dayed_00

I'm thinking about buying a machine polisher to ue on my focus st. Has anyone got one and are they difficult to use. I do have my work van to practice on so i don't ruin the paint work but other that that i am cluless as usual.

C4llyT

Practice a lot first....!
Detailingworld or similar will have plenty of info, just take it slow and steady mainly.
Got to be careful without a paint thickness gauge, which are hundreds.

Rossco

Why do you think it needs machine polishing?

Dangerous Malcolm..

I've got a cheapo Silverline polisher and it does the job well. As long as you don't stick to the same spot for too long and go easy on corners you'll be fine.

C4llyT

99% of cars have swirled/scratched/defects in the paint if you look close enough, or in the right light.
Just about all new cars would benefit from machine polishing.

Rossco

Yel tell me about it, i paint cars for a living. Most new cars need more than a machine polish, they need a full flat and polish, the paint is shocking.

If the car has light swirl marks then you can remove these buy hand with the right combination of polishs.

Machine polishers are a very bad idea in the wrong hands, you can easyly burn the paint, knick the edges and make hiddious swirl marks of you own.

dayed_00

The cars white and like it has been mentioned in the right light you can see swirl marks on it. I just want it too look its best, it gets cleaned inside and out weekly but just thought about giving it some extra special care by giving it a good polish. It was supposed to have been diamond brighted but the paint work is still not how i want it.

C4llyT

You not worked on a VAG car?

My Passat and friends Golf, 3 hits with powergloss on megs DA, hardly touched them.
Just have to go straight to wet and dry.
I know it's not a rotary, but 3 decent hits with most abrasive polish and no defect rectification.
Is like rock, fucking nightmare.

C4llyT

Bollocks those treatments, or pros would use it and not Zymol etc!

Be good idea to start off with a dual action I think, walk before you run.

dayed_00

ok and where and how much am i looking at for one of them and what sort of polish??? I mainly use meguairs cleaning products!!!

C4llyT

Meguiars G220 think it is, Megs do some alright polishes, but I use Menzerna.
Good search of net will throw up best prices.
Also is/was megs man doing a demo, in 3 videos on youtube.

TANGO_FSI

G3 or G6 cutting paste, cant go wrong really

Rossco

Yeh the only way to remove bad texturing is to rub it back and polish it.

The swirl marks are not from the factory though, its cased buy bad cleaning and polishing.

Toe Knee

iTrader: (2)

Halfords do a really cheap polisher/sander, althou i try and borrow the one at work when i need to i have used the halfords one ive got and its still ok tbh!!

Its basically a grinder with speed adjustment and for home casual use will be fine!!



http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...egoryId_165557

Escorted

I can recommend the Meguiars G220. Its got a dual action head which reduces friction/heat on the paint, so there is less chance of burning the finish.

Available here: http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acata...ne-polish.html

Rhys

Got a Porter cable first as its a LOT more forgiving than a full blown rotary polisher. As if your not sure what your doing you can make a hell of a mess.

Toe Knee

iTrader: (2)

Sounds good but remember you rely on the heat created by the compound head/compound to a certain extent to get the shine back on the paint Its learning how to use a mop properly that counts, and how each product works etc.

Ive used 3M fast cut loads of times but this is quite a harsh compound but does bring flat paint back to a shine quickly!!

Most places used G3 thou, and the new G6!

Stu.H

Ive got one ive used twice, if u wanna buy it off me PM me

TANGO_FSI

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Farecla-G3-Rub...1%7C240%3A1318

use this stuff with a porter cable mate, jobs a gudden

C4llyT

Porter cable do one for our voltage yet?
Can't be doing with chopping plugs and buying an inverter etc, just get the decent megs and be done with it.

A lot (for rotary) use the silverline (orange I think). Been meaning to get one for these silly German cars

Some megs 1000, 2000 and 3000 unigrit and backing pad be a good idea too.

Lee Ivatt

iTrader: (1)

Have you tried a clay bar and a light hand polish?

YOu should be doing this before a machine mop really anyway!!!

Tell me about it. Im on my 6th Vdub now and they all have been as hard as nails.

Only thing I have found is the paint is more sucsptable to stone chips as its so hard it chips easily rather then a softer paint like on my old pug which was abused and had 120k on the clock but not 1 stone chip!.

Brian

iTrader: (2)

What i have


Brian

999

if its a late car and its just swirl marks why not clay it then a damn good polish, far less risky

i agree mopping a car is best left in the hands of an experianced person.

C4llyT

No risk with a dual action whatsoever, and will save weeks of hand polishing.

Toe Knee

iTrader: (2)

Have u seen how much they are?! cheapest ive seen one is Ł200 bit much for someone who wants to try one out, a profesional mop doesnt even cost that much.

Ones like the halfords one i listed or that silverline one mentioned are variable speed which is what u want, just need to keep it on the slower settings till your comfortable using it then when ur more confident speed it up a bit.

dayed_00

thanks to everyone who left some feed back for me. I think i'm going to try the clay bar first and see how that goes if not i will be back on here asking for more help. Just gotta wait for the sunshine now

Rhys

Yeah they are not cheap i suppose. But Imo i would be very careful using rotary on first go. Amount i have seen about that people have used with no clue is amazing and just wreck the paint. Well they have to get someone who knows what they are doing to tidy it up. I dont profess to be an expert just advice really

Cally you right the German cars have mega hard paint, my Passat and BMW where nightmares getting swirls out. On the other hand my Type R had the softest paint ever!!!!

Rhys

A Clay bar is NOT for polishing! It simply preps the paint work and removes tar and other imperections to give you smooth finishes. I most cases it will flat the paint slightly, thus you need to give a good wax/polish over it

dayed_00

Sorry i was supposed to put that i was simply goin too clay bar it first where needed then give it a good polish and wax after.

TurboShed

Don't buy the Halfords one.

Get a nice cheap Silverline rotary, if you're cautious just use a very fine cutting compound. Typically you'll just want to get the job done quickly, which is why you're reading this thread.

Toe Knee

iTrader: (2)

Actually just seen the spec of the halfords on compared 2 the silverline have to agree silverline looks better, (halfords 900w rpm variable between 4500rpm-10000, silverline 1200w rpm variable between 600-3000rpm) i just got the halfords at the time as i needed one quick but the silverline has a more powerful motor and lower RPM speeds so less likely to burn thru, plus ive found somewhere online that does it with 5 mop heads for Ł48 with free delivery!!

http://www.transtools.co.uk/store/pr...r-5-heads.html

and the silverline silverstorm is only Ł50

http://www.transtools.co.uk/store/pr...v-5-heads.html

Rob Virgo

iTrader: (6)

the meg g220 is the euro version of the porter cable.its a 2220v da polisher which is better for aumuters like us.
did a mighty job on my mk1 30 yr old paint.will post before and after.well worth the cost,do two cars and its paid for itself

rob v

TurboShed

DA take forever, rotary are cheap as chips and get the job done. You machine polish to save time!

dayed_00

ok thanks to everyone that has helped out will have a look round and let you know how i get on

Kind Regards

P_is_for_Paul

I was trying to decide the same thing, as i liked valeting my car at the weekends, so i got myself a g220 in march from cleanyourcar. I was a total novice at using it but if you look here you will see how a friends car turned out:

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/forum/...er=asc&start=0

I amazed myself how good the machine polisher worked, even to an amateur!!!

P_is_for_Paul

And if you register on the cleanyourcar forum, im sure someone close to you would let your try out their polisher! The guys on there are very friendly, which is something you dont really see on an internet forum nowadays!

dayed_00

thanx will register later and see what i can find.