Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Pics and Videos Cleaned my car up this time

Originally posted by caltour:

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Can't see the swirl marks you posted about (maybe my cheap Viewsonic monitor is not good enough). Car looks excellent to me.

Did you use a machine or buff by hand? Maybe some of those alleged swirls would come out if you used an orbital polishing machine.

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Thanks. I couldn't really get a good angle to show the swirls, did the best I could There was an improvement in the swirls, but not all the itty bitty scratches in the clearcoat.

I used a Craftsman 7" random orbital buffer for the two polishes.. I think I need a Porter Cable machine and some good foam pads to get some better results. The Craftsman would be fine for applying wax or sealant, but the motor is too weak to do much else really. I used it for the polishes because it's easier than doing it by hand

Originally posted by thejms:

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Damn Perry, looking good. Come on down to Vegas and help me out J/K. I would be doing the same, but the 110 degrees from 11 am to 7pm doesnt leave much daylight to do much. I have to wash her in the morn. Park her in the garage all day then about dusk, I have to go out and start the clay/wash/etc. I just have to have the clay and wash done before dark, then try some polishing. I usually wait till the morn to start the waxing so I have some light

Damn just talking about it has motivated me, guess I know what I am doing tomorrow.

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Well, if you can get the washing done while cool and not too sunny, then you can use the Poorboy's products in the bright sun. Most products recommend that you use em in the shade, but Poorboy's stuff works great in the sun. Oh, it's the heat, not the lack of shade. Heh, suck it up for a couple hours I'm quite impressed with the EX-P product, I'll probably try out some more of their stuff in the future.

You could also check out their Spray and Wipe product which is kinda like a waterless wash.. Use it for quick washing when your car isn't that dirty. I use a hoseless wash for most of my washes these days (just 1 or 2 gallons of water).

Doing the work at night is good, you can't see all the paint blemishes.. Get some halogen worklights if you wanna make yourself cry

http://www.poorboysworld.com/index.html

Originally posted by unisys12:

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Hey Perry. Maybe you should try using seperate products, instead of the dual action. I never really get that good of results using dual action anythings.

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Quote:

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seemed to not help as of late. So, since money has been tight, instead of going out and buying all new bonnets, I sprang for a new $3 pack of hand applicator pads. Problem solved!

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Check Big Lots if you have one around. I was in there the other day and they had foam bonnets for $1.50 each! I just paid like $6 for one at Pep Boys a couple weeks ago.

But see, that's another problem with my Craftsman buffer -- the bonnets. With the Porter Cable buffer that I lust over you can get a variety of foam pads. Couple levels of cutting pads, polishing pads, finishing pads... I have to use the same bonnet for both the DACP and the SFP and anything else I'd wanna apply with a machine. I just do the polishes by machine, glazes/sealants/waxes by hand.

Your problem with the swirl marks not going away is probably because you need a slightly more abrasive polish.. That Deep Crystal stuff is really mild. Meguiar's #80 or #81 may do the trick. If not, you gotta step up to something more abrasive.. #82.

And steer clear of wool bonnets.. unless you are doing heavy polishing work. Just stick with foam for most products these days. May not be such a big deal with the "consumer grade" machines we are using though... ?

I spend too much time reading about car care Wish I had started learning earlier, my paint would be in better shape now.