My experience: First Ever Detail + First Time Flex

[emmjay]

Hello All,

I finally received my order from Autogeek so I decided to try out the new Flex Polisher that I purchased at the end of February. This is my first ever detail, but I purchased the flex as I would not want to spend on a polisher again down the line + Flex has a local distributor while all the other machines do not.

A little background, the car is 1.5 years old and was detailed by an O.K. detailer last year in April, so around a year ago. I purchased a Meguiars DA power system and wow...what a fail of a machine that was!! Car was still in great shape with minor swirls but an overall good finish. I wash the car myself every weekend. It has been washed a few times over the year by the local wash stations, but those were dire circumstances after heavy rains coupled with a sandstorm.

Note: Car was done over 2 days mostly because I had no idea it was that difficult.

Products Used:
Armor All Wash n Wax
Black n Decker Pressure Washer
Meguairs Smooth Surface Clay Kit
Meguairs Ultimate Polish
LC Hybrid White in 6.5" for the big section of the Hood + Roof
LC Hybrid white in 5" for 95% of the car
LC Hybrid Orange in 5" for spot buffing with Meguairs ultimate compound
Meguairs NXT 2.0
Meguiars Supreme Shine Microfiber.

So here is the car before I started:
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I washed the car with the pressure washer first and then used the armor all wash n wax liquid and the two bucket method. Used a cheapo leaf blower to get water out of creases and jams and wipe the car down with Zwipes waffle weave (cobra guzzler on the way).

I started with the roof with a 6.5" white hybrid and ultimate polish. It cleared up the swirls but left all the micro straight line scratches behind. It bothered me at first but this is UP after all and this is also my daily driver (about 80 kms a day).

Pad priming:
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Here's some shots of the car after finishing the roof and hood:

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Wax - Meguiars NXT 2.0 waiting to dry.

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I then moved onto the panels between the doors (b pillars?)

Before:
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50/50
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Done:
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When i was done I noticed the pads turned black after the pillars! This really scared me as I don't know why this happened.

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I then covered the car for the night so as the protect the areas worked on from dust as this is Dubai afterall

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The next day I started out and took some pics of how the swirls look...very minor but I tried:

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After working the rear left quarter panel :

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Lights, before:

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Lights, after:

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A few shots of the car when done(taken the next morning at work) :

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observations: The flex is extremely smooth for such a powerful machine. Compared to the DA power system which cause my arm and hands to judder all the way and my arm would give out after just a few minutes of use, the flex is on a whole new level and I worked for about 10 hours each day!!! The 6.5" pads were a massive PITA...but the 5's...oh the 5's <3. No strain, no walking, no pulling, nothing!

 

[emmjay]

NOW....Onto some issues I faced,

First of, when I tried the orange pad, it kind of shed all these micro fine orange powder like flakes, even though the pad was primed before use...

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Second- The ultimate polish would start drying up after just 3 passes, and found it very difficult to wipe of. So I just went over the dried area with the polisher at a very fast speed so as to wet the product again. Anyways, dried polish :

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I did do an IPA wipe down when done using 70% IPA diluted as per Mike Phillips' suggestions on this forum and that cleared everything off. While polisher however, before i started the speed buff, i would spray a few specks of QD (clay lube) over the polish and wipe off.

Now the next day while admiring the car, I noticed this. I remember seeing it while polishing and thought I had gotten it but I guess not... :

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Could someone please tell me what this is??

I would also like some suggestions on how to tackle vertical panels as I found them to be extremely difficult and my arm would give out when working on them. I would also like a little help on how to use the flex + up combo to maximize results in terms of removing scratches. I did go over some areas twice and that seemed to improve things. I just let most scratches stay as I had a swirl free finish and the paint just popped. As a DD I decided to live with them.

Another question, when using the flex how would I buff out extremely small areas? Such as this one which I have on my car in the front lower bumper and rear bumper.

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Its about 1.5-2 inches thick. I did use the flex and polish out those areas as well but I was a bit worried that it is wrong as users on this forum use smaller pads on say a GG or flex rotary.

Another area is on the fender above the wheel area (about 2.5-3 inches thick), I once again just used the flex to polish it out and had some pad overhang on both ends, so mostly the center 1/3rd working for me.

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I purchased megs 205, some cobra jr., meguiars supreme shine, dp pad rejuv, 10 more pads, cobra guzzlers and lastly Mike P's book on how to use the flex which I feel I really need!

I got 205 fom AGO becuase in Dubai the supplier sells by the gallon, and i'm just a hobbyist Also, I think the M205 will a good substitute for the UP with a better cut incase I do a one step, and I have plenty of UC available locally if I need it.

I will stick to meguairs for now, because they have a supplier here in Dubai and is the safer bet.

Thank you all!

Sorry for the long post

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

The black/gray color you see on the face of you pad...

This can either be embedded dirt on the surface of the clearcoat that you're removing.

Just like I show here,

Here's why you need to polish paint...

My buddy Mike owns this really cool 1932 Ford Phaeton with yellow paint that to the average person looks pretty good. But a little polishing using a tape-line shows why all of us need to periodically polish the paint on our cars, especially our daily drivers, and the reason for this is because the paint becomes stained with a film of dirt that clouds the true color of the paint.

Here's a section I've taped off on the cowel because me and one of our forum members already buffed out the hood when he stopped by to test out polishers.

On the left I've clayed the paint and then machine polished it twice and then applied a coat of wax. You can clearly see the left side is now a brighter color of yellow and the right hand side has what appears to be grayish film over the paint.

Here's the same picture above with graphics....

Or you've accidentally buffed over some black, plastic trim.

 

[emmjay]

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

I did have the edges on both sides + top and bottom taped off. But I did leave the center which is the gap between the two doors untaped and maybe I hit some plastic trim there which was clearly visible in the gap and was a level with the pillars! It's actually visible in this picture :
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I will confirm with the VW dealership here in Dubai and be a little more careful next time.

 

[Sherif]

Hi from Abu Dhabi

Congrats on your first detail!
I'll leave your polishing questions for the experts to answer, but I can help you with where to get some products in Dubai:
- Majestic car care @ Al Qouz, they carry Chemical Guys, Smartwax, Zaino, Megliore and 22Ple products.
- Xtreme Motors @ Al Qouz and Dubai Mall, they carry Optimum, 3D/HD and Swissvax products.
- Ramy 4X4, they carry Sonax products.

You'll not find every single product from the above brands available here but it's better than nothing, and sometimes they can order what you want in their next shipment but that takes longer..

I have a friend (detailing buddy) in Dubai and sometimes we combine what we both want from AG in one order to reduce shipping cost..

 

[ski2]

emmajaygiti--noticed your car is a VW. I have two VWs and on both the pillars between the doors are not painted metal, but black plastic. I have found the best way to polish these is with a medium finishing pad rather than a more aggressive polishing pad. Sherif mentioned a source for 3D/HD products for you -- you might want to give them a try as they have very long working times and little to no dust.

 

[emmjay]

Hi from Abu Dhabi

Congrats on your first detail!
I'll leave your polishing questions for the experts to answer, but I can help you with where to get some products in Dubai:
- Majestic car care @ Al Qouz, they carry Chemical Guys, Smartwax, Zaino, Megliore and 22Ple products.
- Xtreme Motors @ Al Qouz and Dubai Mall, they carry Optimum, 3D/HD and Swissvax products.
- Ramy 4X4, they carry Sonax products.

You'll not find every single product from the above brands available here but it's better than nothing, and sometimes they can order what you want in their next shipment but that takes longer..

I have a friend (detailing buddy) in Dubai and sometimes we combine what we both want from AG in one order to reduce shipping cost..

Thanks so much Sherif. Once I do a little research on these brands I will definitely check them out

The only one I knew about was majestic car care and the brands which they carry.

