First attempt at machine detailing with compound.

A2Steve

A2OC Donor
Wales
Here are some before and after shots of my first attempt with a drill mounted polishing head using some Meguirs Ultimate Compound.

In the past i've always clayed the car and then used Autoglym Super Resin Polish but I now realise that that was simpy just filling the errors in the paint with fillers that break down and wash off in time leaving you back at square one. Using compound with a machine powered head has actually cut through the errors in the clear coat and left me with a permanant correction to the paintwork. I'm very pleased with the results, its taken years off the car and my ocd gremlin can relax a bit for now.
 

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The difference is amazing.
Which drill attachment head do you have and how much does it cost? My little black A2 has many top coat marks so would be good to polish them out.
 
You'll need to order an M14 to drill bit adaptor so that the normal rotary polishing heads will fit onto your drill. Once you've got this you can use any type of polishing foam. To get the result above I used one of the white foam heads which I think was a firm foam. I'm no expert in this field and just bought one of eaby that was described as a cutting foam. Its not easy keeping the drill from wobbling but when you've got the technique its quite efficient.
 
Be aware you creating a "rotary" type of "polisher"
Have no idea of the rotationspeed of your drill, but becarefull with this kind of "equipment" icw ultimate compound.
Better spend some money on a orbital polisher, much safer and you prevent holograms which you can get with rotating only..........
 
Yes your right but having a 13 month old daughter means I could never justify spending £100-200 on a orbital polisher rather than spending that on her. I used the drill on the slowest speed and managed to avoid holgrams luckily. I'm happy with results.
 
I've owned a Festool RO150 sander for years and just found out the orbital setting is good for paint correction. After a 'self study' course on youtube I went ultra conservative and used the softest foam pad with matching ultra fine 'hologram' polishing compound.
Preparation consisted of a thorough wash followed by a good going over with a Bilt Hamber clay bar, then a final rinse. With no scrap panels to experiment on, the first pass of the polishing mop was a little daunting but being ultra careful around panel edges and crease lines it all went well.
The pros seem to change polishing pads after each panel but I only did the areas that showed up what may have been the result of waxing a dusty car. The surface area treated probably equated to the full bonnet of my Q3. I washed the pad in hot soapy water and was surprised just how dirty it was so one pad per panel is probably about right.
While the Q3 was clean I gave it a wax then compared the newly machine polished areas with the rest of the bodywork but could not tell the difference visually or by feel.

Cheers Spike
 
the a2 paint is rock hard. You will, however, easily create trails with a drill head. Use sparingly. I have managed to get serious scratches out with a very soft pad and some simple Menzerna stuff and a velcro 125mm sanding backing pad; I've also managed to take a massive patch of paint off a plastic bumper without even trying with an orbital.

Be careful and use water as lube if you're not sure.

- Bret
 
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Be careful and use water as lube if you're not sure.

- Bret

A word on this.

M's Ultimate Compound is pretty friendly and isn't too aggressive, but once you get onto G rated compounds everything steps up a level.

Nonetheless, compounds (including Ultimate Compound I'm sure) work in a way that's not immediately obvious. When applied, they do a lot of cutting, as they are in their course state. As you work an area, the compound is designed to break down and become progressively finer, leading to a high shine.

If you use too much lubricant and don't allow the compound to start to break down you stay at the course level. This leaves hazing. In fact, if you feel, say, a G6 between your fingers, it's noticeably gritty. This is one reason you work in smallish areas. My compromise is to dampen the mop, splash a little water across the panel and blob on a few peas of compound for, say, a square foot. I'll work that until the shine comes up (it dries as you go), then clean the surrounding area of the inevitable dusty (course) compound and move on. You want the compound to break down but not go at it so hard as to let temperatures climb too much: just have the panel slightly warm to the touch and keep out of sunlight.

I've got a big old Sealey rotary (which is effectively a geared-down 9-inch grinder) which takes the hard foam heads. This will rip off 1500 grit sanding marks with, say, G6 and 2000 grit with G3.

I'd then move on to Ultimate Compound (or 3M Finesse It) with a Sealey dual action sander with a polishing head stuck to the sanding pad. As it doesn't have a true rotary action as such, it doesn't leave trails and removes any marks left by the compound.

If you are using a rotary (via a drill): mask rubber seals as they scuff easily, if you're near an edge make sure the direction of rotation is 'falling off' the panel and not 'climbing up' any edges, as this is where the biggest burn-through danger is. Not only that but edges eat mops if rotating the wrong way!

Anyway, it looks fab: one of the most satisfying jobs on a car ?
 
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I've used the older equivalent of this kit - https://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/product/menzerna-250ml-polish-sample-kit-400-2200-3800/ - for a loooong time and had, until we bought the Fi - no need to ever use the heavier cut polishes on my own car, mainly because I clay and wax twice a year. The Fi's paint was soft and we managed to put a hell of a lot of scratches in one door - ten minutes with a pad on the Ryobi screwdriver with the medium and they were gone. Final with the full polish and good to go. Agree on the method outlined above if you need it.
The Swift currently has a nice mark on the rear driver's door and two scratches to go with. I'll simply clay it first and then see how effective the medium paste is with the marks - should remove them nicely - then get rid of the swirls with the full polish and done.

I have an orbital, I just never use it.

- Bret
 
I treated myself to a silverline polisher off amazon a couple of years ago for about £55, it has variable speeds on it and is pretty damn quiet too.
Works wonders on the paint works I have done so far, coupled up with a nice bottle of Farecla G3, then 3m finesse it(asa Rusty uses too), then a good old wallop of carnauba wax to top it off...absolutely brilliant results. Before starting, I usually hit the lower parts of the doors with a spray of wd40 to remove any tar blobs, otherwise they will smear when you get to them...
God job though Steve, nothing better than standing back and having the 'I did that' feeling!
 
Yes your right but having a 13 month old daughter means I could never justify spending £100-200 on a orbital polisher rather than spending that on her. I used the drill on the slowest speed and managed to avoid holgrams luckily. I'm happy with results.

Its been 6 years since I replied to this thread, and that 13 month old baby is a baby no more :). Anywhoo, having since bought a rotary polisher (same silverline one as Andy above) I would definitely recommend the investment over trying to use a polishing head on a drill. You just don't have the control needed with a drill.
 
I first invested in a Porter Cable DA imported from the USA some 16 years ago and its still going strong...had to buy the stepdown US converter etc. Supplemented this with a Makita rotary some 3 to 4 years later and again still going strong. Proper kit that is built to last.

I've not been using them nearly as much now that the main cars use more modern nano sealants. Yes you use them to prep but the coverings just stand up much more than Wax.

Dont use a drill under any circumstances is my opinion. The safe option is a DA. Youtube is great but there is a skill to using a polisher especially so a rotary and I see so many people getting it all wrong. The number of car SOS programmes doing a quick mop where the guy using the polisher like its on fire is amazing :D
 
After detailing the result can only be seen in direct sunlight (or using flashlight) and without any wax. Then all mistakes will be visible - swirls, holograms.
 
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