Newbie that's not so new

Just got home, the tape is fine *sigh of relief* going to start buffing in a few minutes. Gonna take some before pics and (maybe) after pics depending on how long this is going to take me - I may not get this all done tonight.

Thank you for all the info. It was extremely helpful to say the least. Im sure I will have more questions for you guys in a little bit haha.

Stay tuned for some pics...

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These are a few after pictures of my torch red vet. Don't forget we would like to see yours also. I sure wish I had taken some close ups before. Next time.



 
Just took a break. Buffed the right half of the decklid with 205 and an orange ccs pad on 4.5. Starting to see some improvement but there are still some surface scratches. I am slightly convinced that I am not getting all I could out of the 205. I made a mark on on the backing plate and I noticed that its going around, slowly, but its rotating. I know its gonna take some time to get down pat but I think the surface scratches might indeed need 105...

Just a little update...

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Also put 105 on as well, just to see if it helped. It did help a little but some marks are still there...perhaps those are in there for good and will need some form of more serious correction to be removed?

Edit: I should add that I tried taking pictures but I couldn't get any of the defects to show up.
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When I started reading up on removing swirls and how the Random orbital polishers are the way to go for novices and Porter Cable was highly recommended I remembered I had purchased a PC 7336 many years ago for buffing a lacquer job that I had sprayed on some custom furniture. Headed to my shop and lo and behold there it was used once still in the box. According to reviews PC came out with the 7424 and boosted the motor to 4.2 amps to give this polisher more power. Mine is still a 3.7 amp motor and I did what Mike Phillips suggested and marked the pad with a felt tip marker to make sure it was rotating. I must say that when the 5 1/2 in pad is flat and polishing I laid on it a few times and I could not make the pad stop and I weigh a little over 200 lbs. This baby has got all the power you could ever use. Not sure if it's a case of them not making things like they use to or what. Someday I will borrow a friends 7424 to see the difference, but on number 5 or 6 you have one hell of a time stopping this pad completely.
 
LSwon said:
Just took a break. Buffed the right half of the decklid with 205 and an orange ccs pad on 4.5. Starting to see some improvement but there are still some surface scratches. I am slightly convinced that I am not getting all I could out of the 205. I made a mark on on the backing plate and I noticed that its going around, slowly, but its rotating. I know its gonna take some time to get down pat but I think the surface scratches might indeed need 105...

Just a little update...

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Not sure if it helps or not Mike but I polished the whole car on #6. Started each section on 2 or 3 to spread the polish then bumped it all the way up and did the whole car like that. It wont hurt to try and increase your speed and slow down your passes. Hope Mike Phillips agrees.
Dennis
 
flhden said:
Not sure if it helps or not Mike but I polished the whole car on #6. Started each section on 2 or 3 to spread the polish then bumped it all the way up and did the whole car like that. It wont hurt to try and increase your speed and slow down your passes. Hope Mike Phillips agrees.
Dennis
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Gave that a shot and buffed on 5, worked wonders. Just took a while to get the hang of it. I hung up the towel for tonight and I'm going to get back to work tomorrow. So far I have the tonneau cover and the waterfall area basically complete as far as swirl remover goes. Also have the trunklid about 95% done, one or two more passes shall suffice. After that its on to the quarters and sides of the car which shouldn't be that hard then its time for the hood followed by a quick application of sealant and wax (may ditch the sealant though because this is tiring work lol, will this cause much of a difference you guys think?)

Flhden, just want to give you a special thanks for all the advice you've given me.


killrwheels@autogeek said:
Welcome my Corvetteforum friend ...
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How'd you know haha.

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Good for you Mike, don't be afraid to bump it up to 6 for even better results. You will not burn through or scratch with this set up. I feel better knowing you think this is a lot of work also.
Dennis
 
Mike: I was doing a little research today on my PC 7336 that I use for polishing. From what I learned from the Porter Cable site is that this old unit works between 2500 and 6000 opm, where the 7424 works between 2500 and 6500 opm. Bottom line is I told you to try bumping up your speed to #6, when actually you are probably spinning as fast on #5 on your unit as I am on #6 on mine. Sorry I didn't know that. I am sure you will have the learning curve down pat in no time. I see we are also old Corvette forum members also. Another great forum. I noticed we joined there in 08 and here the same month and year again. We must think alike. Good luck.
 
flhden said:
Mike: I was doing a little research today on my PC 7336 that I use for polishing. From what I learned from the Porter Cable site is that this old unit works between 2500 and 6000 opm, where the 7424 works between 2500 and 6500 opm. Bottom line is I told you to try bumping up your speed to #6, when actually you are probably spinning as fast on #5 on your unit as I am on #6 on mine. Sorry I didn't know that. I am sure you will have the learning curve down pat in no time. I see we are also old Corvette forum members also. Another great forum. I noticed we joined there in 08 and here the same month and year again. We must think alike. Good luck.
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Yes sir. It is a good forum with good people. How did you find me on the forum, have I talked with you before? Because that would be pretty ironic haha.

Anyways I really got to work today and did every panel but the hood, left door, front bumper, and left front quarter panel. 105/205 and 2/3 coats of wax. Almost done and she is really gleamin!!!

This gets addicting....haha

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LSwon said:
Yes sir. It is a good forum with good people. How did you find me on the forum, have I talked with you before? Because that would be pretty ironic haha.

Anyways I really got to work today and did every panel but the hood, left door, front bumper, and left front quarter panel. 105/205 and 2/3 coats of wax. Almost done and she is really gleamin!!!

This gets addicting....haha

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It's very addictive when you see the results. Glad it's looking good. As far as finding you on the corvette forum I just searched for posts from LSwon and there you were. We are not very good at disguising our past are we.
 
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flhden said:
It's very addictive when you see the results. Glad it's looking good. As far as finding you on the corvette forum I just searched for posts from LSwon and there you were. We are not very good at disguising our past are we.
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Wish I could say that was me haha. I have a different user name on there, that's why I wondered how you found me. Ill friend you on over there next time Im browsing.
 
LSwon said:
Wish I could say that was me haha. I have a different user name on there, that's why I wondered how you found me. Ill friend you on over there next time Im browsing.
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Gosh LSwon must be like Smith in the forum world. LOL
 
flhden said:
Gosh LSwon must be like Smith in the forum world. LOL
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Ill have to agree with you on that one. I always don't know what to make for a username so I just used that.

Car is almost done....smooth as glass too. This is going to become quite the addiction....

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Don't forget the pictures Mike. I always use flhden. Den is my name and flh is the type of harley I drive. FLHTC electra glide classic. I am on several Harley forums and have been for many years. Sure can learn a lot from a group.
 
flhden said:
Don't forget the pictures Mike. I always use flhden. Den is my name and flh is the type of harley I drive. FLHTC electra glide classic. I am on several Harley forums and have been for many years. Sure can learn a lot from a group.
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Don't worry dennis, I put the camera battery on the charger this morning. Can't wait to get some good pictures.

The bad part is I havnt touched it today. I was so busy and there was so much traffic I didn't have time to. Tomorrow morning I will continue and get the whole car done. On the parts I did the paint is as smooth as glass and I can't stop running the back of my hand over it every time I walk by haha.

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Well I wanted to take her for a drive today and I wanted to snap some pics for you guys but the weather did not cooperate. Guess im stuck waiting till wed/thurs till it gets decent out again.

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