Proof the Average Guy can get Professional Results their first time Machine Polishing

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Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.

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Proof the Average Guy can get Professional Results their first time Machine Polishing

A real world example from Autogeek's Show Car Garage!

Last night 2 gentlemen that attended our Machine Polishing Class here in Stuart, Florida came down to our Studio for a little hands-on training. Both gentlemen had to leave at lunch time during the Saturday Class and missed the actual portion where the techniques for how to use a DA Polisher were demonstrated and thus they didn't get to see the techniques or try removing swirls themselves.

Since they both lived close by we invited them back for a little one-on-one hands-on training.

Neither of these two guys have ever used any type of electric polisher to polish car paint, they have both always worked by hand.

In less than 10 minutes of instruction, we showed them how to,

  • Evaluate the surface to diagnose the condition of the paint (Paint had swirls and water spots and needed to be clayed)
  • How to clay the paint using detailing clay
  • How to use a Porter Cable 7424XP to remove swirls
  • How to use a Porter Cable 7424XP to polish the paint to a high gloss
  • How to use the Porter Cable 7424XP to apply a liquid wax
  • How to use the Porter Cable 7424XP to remove the wax after it had dried.
The results were a show car shine their very first time!

While not everyone can attend one of our detailing classes, all the techniques for using a DA Polisher to remove swirls out of a clear coat finish and then polish and wax are shared in this DVD

Mike Phillips' Principles of Machine Polishing


Here are some pictures from this training session...


Here's Joe spreading out the Swirl Remover...
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Now he's making overlapping passes to remove swirls and water spots...
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By overlapping his passes and using the techniques shared in the DVD he successfully removes years of neglect...
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Steve takes his turn and remove the swirls and water spots out of his own section on the hood...
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Joe has switched over to a polishing pad and is now maximizing gloss and clarity...
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Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish and Advanced Finishing Glaze are concentrated products, a little bit goes a long ways...
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Now Steve polishes his section to a high gloss...
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After removing the swirls with an orange pad and polishing to a high gloss with a white polishing pad, both Joe and Steve machine apply Pinnacle Souveran Liquid Wax, except for claying, every step has been performed by machine.

With machine polishing, the machine does the work so you don't have to!
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After allowing the liquid Souverän to dry to a haze, Steve removes the wax residue using a Cobra Microfiber Bonnet over a dry foam buffing pad using the Porter Cable 7424XP on a high speed setting.

Removing dried wax by machine using a Cobra Indigo Microfiber Bonnet
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The difference is dramatic... a clear finish has been restored to the clear coat which enables you to see the beautiful metallic flake in the color coat under the clear layer of paint.
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The before side is still cloudy and hazy from oxidation, swirls and scratches...
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To restore a show car finish we used,

Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay
Pinnacle Clay Lubricant
Cobra Indigo Microfiber Towels
Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover
Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish
Pinnacle Liquid Souveran Car Wax
Porter Cable 7424XP
Lake Country 5.5" Orange Cutting Flat Pads
Lake Country 5.5" White Polishing Flat Pads
Lake Country 5.5" Blue Finessing Flat Pads


Using the right polisher with the right pads and products, anyone can get show car results the first time and every time.

Plus you can get everything you need to do the job yourself for a lot less than it would cost you to hire a detailer to do the work for you plus after you've finished detailing your car you'll still have the polisher, the pads and plenty of polish and wax to do another car!

The experience and skills you'll learn from just buffing out one car will give you the confidence to tackle another car, maybe even start a part-time detailing business for family and friends. More often than not, after you successfully detail your own car you'll have people asking you how you did it?

That's when you hand them your business card! Or just take care of your own vehicles and take pride in your craftsman ship while maintaining the value of your investment as well as increasing it's resale or trade-in value.


For more information on these products or how you can duplicate Steve and Joe's success, call Autogeek at,

1-800-869-8011

Where were always ready to see you through to success in your garage!


:xyxthumbs:
 
I'm glad to see that average people can get great results. I have posted my very first experience polishing in the show-n-shine section, and I thought I did OK, but nothing like I could have done with the Master teaching me in Autogeek's garage! LOL
 
Mike I am glad to see they did enhance the finish but you said they removed the water spots and they clearly did not in your pics. To me this gives a false impression of what little work they did performed a drastic difference. All they basically did was remove some oxidation but the swirls and water spots are still there which means it is not a clear, clear coat. I understand you were just trying to show them how to go about polishing but writing what you did is incorrect and to me give a false impression of the correction achieved.
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
The difference is dramatic... a clear finish has been restored to the clear coat which enables you to see the beautiful metallic flake in the color coat under the clear layer of paint.
BandT023.jpg



The before side is still cloudy and hazy from oxidation, swirls and scratches...
BandT024.jpg
Click to expand...
Mike,

Are these pictures of the same section with the same work done, just with lighting in a slighty different location?
 
07 z-oh-6 said:
Mike,

Are these pictures of the same section with the same work done, just with lighting in a slightly different location?
Click to expand...

Yes.

