Fingermarks

Dr_Pain said:
Mike Philip's making paint look worst, on purpose??? I QUIT!!
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I have to admit I felt squeamish for sharing this but it was my attempt to really show the owner of the test product what his product would do if he released launched it with the statement it was safe to use by hand.

The good news is after inducing all those fingermarks into the soft clearcoat paint on our Honda Pilot I quickly removed them by machine and the applied some wax.



Dr_Pain said:
All joking aside, thanks Mike for being such a wealth of information.
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Thanks for the kind words... I've buffed out just about everything under the sun and luckily I usually have pictures to go with or or enough memory left to recall the details and then share it with others...

One of these days I'll have to write up my story as to how I became involved in the whole car detailing world because its my early experience that drive my passion to helps others.


:)
 
Many thanks Mike - your feedback was awesome and what I was hoping to receive - thanks to The Guz too for more great feedback. My first choice would be to do this by hand with the least abrasive polish/compound possible but I don't know if I have the technique. Taking a machine to my new car makes me cringe, I've heard you can burn your paint etc and would hate to further damage things but if its not too hard I could pick one up at Wal-Mart and very carefully give it a try after reading how to do it and the technique required. From your post Mike it almost sounded like the DA polisher would be the safer way to go vs trying it by hand in that "even a kid can turn on a polisher like the Porter Cable, Griot's or Meguiar's dual action polisher, make a few passes and with ZERO skill or experience get professional results"?

Is Ultimate Polish less aggressive than Swirl X? Which one would you recommend?

Paying a pro sounds good too but I don't live in a very populated area (20 miles north of Calistoga, CA) so I would probably have to travel at least an hour to get to an experienced pro and dropping it off for the day would be a project as I would have to get a ride to and from the place hence the preference for options 2 and 3.

I don't mind learning the hand technique or how to use a DA polisher but if I make it worse I'm going to be super bummed.

If you used Ultimate Compound twice a year, how many years would it take to go through the typical new car clearcoat? Not that you would use it that often but how much clear does it remove in a typical buffing (I realize its going to depend on how long you work it, how hard you push etc so just on average)? Just trying to get an idea of how much paint/clear I'm taking off.

Mike's post about the Cheetah spots was very helpful. As soon as I saw the pictures I knew that's what I had done, and love the pics showing that this can be reversed, gives me hope.
 
Or would Wolfgangs Swirl Remover or another product be good? I don't really care about the cost not that any of them seem expensive.

I ordered Klasse All in One from Auto Geek last week, and will be ordering all my products from them based on Mike's help. Thanks again The Guz too.

norcalgsxr said:
Many thanks Mike - your feedback was awesome and what I was hoping to receive - thanks to The Guz too for more great feedback. My first choice would be to do this by hand with the least abrasive polish/compound possible but I don't know if I have the technique. Taking a machine to my new car makes me cringe, I've heard you can burn your paint etc and would hate to further damage things but if its not too hard I could pick one up at Wal-Mart and very carefully give it a try after reading how to do it and the technique required. From your post Mike it almost sounded like the DA polisher would be the safer way to go vs trying it by hand in that "even a kid can turn on a polisher like the Porter Cable, Griot's or Meguiar's dual action polisher, make a few passes and with ZERO skill or experience get professional results"?

Is Ultimate Polish less aggressive than Swirl X? Which one would you recommend?

Paying a pro sounds good too but I don't live in a very populated area (20 miles north of Calistoga, CA) so I would probably have to travel at least an hour to get to an experienced pro and dropping it off for the day would be a project as I would have to get a ride to and from the place hence the preference for options 2 and 3.

I don't mind learning the hand technique or how to use a DA polisher but if I make it worse I'm going to be super bummed.

If you used Ultimate Compound twice a year, how many years would it take to go through the typical new car clearcoat? Not that you would use it that often but how much clear does it remove in a typical buffing (I realize its going to depend on how long you work it, how hard you push etc so just on average)? Just trying to get an idea of how much paint/clear I'm taking off.