 

[emmjay]

emmajaygiti--noticed your car is a VW. I have two VWs and on both the pillars between the doors are not painted metal, but black plastic. I have found the best way to polish these is with a medium finishing pad rather than a more aggressive polishing pad. Sherif mentioned a source for 3D/HD products for you -- you might want to give them a try as they have very long working times and little to no dust.

That is really good to know. Thanks for the tip

I will do a little research on 3D/HD as well.

 

[lawrenceSA]

Nicely done for a first detail :dblthumb2:

The b-pillars are pretty soft compared to the rest of the car (clear-coated plastic) and the edges can take a beating - mostly due to the fact that the 2 pillars don't always line up 100% and this creates pressure points.

 

[emmjay]

Nicely done for a first detail :dblthumb2:

The b-pillars are pretty soft compared to the rest of the car (clear-coated plastic) and the edges can take a beating - mostly due to the fact that the 2 pillars don't always line up 100% and this creates pressure points.

Thank you


I will definitely use a finishing pad the next time. Is it the same with tail lights and head lights too? Im guessing those are a lot harder as they can take a beating.

 

[emmjay]

Does anyone have any inputs regarding the smaller panels and the UP drying up?

I'd like to get everything sorted before I work on any of the other family members cars (swirled out messes!!!)

 

[lawrenceSA]

You could look at something like the Flex Kompact with 1,2 an 3" BP's and pads.

Or polish it out by hand

 

[emmjay]

You could look at something like the Flex Kompact with 1,2 an 3" BP's and pads.

Or polish it out by hand

Thanks bud. What i'm trying to understand, or learn rather, is why would it be unsafe / not recommended to polish the small panels with the polisher? I was under the impression that the pad is still in contact with the paint so it should be safe, or is it because of the edges? Sorry haha, this is my first time and i'm still learning.

Also, buying another polisher is out of the question All I have on hand is a all purpose yellow applicator pad.

 

[emmjay]

Also, Is it normal for the orange pads to shed those fine dust like foam particles when first used?

 

[mankool]

Hi MJ,
Another detailing fan here from Dubai welcomes you aboard AGO and to the world of detailing

Yup, me and Sherif chip in together to buy our detailing supplies in bulk and it really helps, especially when we buy the megs pro-line stuff locally.
Personally I am a Menzerna fan and I really like their FG500 and SF4000 combo and ofcourse the power lock sealant. For most of my corrections, which are not too beaten up, I tend to use the 3M fine compound and it gives amazing results on medium hard paint systems. I did my 350Z sometime back and it came out really awesome!

Oh, let me know if you need some help with the correction .. I can pass by and get you going

 

[emmjay]

Hi MJ,
Another detailing fan here from Dubai welcomes you aboard AGO and to the world of detailing

Yup, me and Sherif chip in together to buy our detailing supplies in bulk and it really helps, especially when we buy the megs pro-line stuff locally.
Personally I am a Menzerna fan and I really like their FG500 and SF4000 combo and ofcourse the power lock sealant. For most of my corrections, which are not too beaten up, I tend to use the 3M fine compound and it gives amazing results on medium hard paint systems. I did my 350Z sometime back and it came out really awesome!

Oh, let me know if you need some help with the correction .. I can pass by and get you going

Hey Mankool, thanks for the tips bud and for the offer to help. I will definitely take you up on that if needed

As for the meguiars pro line locally, I wanted M205 for better results but the supplier in Sharjah only has it by the gallon. I ended it buying it from AGO during the sale with a lot of other items. It should be here by next week :buffing:

I did however pick up a lot of consumer line products from Ace Hardware this weekend, I just thought why not because its better than going to Sharjah and dealing with traffic (cost a lot more though)

You say you have a 350z, its funny because before buying my flex I was desperately looking for places to buy polishers in Dubai and I came across this nissan forum where a member had done his 350z and recommended to buy the Flex from a shop near Cargo Village in Garhoud. I went a few days later and bought it. So if that was you then thank you!