New to detailing

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Sams240z

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I’ve always taken care of my cars. Old school and new ones. I’ve always had them detailed every to every other year. I clean and wax myself though. I recently decided to start doing the whole process myself. I got a DA “dumb ass” polisher and some nice pads. Got some Meguiars ultimate comp and polish. I usually use ONR to wash and megs clay and GC wax. I went to town on my truck after watching some videos and reading. It looks great!
The real question is when have I gone to far and am about to over polish or compound my paint to creating a problem with the clear coat or paint? I live in Lincoln CA for area reference.


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Welcome to AGO! As for going too far with the polishing it depends on the DA you have. If it is a Harbor Freight or a PC7424 XP or a Griots 6" you should be OK. But again, I do not know your technique and method. But welcome and please show some Pics!
 
Sams240z said:
I’ve always taken care of my cars. Old school and new ones. I’ve always had them detailed every to every other year. I clean and wax myself though. I recently decided to start doing the whole process myself. I got a DA “dumb ass” polisher and some nice pads. Got some Meguiars ultimate comp and polish. I usually use ONR to wash and megs clay and GC wax. I went to town on my truck after watching some videos and reading. It looks great!
The real question is when have I gone to far and am about to over polish or compound my paint to creating a problem with the clear coat or paint? I live in Lincoln CA for area reference.


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I don’t think you can ever go to far! But I think the only thing that determines that is your pocket book!


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ACCLAY said:
I don’t think you can ever go to far! But I think the only thing that determines that is your pocket book!


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Amen. You can never go too far. I am always looking for the next level of crazy.
 
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Kamakaz1961 said:
Welcome to AGO! As for going too far with the polishing it depends on the DA you have. If it is a Harbor Freight or a PC7424 XP or a Griots 6" you should be OK. But again, I do not know your technique and method. But welcome and please show some Pics!
Click to expand...

As for my technique I go in small sections according to panel shape. Left to right and up n down. I move at a slow constant speed. Harbor freight da for now and LC pads.


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My main concern is cutting through the clear. Now that it’s corrected I plan on just washing and waxing with marring and creating swirling. Any suggestions are appreciated. I have been combing this forum and learning daily. I just never saw a hey don’t do this more than once a year or the clear will be gone in 10 years...lol


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Sams240z said:
My main concern is cutting through the clear. Now that it’s corrected I plan on just washing and waxing with marring and creating swirling. Any suggestions are appreciated. I have been combing this forum and learning daily. I just never saw a hey don’t do this more than once a year or the clear will be gone in 10 years...lol


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I don't think you need to worry about going through your clear coat. BTW, Nice ride and your work looks real nice. You have a Ford as I do (Mustang GT) and Ford paint is pretty hard (durable). It would be very difficult for you to remove your clear coat with your harbor Freight DA. The Lake Country Pads are my Go-to pads too. As for your yearly maintenance; my guess you would need to only polish instead of compounding as your maintenance. You might not even have to do it. That depends on your wash/dry technique. IMO that is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT thing in detailing. If the wash/dry technique is done right, you really shouldn't have to compound, but maybe a light polish. But you will get minor scratches REGARDLESS!!! Dust, pollen, rain, bird poop and many other external elements will SCRATCH your ride.

Your clear should be fine and you should have 10 years of clear left if properly maintained!

Take care
 
I used a PC7424 for years, it produces a good finish. While it's not impossible to burn through the clear with a DA, it takes some work. Mike Phillips taught detailing for years using a DA. How you use the DA (technique), your combination of pad and product makes all the difference. Welcome to AGO.
 
I also used PC 7424 for years, correct pad with right compind or polish you can do about anything. Patience, slow and steady always works for me, it's to easy to get in a rush specially when it's a long day and hours of working on a car, take your time. If you don't want to practice on your car hit the junkyard for cheap good or fender ro test on. Mike Phillip's put together some great videos along with many other on youtube.

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I'm also new to modern detailing. I was involved with detailing on a professional level back in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. Getting back into it now for my own vehicles and to help my step-son with maintaining his new car. Many things have changed however I'm excited to get back in and learn all the new information.
 
As long as your not using compound all the time it will be fine. Ive polished mine 100 times but ive only compounded it once. All the other times have been ultrafine polish. Regular finishing polish at the most but ultrafine 90% of the time. It took me a while to get it where it's at now.

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When I compounded it with megs 101 I did a test spot on the hood where a scratch was. I did it like 5 times with a microfiber pad on that 1 spot. Then did the rest of the car 1x. The test spot is holding up fine so I'm confident the clear is fine
 
Thank you guys for the info! I really enjoy making my stuff looks nice and all the help from this forum is nice. The wife seems to think washing the cars every week is excessive but I do it anyway.


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