machine polisher - newbie

[mahol]

Hi im planning on polishing up my car to get the paint back to a nice even colour with a nice shine. I am thinking of getting the kestrel DAS 6 polisher with meg's soft buff pads and megs cleaner polish and speed glaze.

After looking on the net ive been reading up and a few places have been talking about paint thickness gauge tools, do i really need to do this? these tools are very pricey and im thinking they are more for a pro.

im not really looking to correct paint or anything amazing i just simply want to bring out a nice even colour and glossy shine, i currently use SRP, Extra gloss protection and megs clay bar kit and collinite 915.

 

[Adrian09]

a paint thickness gauge is just to measure how much paint is on the car so when your correcting the paint using a cutting compound you dont cut to much clearcoat.
without 1 youll never really know as 1 panel could of been sprayed previously but if its just to apply something thats not really abrasive like srp also a sealant then you should be fine. Theres a group buy offer on detailingworld.co.uk at the mo or try ebay

 

[mahol]

a paint thickness gauge is just to measure how much paint is on the car so when your correcting the paint using a cutting compound you dont cut to much clearcoat.
without 1 youll never really know as 1 panel could of been sprayed previously but if its just to apply something thats not really abrasive like srp also a sealant then you should be fine. Theres a group buy offer on detailingworld.co.uk at the mo or try ebay

I was looking at the pack with megs cleaner polish it says 6/10 and speed glaze which is 4/10. So they aren't really that abrasive will something like these will be ok without a paint thickness gauge

 

[Adrian09]

(megs #83) cleaner polish and (megs #80) speed glaze would be fine even tho the glaze would remove minor swirls. The best shine and depth youll get is when removing the swirls tho but if you aint got the money dont matter oh yea what colour is your car ?

 

[mahol]

(megs #83) cleaner polish and (megs #80) speed glaze would be fine even tho the glaze would remove minor swirls. The best shine and depth youll get is when removing the swirls tho but if you aint got the money dont matter oh yea what colour is your car ?

Its yellow, haven't really got any swirls etc as i use Auto glym SRP, and a few other polishes and clay bars, collinite 915 wax etc so the paint work is in very good order TBH.

Just noticed (megs #83) cleaner polish and (megs #80) speed glaze can be used by hand, so i may just get them and give them a whirl if it's not what im looking for i can try a DA polisher.

here's what im thinking of doing.

> rinse
>Power wash with Auto glym shampoo (no wax) (foam)
>rinse
>Wash with buckets Auto glym shampoo conditioner
>rinse, and dry
>Meg's #83 polish
>Meg's #80 glaze
>Auto glym SRP
>Auto glym Extra gloss protection
>Collinite 915 carnauba wax

>Auto glym glass polish on glass
>Auto glym Bumper care on black bits and tyres
>CarPlan Wonder Wheels on alloys (to use it up)

will probably take me a good day's work lol

 

[Adrian09]

have you got a foam lance ? also do you use the 2 bucket method when washing ?
not much point using megs 80-83 without a da especially if your using srp and egp

 

[Andy Monty]

Its yellow, haven't really got any swirls etc as i use Auto glym SRP,

bet you have more filled swirls than you realise an Isopropol wipe down should reveal what your letting yourself in for...

 

[mahol]

bet you have more filled swirls than you realise an Isopropol wipe down should reveal what your letting yourself in for...

Forgot srp was a filler as well as a polish lol I bought the kestrel with the megs #83 and #80 speed glaze. What's the best speed settings people use for these types of polishes? Any beginner advise using the kestrel?

 

[Andy Monty]

start working the 83 at about speed 2-3 working up to 5 ish as it begins to breaks down

do the same for the 80

if i was you i'd also invest in some of this

http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/menzerna-final-finish-polish-p0-85-re-5-250ml.php?manufacturers_id=49

it breaks down finer than megs 80 and gives a better finish.. just remember to only apply light pressure so the pad doesn't become bogged down it should still be able to rotate as well as oscillate draw a line on the top edge of the pad till you get used to it it will sit still if its not rotating

have a read of this

https://www.fiatforum.com/car-care/182419-started-machine-polish-gp-1.html


http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=63859

and these videos are good too

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=116730

 

[mahol]

Big thanks mate, loads of handy stuff there. Thanks again

 

[Andy Monty]

you should also Clay the car before machine polishing to remove any bonded contaminants

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfEfLGL59GI"]YouTube- How to Clay Bar[/nomedia]

id use Bilt hamber SOFT clay (only need water as a lube rather than quick detailer) one bar should do several cars

 

[mahol]

you should also Clay the car before machine polishing to remove any bonded contaminants

YouTube- How to Clay Bar

id use Bilt hamber SOFT clay (only need water as a lube rather than quick detailer) one bar should do several cars

yeah i already use clay, i actually quiet like the meg's stuff does what i want at the minute but once its all dirty and needs replacing ill look at the bilt hamber stuff you mention. cheers