First time purchase advice

B

bill7

New member
Joined
Sep 15, 2020
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Hello,

I just bought a black 2003 4Runner. Although I don't have any peeling clear coat, the paint is very dull and I would guess it hasn't been detailed in years. I do have a number of a problems areas in terms of scratches and contaminants.

I am looking for advice on my first purchase of a DA polisher and the supplies I will need to work on this truck.

I am considering this kit:


  • Griot’s Garage G9 Random Orbital Polisher
  • Griots Garage 5 Inch Vented Orbital Backing Plate
  • 2 qty. Buff and Shine Orange Foam Medium Cutting Pad - 5.5 Inch
  • 2 qty. Buff and Shine White Foam Polishing Pad - 5.5 Inch
  • 2 qty. Buff and Shine Blue Light Foam Polishing Pad - 5.5 Inch
  • Buff and Shine Red Foam Ultra Finishing Pad - 5.5 Inch
  • 3 qty. Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber Polishing Cloths, 16 x 16 inches

I've read I need quite a few more pads although I have no problem splitting the job up, washing/drying overnight, and doing another section the next day to minimize the cost. It's still pretty hot with daily rain where I am right now anyway.

I was looking at the Lake Country 6 or 12 pack. What color and quantity will I realistically need?

I have bottles of Meguiar's iron remover, Ultimate Compound, Ultimate Polishing, and their NXT 2.0 wax plus a clay set. I bought this when I thought I'd be able to get a good result by hand. I'm hoping this stuff is good enough to make it worth my time with a DA polisher. But, now would be the time to correct any mistakes and buy what I really need.

I'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks

Bill
 
bill7 said:
Hello,

I just bought a black 2003 4Runner. Although I don't have any peeling clear coat, the paint is very dull and I would guess it hasn't been detailed in years. I do have a number of a problems areas in terms of scratches and contaminants.
Click to expand...

As I type in the year 2020 - that would make the clearcoat on this Toyota 17+ years old. And sounds like it's also been neglected.



bill7 said:
I am looking for advice on my first purchase of a DA polisher and the supplies I will need to work on this truck.

I am considering this kit:


  • Griot’s Garage G9 Random Orbital Polisher
  • Griots Garage 5 Inch Vented Orbital Backing Plate
  • 2 qty. Buff and Shine Orange Foam Medium Cutting Pad - 5.5 Inch
  • 2 qty. Buff and Shine White Foam Polishing Pad - 5.5 Inch
  • 2 qty. Buff and Shine Blue Light Foam Polishing Pad - 5.5 Inch
  • Buff and Shine Red Foam Ultra Finishing Pad - 5.5 Inch
  • 3 qty. Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber Polishing Cloths, 16 x 16 inches

I've read I need quite a few more pads although I have no problem splitting the job up, washing/drying overnight, and doing another section the next day to minimize the cost. It's still pretty hot with daily rain where I am right now anyway.
Click to expand...

It is true - more pads are better. Dry foam works better than wet foam no matter what the process. Also - switching out to a fresh pad often helps your pads to last longer since you're not punishing them for longer periods of time.

The oscillation action is VIOLENT. Plus downward pressure, high speed, heat etc is pretty hard on foam.



bill7 said:
I was looking at the Lake Country 6 or 12 pack. What color and quantity will I realistically need?

I have bottles of Meguiar's iron remover, Ultimate Compound, Ultimate Polishing, and their NXT 2.0 wax plus a clay set. I bought this when I thought I'd be able to get a good result by hand. I'm hoping this stuff is good enough to make it worth my time with a DA polisher. But, now would be the time to correct any mistakes and buy what I really need.

I'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks

Bill
Click to expand...


For the Griot's G9 and a 5" backing plate I would take a look at these,

6 Inch Buff & Shine Uro-Tec Foam Pads

Get 4 of the maroon for use with the Ultimate Compound
Get 2 of the yellow for use with the Ultimate Polish
Get 1 of the white to machine apply the NXT Tech Wax

That should do it. Also - you'll need more than 3 microfiber towels but do a full paint correction. You can purchase the Forrest Green Edgeless towels in a 12-pack for $20.00 - this will get you through the job and then take care of the towels for future use, pads too.


:)
 
I have polished a few black vehicles that were not well cared for, and several ended up with with 'crows feet' or 'paint checking'. If possible, I would recommend doing a test spot first to see if this is an issue.
I believe it is the heat from the pads that causes the 'crows feet', so would recommend using the least aggressive method to make the paint look acceptable to you. Usually a finishing pad is less dense than a cutting pad, and should produce less heat. Or using high grit sandpaper (3000, 4000, 5000) may produce better results, or maybe wool pads.

As for your order, I would suggest adding more cutting pads, and choosing only one of the Light Foam or Ultra Foam pads. The cutting pads are doing all the work, and will fill up with spent polish and paint. Once you get to the finishing steps, you are not removing much paint, just cleaning from the aggressive compounding. Unless you are doing concourse level detailing most will not see the difference between paint polished with a finishing pad vs. extra polishing steps with a fine finishing pad and/or ultra finishing pad. And with today's polishes & pads, lots of cutting polishes/compounds can finish down well enough that addition steps are not needed.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. I've attached some pictures that the dealer took before they did whatever they considered detailing.

These pics aren't the best quality. I originally thought the hood was peeling and oxidized badly but it's just a shadow in the pic.

I was able to remove most of whatever was on the driver's door by hand. I'm not exactly sure what will be possible but it's an old truck and we'll see. I'll grab some pictures with it clean before I start my work.

View attachment 70962
View attachment 70963
View attachment 70964
View attachment 70965
View attachment 70966
View attachment 70967
View attachment 70968
View attachment 70969
 
When i did my first car i used about 6 orange (cutting) and 6 yellow (polishing) for my mustang but should work on your 4 runner too. Mike is on wverything he said.

If your ordering a g9 give the griots compound a try and yes order at LEAST a 12 pack of towels. You can nwver have to many towels or pads


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You might be better off not getting the light and ultra light pad and instead getting more cutting and orange pads
 
Nice potential, post the finish work when you are done polishing and protecting it, I just got one from auction a blue 03 Toyota 4Runner Sr-5, be wary of chassis issue get it coated, that model year is notorious especially it was from the North, design flaw in chassis, Toyota failed to include in replacement with Tacoma’s as well Seqoia trucks which shared same chassis, check yours if it’s good I suggest get a good undercoating job to protect the chassis.


Sent from my iPad using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
One issue is I haven't figured out how to take outdoor pictures of a black car surface that are useful.

With a variety of foam pads, a Griot's DA polisher, and their BOSS system, I can remove scratches/swirls and get a nice glossy finish.

However, I have a tremendous number of what I think you would call containments. I used the basic Meguiars white clay from the auto store. Generally speaking, the paint feels smooth and passes the bag test except for some of these spots. I have one damaged spot that looks like an egg hit the paint and it's totally smooth. The problem looks subsurface. However, 99% of the remaining "spots" seem to be above the surface. I'm not referring to any chips that would require touch up paint.

Do I just need to get a more aggressive clay and then repeat the polishing? I saw in the archives to get Clay Magic but their website is down and I can't find many sources for it. Curious if there's another good brand to look at.

Door - Egg?

View attachment 71173

Seems to be surface containment:

View attachment 71174
View attachment 71175

Appreciate any advice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top