Polish only horizontal panels?

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shadow536

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Hey guys, I searched but couldn't find an answer. I know most of you polish 100% of the vehicle with multiple polishes. I'm a beginner and the idea of spending 8 hours polishing my car is making me tired just thinking about it. My car is 3 years old and the vertical panels are in pretty good shape. The hood and roof have some light scratches and water spotting though. Would it be okay to just do a finishing polish on the horizontal surfaces to remove those cobweb scratches, micro marring, and other light etches? I'm sure the vertical panels could use a polish, but I definitely can't see nearly as much micro marring on the sides.

Or should I just suck it up and polish everything? Keep in mind I'm sticking with a finishing polish for now. My paint is very soft and it should provide decent results.. I don't want to do a compound and polish until I'm more comfortable with a DA and I want to work from least aggressive to more aggressive as I get a feel for my paint.
 
I actually just did this the other day to a customers car.

I had just polished it this winter, then he put scratches on most of the horizontal surfaces removing snow from them. That and he wanted to dictate the price.

I did from the body line up too. It was about foot strip around the car, newer Camaro.
 
I'm of the opinion that all exterior paint should be corrected to the same level, but hey, it's your car.

I also find the vertical panels to be in much worse shape on 95% of the cars I see, especially if they have gone through a touch style automatic car wash. These are always the dirtiest panels so it makes sense IMO. With the auto washes those mops/brushes also pick up the dirt from the tires, wheels, and wheel wells.
 
RaskyR1 said:
I'm of the opinion that all exterior paint should be corrected to the same level
Click to expand...

That's a great perspective coming from a professional detailer.

RaskyR1 said:
but hey, it's your car.
Click to expand...

And that's also a great perspective. It's your personal car, do as much or as little as you want--polish just the horizontal surfaces, and if you're happy with it, that's all that matters. You can always go back and do the other surfaces later. Or you can do one panel at a time, as you have time or energy.

Doing stuff on your own car is supposed to be fun, don't make it into work if you don't want/have to.
 
You can do whatever you want but if your going to do a job you should do it right whether it's polishing or not. I vote for suck it up
 
shadow536 said:
I know most of you polish 100% of
the vehicle with multiple polishes.

I'm a beginner and the idea of spending
8 hours polishing my car is making me
tired just thinking about it.

I don't want to do a compound
and polish...
Click to expand...
•Have you given thought to using
an AIO/(Cleaner Wax-Sealant)?

-That way: you'd only have to go
around the vehicle one time...and
it should take (way) less than 8 hrs.


Bob
 
FUNX650 said:
•Have you given thought to using
an AIO/(Cleaner Wax-Sealant)?

-That way: you'd only have to go
around the vehicle one time...and
it should take (way) less than 8 hrs.


Bob
Click to expand...

Very good point! I did a Genisis G90, i.e. land barge, in about 2~2.5 hours from start to finish using an AIO.
 
I hear ya. It's very rare I have 8+ hours completely free to do a correction on my personal cars these days. I will often squeeze a couple panels in whenever I can and slowly work through the car over a couple weeks. Not really efficient, but you have to get in where you fit in.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys! I think I'm going to try to do 100% at once. I was leaning towards doing half now and half later, but I'm wasting whatever LSP I decide to put on if I strip it off to polish again. I think I can cut down my wash time significantly to get more time on the DA. I have a new clay mitt to try out. So, I can probably wash and clay at the same time and have that done in close to an hour if I hustle. Going around with a finishing polish can maybe be done in 3? The time I have left at that point decides what LSP I use. Hopefully I'll have time to wax, but I do have some WOWA sealants if I need to wrap things up quick.

The AIO is a good suggestion, but not my taste. Waxing is by far my favorite step and AIO stuff kinda takes the fun out of it. I hope that makes sense. I guess I'm caught up in the joy of trying new waxes and sealants. I currently have WGDGPS on now and that could not be easier to work with. In fact, I like it so much that I now have fuzion on the way to try :laughing:
 
shadow536 said:
I think I'm going to try to do
100% at once. I was leaning
towards doing half now and
half later, but I'm wasting
whatever LSP I decide to put
on if I strip it off to polish again.

