES BigFoot 21 Mark II and the RUPES BigFoot 15 Mark II in action!

First however I would like to thank all my friends at RUPES for their trust. I appreciate and value your trust to provide me with your newest evolution in large stroke orbital polishers to test them out here at Autogeek's Show Car Garage.

Upon finding out I would have access to these new production units I sought out just the right car put these new tools to the test while at the same time a car with a cool factor that any new tool introduction deserves.

When I first saw Larry Jone's 1951 Mercury Coupe with it's new custom paint job with flames by JoAnn Bortles owner of Crazy Horse Custom Painting I instantly recognized it as the car that Sylvester Stallone, (The Italian Stallion), drove in the movie Cobra.


Sylvester Stallone - Cobra

James Dean - Rebel without a cause
Another famous movie star is also associated with this Mercury coupe. James Dean drove a 1949 Mercury Coupe in the movie which is the same body style as this 1951 Mercury Coupe.

Besides the cool factor being a car driven by two legendary movie stars and by the way car guys, the 1951 Mercury has a lot of curves so it makes a perfect test car for the new RUPES Mark II series tool.

Again thank you to everyone at RUPES and especially Chip Case, Todd Helme and Alberto Quiroscabrera for coordinating with me to make this project happen before SEMA.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

My take...

I'm going to share a lot of picture in this thread to really showcase the,

1. Before condition of the Mercury.
2. The during shots of this tool in action.
3. The after shots showing the results.

Before getting to the pictures however I just want to cut to the chase to share my experience after tackling a very swirled-out paint job.


Todd and Alberto brought three Mark II polishers, two BigFoot 21s and one BigFoot 15. Since I gravitate towards the BigFoot 21 this is the tool I used for the majority of this project.

Todd and Alberto when over all the new changes and explained the practical advantages and benefits they provide. I found their information very interesting and Todd has a way of explaining things that makes understanding very easy.

After discussing the changes we went to work following this process,

1. Machine decontaminating the paint using RUPES polishers with Nanoskin Autoscrub Pads.

Performing a Test Spot to dial-in and prove our system approach.

2. Compounding with Blue/Blue

3. Polishing with Yellow/Yellow
​

(We stopped after machine polishing as I also have a new coating to use and share in an upcoming write-up)


My experience in one word...

Impressive

After Todd did the Test Spot and we all inspected the results I placed a RUPES 7" Coarse Foam Cutting Pad on the RUPES BigFoot 21 Mark II and started compounding the paint.

Todd and I started on the front of the car as that's where the majority of the curves are found. Pad rotation was dramatically improved both when buffing out curved panels and even when applying firm pressure. The increased performance impressed me and made quick work of removing the holograms from the paint. To be honest... there were convex curved areas that required more focus on my technique to buff completely but this was accomplished simply by adjusting how I held the tool in relationship to the panel.

Besides the increase in pad rotation and overall power and performance the other aspect that I love about RUPES tools as does everyone else I know and that is the smooth, zero vibration from the tool even after the increases in performance.

I'm happy to say RUPES has taken their long stroke orbital technology to a new and higher level.


Now on to the pictures....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Before pictures in full sun.

Under florescent lights after chemically stripping the piant

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

First up... mechanical decontamination.

One of the important lessons I teach in all my classes is that gloss comes from a smooth surface.

After doing the Baggie Test we found the paint was contaminated so we used the Medium Grade Nanoskin Autoscrub Pads on speed setting 1 to mechanically decontaminate the paint.

:xyxthumbs:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

The next step is doing a Test Spot.

That's what you want to see on paint on a car like this....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Get busy!

After dialing in our approach it was time to get busy....

The front clip on the Mercury is very curvy and a great test for the new Mark II series polishers.

Here's some more very curvy panels...

The polishing step
Alberto has started in on the polishing step while Todd and I tackle the louvers using the RUPES TA50

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Finished
Couple shots of the tools and pads used...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Results
I always have a hard time picking out the best so here's something for everyone...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Two new how-to books

In time for SEMA and Christmas I have two brand new how-to books.


How to use the RUPES BigFoot Paint Polishing System
for Production Detailing and Show Car Detailing

How to Detail Boats with Marine 31
(Includes RUPES Polishers and Sanders)

While Todd and Alberto were here they both received signed copies.

Thank you Todd and Alberto for spending a day sharing the new RUPES Mark II series polishers with me here at Autogeek's Show Car Garage.

Again thank you to everyone at RUPES for your trust.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at SEMA!

 

[whavens]

Great thread, Mike. Super job polishing a true classic. Looks like I need to add a new polisher to the arsenal, and a new book. Another home run.

Walter

:thumbup:

Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk

 

[JSou]

Awesome!

 

[haris300]

Awesome work, Mike!

Looks like a fantastic machine.


:xyxthumbs:

 

[dlc95]

Fantastic!

Will there be a Duetto MK2?

 

[7.3powerstroke]

Great write up. Thank You. So you would say most things are the same compared to the current version except the new one has significant more power?

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Great thread, Mike. Super job polishing a true classic. Looks like I need to add a new polisher to the arsenal, and a new book. Another home run.

Walter

:thumbup:

Thanks Walter.

The car is definitely an American icon. I was just watching Americarna with Ray Evernham and he was sharing a custom Merc of this vintage on his show.

I didn't get the name of or recognize the owner/builder but he's a rock star.

Awesome!

Team work... Alberto and Todd are amazing behind the RUPES polishers.

Fantastic!

Will there be a Duetto MK2?

That would be a question for Todd or Dylan from RUPES. Whether there is or not they probably can't talk about it.

Great write up. Thank You.

So you would say most things are the same compared to the current version except the new one has significant more power?

I know what you're asking but I also know that wording a question like this is also tricky. I think Todd is better able to answer technical questions about

more power


What I can say is my experience is that pad rotation for curved panels and at any point you're applying downward pressure is greatly improved. I think this has more to do with efficiency through engineering.


:xyxthumbs:

 

[Zubair]

So the anti spin feature or shroud still touches the backing plate?

 

[7.3powerstroke]

Ok, you answered my question, thanks Mike!

 

[axel06]

Wow now thats a hot detail!

Can't wait for Jan 2016 detail Competition Ready with Mike Phillips 3-Day Detailing Class.

Saweeeet

:dblthumb2:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Wow now thats a hot detail!

Can't wait for Jan 2016 detail Competition Ready with Mike Phillips 3-Day Detailing Class.

Saweeeet

:dblthumb2:

I have some curvy cars lined up for the January class.

I should have a 1956 Buick Special too that is in HORRIBLE condition! Just no picture yet.


Plus a 1965 GTO and some new cars for a class that includes the widest spectrum of cars to learn and train on.

Training Cars for Autogeek’s Competition Ready with Mike Phillips 3-Day Detailing Class



:xyxthumbs:

 

[axel06]

Can wait, I just can't get enough, 1 was 2 many and 10,000 will never be enough :dblthumb2: