drewberg11
Member
- Sep 1, 2010
- 73
- 0
This was my first time with a machine polisher, PC 7424XP. I bought the car used just shy of a year ago. It had 10k miles on it and had been used as a company car for Subaru so it was in pretty good shape.. It had 10k miles on it and had been used as a company car for Subaru so it was in pretty good shape. It sure did have plenty of scuffs, light scratches, and swirls and even more so now at 34k miles. I was initially terrified of any machine polishers. I was uniformed and thought I’d just do much more harm then good. After a ton of reading on the AG forums and watching videos posted my Mike Phillips, I felt a little more comfortable. I ordered up one of the Wolfgang swirl remover kits that came with 6.5” pads. This is the one kit that just kept popping up on the forums as extremely user friendly for first timers. Below is a pic of all the stuff I used.
First, I’d like to apologize for the photo’s, they are not very good quality and the digital camera I was using really sucked in low light conditions. I had a really difficult time trying to actually capture the swirl marks so they only peaked through in a few photos. They were MUCH more noticeable in person.
These two pictures shows what looks to be some sort of etching from water droplets. The top of the car was covered in these. You can also make out some serious scuffing below the light. In person it looks like someone dragged a box across the top of the car.
All taped off and ready to get to business . . . not exactly the most fun part.
YAY caught some pics of the swirls!
After Total Swirl Remover.
Some more swirls and scuffs,
And after,
When working with the Total Swirl Remover, no matter what I did, I couldn’t stop it from dusting. It wasn’t terrible but still a mess. It easily wiped off. I spoke with someone at AG why said that just means the pad is dirty. I cleaned that thing after every single section, because the dust was pretty bad otherwise. I made sure to use the terry cloth “cleaning on the fly” followed by a pad cleaning brush, then another hit with the terry cloth. This happen to anyone else? Or know how to avoid it in the future?
Some pics of the ugly stained trim,
For this, I wanted to try the Poorboy’s Trim Restorer. I read somewhere to apply multiple THIN coats and let sit for 30mins between coats. Most of the trim work only took 2 applications but the real stubborn seal for the sun roof took 5 applications! Had to of been a combination of wax and buffer stains from before I got the car. I used a foam applicator and the consistency is like baby oil to start. Very thin and gets everywhere quickly. After sitting on the trim for a while it seems to get a gel like consistency before it then dries. Here’s some pics after the trim restorer.
For the tires I used Eagle One Tire Shine Gel. Found it locally at a Benny’s a few months ago for $3! Wish I bought more. The only other product I’ve tried is Meguires Hot Tire Shine. I’m happy enough with the Eagle One that I’ll continue using it, wish I stocked up on more bottles. Last I remember the shine wore off after a few weeks (I’ll have to pay more attention to durability this time) but it’s just so cheap I can apply it as often as I like.
Some quick notes,
I really didn’t enjoy the 6.5” pads. I haven’t used the 5.5’s but it would only make sense that the smaller pad would spin better. For swirl removal, the machine quickly bogged under pressure and the ends of the pad wouldn’t make contact. I had the PC set to 5 for the swirl remover. I tried 6 but the overhang of the pads would violently start to flutter around. I’ll have to order some 5.5” pads for the next time. When applying sealant, I set the PC to 3 (recommended setting I saw on an AG video for Wolfgang DGPS) with a 6.5” red pad and I practically had to lift the machine up a touch (get rid of some of the machine weight) to get the pad to rotate.
Three days later (on and off) and here's how it looks. Overall, I am very pleased with the results. I watched plenty of videos on polishing with a DA but it’s a whole different story to do it yourself. For my first time, I am very pleased with the results. Only gripe I have is that all those dame rock chips (no thanks to SUBARU paint) are quite a bit more noticeable. As a daily driver that sees’s 90% highway, its something I can live with. Although some DR. Colorchip might be in my future.
Thanks for reading.
Notice all those scuffs and etchings on the roof are gone!
First, I’d like to apologize for the photo’s, they are not very good quality and the digital camera I was using really sucked in low light conditions. I had a really difficult time trying to actually capture the swirl marks so they only peaked through in a few photos. They were MUCH more noticeable in person.
These two pictures shows what looks to be some sort of etching from water droplets. The top of the car was covered in these. You can also make out some serious scuffing below the light. In person it looks like someone dragged a box across the top of the car.
All taped off and ready to get to business . . . not exactly the most fun part.
YAY caught some pics of the swirls!
After Total Swirl Remover.
Some more swirls and scuffs,
And after,
When working with the Total Swirl Remover, no matter what I did, I couldn’t stop it from dusting. It wasn’t terrible but still a mess. It easily wiped off. I spoke with someone at AG why said that just means the pad is dirty. I cleaned that thing after every single section, because the dust was pretty bad otherwise. I made sure to use the terry cloth “cleaning on the fly” followed by a pad cleaning brush, then another hit with the terry cloth. This happen to anyone else? Or know how to avoid it in the future?
Some pics of the ugly stained trim,
For this, I wanted to try the Poorboy’s Trim Restorer. I read somewhere to apply multiple THIN coats and let sit for 30mins between coats. Most of the trim work only took 2 applications but the real stubborn seal for the sun roof took 5 applications! Had to of been a combination of wax and buffer stains from before I got the car. I used a foam applicator and the consistency is like baby oil to start. Very thin and gets everywhere quickly. After sitting on the trim for a while it seems to get a gel like consistency before it then dries. Here’s some pics after the trim restorer.
For the tires I used Eagle One Tire Shine Gel. Found it locally at a Benny’s a few months ago for $3! Wish I bought more. The only other product I’ve tried is Meguires Hot Tire Shine. I’m happy enough with the Eagle One that I’ll continue using it, wish I stocked up on more bottles. Last I remember the shine wore off after a few weeks (I’ll have to pay more attention to durability this time) but it’s just so cheap I can apply it as often as I like.
Some quick notes,
I really didn’t enjoy the 6.5” pads. I haven’t used the 5.5’s but it would only make sense that the smaller pad would spin better. For swirl removal, the machine quickly bogged under pressure and the ends of the pad wouldn’t make contact. I had the PC set to 5 for the swirl remover. I tried 6 but the overhang of the pads would violently start to flutter around. I’ll have to order some 5.5” pads for the next time. When applying sealant, I set the PC to 3 (recommended setting I saw on an AG video for Wolfgang DGPS) with a 6.5” red pad and I practically had to lift the machine up a touch (get rid of some of the machine weight) to get the pad to rotate.
Three days later (on and off) and here's how it looks. Overall, I am very pleased with the results. I watched plenty of videos on polishing with a DA but it’s a whole different story to do it yourself. For my first time, I am very pleased with the results. Only gripe I have is that all those dame rock chips (no thanks to SUBARU paint) are quite a bit more noticeable. As a daily driver that sees’s 90% highway, its something I can live with. Although some DR. Colorchip might be in my future.
Thanks for reading.
Notice all those scuffs and etchings on the roof are gone!