I think I can cut down my wash
time significantly to get more time
on the DA.

I have a new clay mitt to try out.
So, I can probably wash and clay
at the same time and have that
done in close to an hour if I hustle.

Going around with a finishing polish
can maybe be done in 3?

The time I have left at that point
decides what LSP I use.

Hopefully I'll have time to wax...
Click to expand...
^^^:xyxthumbs:^^^

"Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future..." ~SMB; (ca.1977)


Bob
 
I share Rasky's opinion on this however, like he said, it's your car. The most important thing is doing whatever makes you happy.
 
shadow536 said:
Thanks for all the responses guys! I think I'm going to try to do 100% at once. I was leaning towards doing half now and half later, but I'm wasting whatever LSP I decide to put on if I strip it off to polish again. I think I can cut down my wash time significantly to get more time on the DA. I have a new clay mitt to try out. So, I can probably wash and clay at the same time and have that done in close to an hour if I hustle. Going around with a finishing polish can maybe be done in 3? The time I have left at that point decides what LSP I use. Hopefully I'll have time to wax, but I do have some WOWA sealants if I need to wrap things up quick.

The AIO is a good suggestion, but not my taste. Waxing is by far my favorite step and AIO stuff kinda takes the fun out of it. I hope that makes sense. I guess I'm caught up in the joy of trying new waxes and sealants. I currently have WGDGPS on now and that could not be easier to work with. In fact, I like it so much that I now have fuzion on the way to try :laughing:
Click to expand...

No reason you can't use an AIO, and then apply your LSP over it.

This is what I do. :props:
 
Even small cars take me close to 8 hours if I'm trying to get to 100%. Really depends on the expectation.
 
My thoughts would be to use an AIO - HD Speed on a white pad works really well for me. My paint is Toyota and Scion, so its soft, but not terribly soft. And I usually top off the car with 845, 476s or megs gold paste (all done with the DA and a black pad, for speed)
 
FUNX650 said:
•Have you given thought to using
an AIO/(Cleaner Wax-Sealant)?

-That way: you'd only have to go
around the vehicle one time...and
it should take (way) less than 8 hrs.


Bob
Click to expand...
Solid suggestion. I spent about an hour and a half on my truck last week with McKee's 360 and a GG6. The results were remarkable.

OP- this is a nice approach for "new guys". Every nook and crannie? Nah. Do as much or little as you want. When you get the notion (and you will once you see the results), do a little more at a later date.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I was looking at my car and seeing what I want to make sure I do and what can wait if I don't have time. Let me ask this, say I do a light polish to my hood and doors. Is it going to be obvious that the others weren't done? Just trying to gauge if I should wait until I have more time or try to do the most I can.
 
Is your car black or a very dark color?

If not, my answer would be no. My truck is a light metallic grey, and it is a real chore to find swirls by eye.
 
shadow536 said:
Thanks for all the feedback. I was looking at my car and seeing what I want to make sure I do and what can wait if I don't have time. Let me ask this, say I do a light polish to my hood and doors. Is it going to be obvious that the others weren't done? Just trying to gauge if I should wait until I have more time or try to do the most I can.
Click to expand...
My guess is no, the casual observer/passerby won't notice a difference in the polished vs unpolished panels. If anything, maybe a tad more shine, but that depends on how much time you invest in the polished panels. If one were making a concerted effort to observe the panels, sure you'd notice a difference. But it won't be like black and white. Or even gray and white.

On a daily driver, rather than chasing perfection on individual panels, I'd go the AIO route and just do a quick once over of the whole vehicle. Clean up a few swirls, add some gloss and protection, and enjoy it until you have some time to dig deeper (but you may find yourself perfectly content as she sits).
 
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