Picking out DA and polish for a newb

[Desertnate]

Collinite 845

Good choice.

Three bits of advice.
1. Keep it warm
2. Shake it really well...and then shake it again
3. Apply it REALLY thin. Using your new DA and a LC Flat black pad is a great combo and will help you apply it thin and evenly.

 

[ws6guy]

Good choice.

Three bits of advice.
1. Keep it warm
2. Shake it really well...and then shake it again
3. Apply it REALLY thin. Using your new DA and a LC Flat black pad is a great combo and will help you apply it thin and evenly.

I used it last year on all 3 vehicles applying it by hand. I probably went a little too thick but it was hard to tell where it was applied unless I went thick. I totally forgot about getting a pad to apply it with the DA... got place another order LOL

 

[ws6guy]

The spring time honey do list has kept me from doing a full correction but yesterday I had enough time to try the setup on one bedside and door.

Speed with the LC white pad wasn't cutting it. It took around 12 passes to get around 70-80% defect removal on a test pass. So then I switched over to LC orange pad and it took about 6 passes to get to the same amount a defect removal. Hopefully when the sun comes out I can get a better idea of how it looks as my lighting in the garage isn't the best. I could tell my technique was getting better as I went but still plenty of room for improvement. I was having difficulty keeping the pad spinning when going over the body lines on the door.

I'm thinking about picking up a couple of the buff and shine uro-fiber pads to see if I can cut down on the number of passes or keep trying what I have. I do think I was probably going too fast and maybe using too much product. Was also only running on speed setting 4 so next go around might try to bump up a higher speed setting.

Oh yeah, I've never done the baggie test when claying. Now I wish I neve seen the baggie test. Once clayed and smooth feeling I was getting ready to polish then I thought I'd try the baggie test. Paint felt like sand paper so back to claying

 

[PaulMys]

The spring time honey do list has kept me from doing a full correction but yesterday I had enough time to try the setup on one bedside and door.

Speed with the LC white pad wasn't cutting it. It took around 12 passes to get around 70-80% defect removal on a test pass. So then I switched over to LC orange pad and it took about 6 passes to get to the same amount a defect removal. Hopefully when the sun comes out I can get a better idea of how it looks as my lighting in the garage isn't the best. I could tell my technique was getting better as I went but still plenty of room for improvement. I was having difficulty keeping the pad spinning when going over the body lines on the door.

I'm thinking about picking up a couple of the buff and shine uro-fiber pads to see if I can cut down on the number of passes or keep trying what I have. I do think I was probably going too fast and maybe using too much product. Was also only running on speed setting 4 so next go around might try to bump up a higher speed setting.

Oh yeah, I've never done the baggie test when claying. Now I wish I neve seen the baggie test. Once clayed and smooth feeling I was getting ready to polish then I thought I'd try the baggie test. Paint felt like sand paper so back to claying

Yeah, I have found the LC White pads are only good for near-perfect or softer paints IME. Still a good pad to keep around though.

The Orange pads are always my go-to it seems.

Also, any free-spinning DA will stall on raised body lines, tight concave curves, and other irregularities. It's normal, and you will get the hang of "lifting" or "hovering" the pad over these as you gain experience.

And it is very common to run the machine too quickly when you first start out. A good way to think about it is: "One Inch Per Second". That is, by the time it takes you say or think "One thousand one", you should not have moved the machine over one inch.
And keep an eye on your "buffer trails". Those are the little circle segments of product left behind your pad as you move along. You want them to be in a very "tight" pattern. This indicates a slow arm speed.

It seems like a lot to think about, but it really isn't. And all of this will be second nature as you get a few hours of "trigger time" under your belt.

 

[Bdubbs]

I haven't tried speed compound yet, but I'd consider trying something different. I go back and forth with Wolfgang total swirl remover and Uber compound.

And lately I've had pretty good luck with Griots Boss fast correcting cream.

I use LC orange, white and black pads. The black pad is for laying down a sealant or wax.

I may start on my 3rd this week. I've done two already in the last few weeks.

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

 

[dieselfan1]

I don't think anyone mentioned Blackfire One Step.
With an orange LC 5.5 flat pad on my PC 7424xp I can wipe out most swirls and light scratches with ease.
It wipes off super easy too.


Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[ws6guy]

Got a chance to look at the test panels at sunset yesterday and they look great! 1000% improvement! I was hoping to do the rest of the truck this weekend but with a high of only 50degress it might keep me out of the garage LOL. Also got to make time to change out my well pressure tank as well.

Thanks so much for the all the advise!

 

[kantonburg]

In all honesty, the pads are the expensive part if you're wanting to get the best performance. It's important to have different cuts, but it's also important to have quantity of each. If you only have 2-3 of each you're going to be cleaning them often, or not getting the best out of them. There is a noticeable difference in using only 2-3 for a whole care vs 7-8. You'll spend less time working on the car if you are able to change to a clean pad, and you'll get faster results as they won't be loaded up with product.

Yep pads are the expensive investment. Even though this is from 2015, Mike Phillips' advice still applies
How many pads do I need to buff out my car?

 

[ws6guy]

I was able to finish the truck this weekend and it looks great! I wasn't able to get any pics cause it was dark by they time I finished and had to take the truck in to get some warranty work done on Monday. However it took about 20 hours to wash, clay, polish, & wax. When I need to do this again I'll likely try 3D One and some uro fiber 50/50 pads to hopefully speed up the polishing part. Speed worked great and was so easy to do a caveman could've done it, so I'm super impressed with it. For the Firebird Speed with either the orange or white pads should be the perfect combo since it barely has any swirling compared to the truck.

Since I was running short on time I picked up some Griots 3 in 1 ceramic spray. This stuff was soo easy to apply and was definitely a time saver compared to using Collinite 845! If it has good durability I'm sold on it! I didn't have time to get a second coat on but I figure the next time I wash I'll put on another coat. This stuff must have quite a bit of fillers as the remaining defects are mostly invisible after using it.

Thanks for all the advise everything turned out great!

 

[Desertnate]

Glad you're happy with the results!

Now that you're done all the hard work the next polishing should be a lot easier and a bit faster as long as you take good care of the paint. You may not need the same level of heavy correction and the fiber pads.

 

[noorth]

I was able to finish the truck this weekend and it looks great! I wasn't able to get any pics cause it was dark by they time I finished and had to take the truck in to get some warranty work done on Monday. However it took about 20 hours to wash, clay, polish, & wax. When I need to do this again I'll likely try 3D One and some uro fiber 50/50 pads to hopefully speed up the polishing part. Speed worked great and was so easy to do a caveman could've done it, so I'm super impressed with it. For the Firebird Speed with either the orange or white pads should be the perfect combo since it barely has any swirling compared to the truck.

Since I was running short on time I picked up some Griots 3 in 1 ceramic spray. This stuff was soo easy to apply and was definitely a time saver compared to using Collinite 845! If it has good durability I'm sold on it! I didn't have time to get a second coat on but I figure the next time I wash I'll put on another coat. This stuff must have quite a bit of fillers as the remaining defects are mostly invisible after using it.

Thanks for all the advise everything turned out great!

I would just top it with griots 3 in 1 every 1-2mths.