I Just Finished My First Detail With A DA Polisher

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lovenhim

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Hello everyone. I thought that I would share my first proper auto detailing job with the forum. In order to pull this off I have received a lot of help from some forum members who have donated pads, some polishes, drying towels, microfiber clothes, etc. I am very grateful for all of the help. I did not ask permission to post names but I am very thankful for the help. As some of you know, I had an original budget of $120 and was going to purchase a Mothers Wax Attack 2. Folks told me to not go that router but to go for the Griots or Porter Cable machine. At the time I did not have the money for a quality machine like that. I did "cheap out" and ended up buying the Harbor freight DA. It was all I could afford and I know that it is not a quality machine and it is certainly not a Porter Cable, Flex, or Rupes machine. I have twenty hours in this truck. It belongs to my mom and step dad. Here is a brief rundown of what I did:

vacuumed the inside
used a diluted Simple Green on everything inside the truck such as cloth seats, carpet, plastic dash, etc.
Washed the truck by hand using Meguiars Gold Class car soap.
Dried it with a donated Griots drying towel. That towel is amazing. One pass and the area was dry.
Tires and wheels I used Whesleys Bleach White.
Mothers retail clay bar system was used on the truck and glass.
All faded black plastics were cleaned with Simple Green and a soft brush.
I used three levels of pad based upon feel from course, to medium, to wax applicator. I am not sure what the pads were as they were donated.
Mothers Professional Compound, Mothers Professional Polish, and Mothers Synthetic Wax were used.
Mothers Back To Black was used on plastics and tires.
The metal chrome was hit with a Mother Power Ball and Mothers Chrome polish.

This truck is not perfect as some of the scratches did not completely disappear but it is much better. I feel that some of those crates needed sanding first but I was not gonna go there as I have never done it plus this was my first time ever using a DA polisher.

2008 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 with 123,000 miles.

I could not figure out how to post pictures so here is the Flickr Photostream.

2008 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 Detail | jsrdrnr | Flickr
 
lovenhim said:
I did "cheap out" and ended up buying the Harbor freight DA. It was all I could afford and I know that it is not a quality machine and it is certainly not a Porter Cable
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Whoever told you that doesn’t know what the heck they’re talking about. It’s actually a better polisher than the Porter Cable. More power and equally reliable, I’ll go as far as calling it bulletproof.
 
Very nice!

Nothing wrong with your HF DA. Don't feel like you "cheaped out". It's a very capable machine.
 
Thank you very much for the reply. I did wear earplugs with it however. Being legally blind my ears are sensitive. The machine has a high pitch squeel. Ear protection was a must for me. I did use a fat Sharpee line on the backing plate. I understand now how using a free spinning DA is about feel, keeping the pad flat, and not applying too much preasure. It was neat seeing how the DA would stop spinning on the sharp angles of the front fenders and bedsides on the Dodge.

PaulMys said:
Very nice!

Nothing wrong with your HF DA. Don't feel like you "cheaped out". It's a very capable machine.
Click to expand...
 
lovenhim said:
Thank you very much for the reply. I did wear earplugs with it however. Being legally blind my ears are sensitive. The machine has a high pitch squeel. Ear protection was a must for me. I did use a fat Sharpee line on the backing plate. I understand now how using a free spinning DA is about feel, keeping the pad flat, and not applying too much preasure. It was neat seeing how the DA would stop spinning on the sharp angles of the front fenders and bedsides on the Dodge.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear it. It's the best feeling when you just dive in and get going. All of the info here on AGO is invaluable, but at the same time it can be overwhelming, or even intimidating at first.

Believe me, we all started at square one. So glad to see your results! It keeps getting better the more you practice/experiment with different combos.

You did GREAT on your first go-round!! :dblthumb2:
 
I understand now how difficult it might be to damage the clear coat with a free spinning DA. You would have to be very careless to harm the paint. One of the biggest issues I had was keep the power cord off of the paint while keeping the machine comfy to use. I figured out the quickly about using a loose knot in the power cord plug so the cord would stay plugged in.

PaulMys said:
Glad to hear it. It's the best feeling when you just dive in and get going. All of the info here on AGO is invaluable, but at the same time it can be overwhelming, or even intimidating at first.

Believe me, we all started at square one. So glad to see your results! It keeps getting better the more you practice/experiment with different combos.

You did GREAT on your first go-round!! :dblthumb2:
Click to expand...
 
lovenhim said:
I understand now how difficult it might be to damage the clear coat with a free spinning DA. You would have to be very careless to harm the paint. One of the biggest issues I had was keep the power cord off of the paint while keeping the machine comfy to use. I figured out the quickly about using a loose knot in the power cord plug so the cord would stay plugged in.
Click to expand...

Throwing the cord over your shoulder for horizontal panels works great. Got that tip from Mike P in his book, and it is widely used by all.

Learning the little things is fun. :)
 
One more thing about your HF machine: there are several DIY write ups and videos that explain how to re-pack the gear set with the proper amount of grease. It won’t make it super quiet, but it should calm some of the harshness coming from the machine. I think the google keywords “harbor freight DA polisher grease” will hit a goldmine for you.

Best of luck!

M
 
I have done that. The machine had about one tablespoon of this hard yellow wax like grease in it. I packed it with about three tablespoons of a Valvoline synthetic grease. The gears sound quiet. The motor has a high pitched sound when at speed four or higher. Thus the earplugs. I might have been born with optic atrophy, but I can prevent doing the Hellen Keller thing. LOL. By the way, my white cane training came from a mobility instructor from the Keller bloodline, Becky Keller. Pretty cool.

marshallz3m said:
One more thing about your HF machine: there are several DIY write ups and videos that explain how to re-pack the gear set with the proper amount of grease. It won’t make it super quiet, but it should calm some of the harshness coming from the machine. I think the google keywords “harbor freight DA polisher grease” will hit a goldmine for you.

Best of luck!

M
Click to expand...
 
lovenhim said:
I have done that. The machine had about one tablespoon of this hard yellow wax like grease in it. I packed it with about three tablespoons of a Valvoline synthetic grease. The gears sound quiet. The motor has a high pitched sound when at speed four or higher. Thus the earplugs. I might have been born with optic atrophy, but I can prevent doing the Hellen Keller thing. LOL. By the way, my white cane training came from a mobility instructor from the Keller bloodline, Becky Keller. Pretty cool.
Click to expand...

The fact that you are doing this with limited vision is incredible.

I applaud you.
 
Looks great. Nice work. Was mom and your step dad happy??!!
 
Beautiful job, lovenhim! The payoff is your parents reaction.
 
You don't have to buy top of the line products to get top of the line results. The truck looks great. You can be proud of your work.
 
Awesome work and write up!

You did a great job at polishing that truck! And remember if you did not already do it to take before pictures too. That can be usefull to show family and friends what you did acomplish.

The cord over your shoulder and move to the next vehical to polish :)

/Tony
 
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