Mike's post about the Cheetah spots was very helpful. As soon as I saw the pictures I knew that's what I had done, and love the pics showing that this can be reversed, gives me hope.
Click to expand...
 
My buddy has a Porter Cable 7424xp he's going to let me borrow - it has the stock white disk that isn't changeable and came with it, he never used it and I can buy it from him for $10. I bought from AutoGeek a few days ago along with the 6" backing plate the Lake County CCS 6 pack pad combo in Gold, Red, Gray, Green, White and Pink thinking that once I fix this problem I will likely (hopefully just be waxing) which is why most of the pads I bought don't have much if any cut.

My pads from Auto Geek are scheduled to arrive next Wednesday - could I use the white pad that comes with the Porter Cable this weekend or am I better off waiting and if so which pad should I start with using Ultimate Polish (or do I need Swirl X).

I have black paint that seems to show everything. Thanks for any feedback.
 
norcalgsxr said:
My buddy has a Porter Cable 7424xp he's going to let me borrow - it has the stock white disk that isn't changeable and came with it, he never used it and I can buy it from him for $10.
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Buy it. That's a killer deal.

The pad is too thick to be useful. See my article here,

The white foam pad that comes with a Porter Cable Polisher



norcalgsxr said:
I bought from AutoGeek a few days ago along with the 6" backing plate the Lake County CCS 6 pack pad combo in Gold, Red, Gray, Green, White and Pink thinking that once I fix this problem I will likely (hopefully just be waxing) which is why most of the pads I bought don't have much if any cut.
Click to expand...

Try using the white pad first. Did you get my DVD on how to use the PC? It shows you everything you want to do.


How to Properly Use the Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher
Learn how to polish and protect your vehicle with the user-friendly Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher. Mike Phillips walks you through the essential steps to maintaining a smooth, glossy finish with this machine. The techniques you learn are transferable to many other 6 inch dual action polishers.

In this DVD, Mike discusses pad selection, polish application, how to make a section pass, and how to apply wax with your PC, plus many more tips developed through Mike's years of experience detailing cars.

Mike Phillips is our Director of Training at Autogeek. He teaches machine polishing classes here in the Autogeek Show Car Garage several times a year, where detailers learn the techniques you'll see in this video. Now you can bring Mike into your own garage with this DVD, "How to Properly Use the Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher."



PorterCableDVD.jpg



What you wanted was the 5" backing plate the the 5.5" thin pads. If you need pads in the future get the Lake Country 5" DA Backing Plate and these...


Lake Country 5.5" Foam Buffing Pads

Lake Country 5.5" Flat Pads

5_5FlatPads01.jpg





Visual Indicator
You can get the large 6.5" pads to work but here's a tip... place a black mark on the backing plate and run the PC on the 6 speed setting as you need the pad rotating in order to remove things like swirls and scratches.

Video: Mark your backing plate to make it easy to see pad rotation


MarkYourBackingPlate01.jpg


Here's a quick video that show how and why to mark your backing plate to see and monitor pad rotation while doing any correction or polishing steps.



[video=youtube_share;QM8PnDooZP8&hd=1"]How To Check Pad Rotation on a DA Polisher -...[/video]​



It's also important to maintain pad rotation with PC style tools when using a one-step cleaner/wax or AIO type product on neglected paint.

It's not vital to maintain pad rotating when applying a finishing wax or finishing paint sealant to a finish that you've just buffed out.



norcalgsxr said:
My pads from Auto Geek are scheduled to arrive next Wednesday - could I use the white pad that comes with the Porter Cable this weekend or am I better off waiting and if so which pad
Click to expand...

You can use the white pad, it will rotate when it's dry. As it gets wet with product the rotation will decrease, that's the problem with thick pads and thick wet pads and your pads will get wet as you work around the car. It's because each time you place fresh product on the face of the pad and then place the face of the pad against the paint a little product, (liquid), goes up and insdie the pad.


norcalgsxr said:
should I start with using Ultimate Polish (or do I need Swirl X).
Click to expand...

You can start with the Ultimate Polish. Read through the troubleshooting guide I wrote.

I recommend people read it FIRST before they get into trouble.

DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide


:dblthumb2:
 
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