I try to keep as many "controls" controlled whenever checking and documenting results.

Also just to note, this was the first time either of these guys had held a DA Polisher and buffed on a car, not bad for their first time. The test sections you see in the above pictures are just that, test sections... lets not be too judgmental but instead I personally like to be positive and would prefer to encourage them based upon their first time results.

In fact, to my surprise, Joe took what he learned and ran with it, in fact he ran fast with it... check this out!


Proof You Can Do It! - Joe The Detailer - Black Porsche Turned into Black Pearl!
(Click the above link to check out Joe's first ever machine detail job on this black Porsche!)
JoeTheDetailer011.jpg







Joe has joined our forum with the name, JoeTheDetailer and will be buffing out this Toyota tomorrow and then sharing his results... I for see a business card being created...


:dblthumb2:
 
How do I get a stand like the one in the picture?
That would work great!!!
 
ASPHALT ROCKET said:
Mike I am glad to see they did enhance the finish but you said they removed the water spots and they clearly did not in your pics. To me this gives a false impression of what little work they did performed a drastic difference. All they basically did was remove some oxidation but the swirls and water spots are still there which means it is not a clear, clear coat. I understand you were just trying to show them how to go about polishing but writing what you did is incorrect and to me give a false impression of the correction achieved.
Click to expand...

Hi this is Joe! From the pics. In response to this remark I would like to say that the results achieved here in these pics are only from a 10 to 20 min. crash course from Mike. Mike clearly explained to us that since these are everyday use cars that achieving a showroom finish would not be our goal. I am your everyday guy. I buy a car it looks great for a few months. Then one day I see it needs washing and maybe some wax. Now the car is 4 years old. I have washed and waxed it many times now. I look at it and see it really looks bad. I have no idea what to do so I wash it really good and then wax again. Looks good to me until I see it on a sunny day and realize that I have waxed over a million swirls and water spots. No idea where to go from here. I had the opportunity to go to Mike's class. Then Mike offered this one on one with me and my friend. Two days later we took on my friends Porsche. With what I had learned from Mike in this short course. I went to work on the car with no intimidation and the results were truly great. The RAV in the photos get the works tomorrow. Can't wait!! I am feeling very good about my results so now instead of the average joe I will call myself Joe the detailer. One more feather in my cap!! Thanks Mike for taking the time to show me what you know and by the the way you have of building confidence in someone like me who would have never felt comfortable taking a machine to any car surface. Especially my bosses <<(Steve) Porsche.
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
The experience and skills you'll learn from just buffing out one car will give you the confidence to tackle another car, maybe even start a part-time detailing business for family and friends. More often than not, after you successfully detail your own car you'll have people asking you how you did it? :xyxthumbs:
Click to expand...

:iagree:

Definitely. I cut my polishing teeth on my 17 year old Civic with paint that defies any and all attempts to damage it. That gave me the skills and confidence to next tackle my daily driver (2008 Accord). Polishing out my newer car gave me confidence to start polishing cars for family and friends. Then I started polishing cars for a few co-workers. It's a progression, but once you polish even one car and get satisfying results, you almost can't wait to polish another.
 
JoeTheDetailer said:
Hi this is Joe! From the pics.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the sickness Joe the Detailer. For most of us it becomes an obsession. I find myself evaluating paint on cars of people I dont even know in parking lots and even driving down the road. I even point out things like holograms and clearcoat failure to my wife and kids.

All 3 of my cars are polished. I'm just hoping someone in the family asks me to polish theirs.
 
Nice job Joe, I think its important to remember everytime you detail you do not have to get 100% of the swirls or scratches out, I am happy when I get enough time to get a large amount of paint corrected. Daily drivers are not going to Concours d'Elegance, but we just like to have our cars look "better"! So nice job guys, and thanks Mike for helping them out. Always fun to teach someone how to make paint pretty!
 
***Update***

Joe came by around 4:00pm today to show me his progress with his Toyota. At this point he's machine polished the paint twice using,



At this stage, there is no wax yet applied to the paint.


JoeTheDetailer012.jpg


JoeTheDetailer013.jpg


JoeTheDetailer014.jpg


JoeTheDetailer015.jpg



He then left to finish sealing the paint, dressing all the black plastic pebble textured trim and then dressing the tires. With any luck he'll have a few minutes to stop by tomorrow to show me the end-results.

:)
 
I hope you suggested washing it before applying the lsp since he has drove it around and debris has gotten all over the vehicle.
 
ASPHALT ROCKET said:
I hope you suggested washing it before applying the lsp since he has drove it around and debris has gotten all over the vehicle.
Click to expand...

Nope, he works right down the road and was only out and about long enough to drive it down to our facilities to show me his progress...

I looked at the hood very carefully and there wasn't any dust or anything on it, just slick as a whistle and ready for wax...

Joe's sharp enough to give the paint a quick wipe before waxing...


Good tip though for most people...


:xyxthumbs:
 
I would be more worried about checking the sides especially from the belt line down, I am sure there is plenty of road dust. A little ONR would be a safe step at this point.
 
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