First time with a machine polisher!

[herisites 0]

Well i ordered a trade rotary machine polisher off ebay the other day, i didnt go for the cheapest as they seemed sheeite but didnt spend a lot either, but for the money i did spend i am quite impressed with the quality. It has adjustable speeds from 600-3000rpm has 6" pads colour coded for different jobs ie compound/cutting/finial finish etc.

 

So i thought to practise with i would go down the scrappy and get an old body panel or something, but then thought nah i wanna try it now so used my sisters mk2 golf instead :lol: she didnt mind and i have ben reading guides and watching videos so didnt think i would fcuk up and if i did well its old anyway :roll: I only done the bonnet tonight as i started late and that took long enough!

 

As for polish, well it didnt come with any and i have ordered some menzerna polish but i couldnt wait for it to turn up so i thought i would just try it with some Autoglym Paint Renovator i had kicking about. I know its not the best stuff to use and im sorry ok :lol: but it seemed to do a fairly decent job for a first time.

 

So after washing the car (front end only as i was only polishing he bonnet ... i know im lazy but who cares!) i then masked the edges round the bonnet and any plastics close by and then began to experiment with the polish on different pads (sprayed with some quick detailer first) and ended up using the cutting pad first at a medium speed going rather slowly and applying some pressure to the polisher. This got rid of the majority of swirls that were obvious which i was quite impressed with, but it left some hologramming so i went over again with the finishing pad at a slower speed and didnt apply hardly any pressure and that got rid of them and came up great.

 

Did the same process to the whole bonnet and then went over with some SRP by hand with a microfibre cloth to hide any little marks left behind.

 

And these were the results:

 

Before shot - very swirly!

 

After shot - awesome!

 

Before shot again:

 

After:

 

Some more after shots:

 

And finally some shots of the shine after!

 

Overall i am very pleased i got such good results from not even using proper stuff! I cant wait to start using the menzerna polishes which should arrive soon!! :D

 

Anyway thanks for looking.

 

Rob.

[Supercharged 2]

What make is the polisher then mate?

[herisites 0]

I believe it is a Silverline polisher. I wanted to get a Porter Cable which is all the rave on detailing world forum and with some other detailers etc but they are very expensive evenif importing from the states and then you have to faff about changing the plugs and getting a transformer for the voltage etc so just thought sod it and got this one. I knew that i had to get one with adjustable speed which it has, it looks exactly the same as the Sealey polishers and comes with 3 years guarantee so cant be bad really :)

[biggrim 0]

Awesome results mate! I've used a mate's Porter Cable and it was very good, not adjustable speed though.

[G60SC_Stoney 0]

ive bought one of those Potercable polishers, hasnt yet arrived, so did a drop of polishing by hand, used some Megs swirl remover 2.0 and the car came up a treat, tried using just SRP as the scratches and swirls didnt look too major, and heard its quite good at filling in light imperfections but didnt touch it, put the megs swirl remover on and came up brand new, Highly reccommended stuff! dont know what its like on a rotary buffer tho, might be a bit too strong??!!

 

Nice result on the bonnet!!

[herisites 0]

ive bought one of those Potercable polishers, hasnt yet arrived, so did a drop of polishing by hand, used some Megs swirl remover 2.0 and the car came up a treat, tried using just SRP as the scratches and swirls didnt look too major, and heard its quite good at filling in light imperfections but didnt touch it, put the megs swirl remover on and came up brand new, Highly reccommended stuff! dont know what its like on a rotary buffer tho, might be a bit too strong??!!

 

Nice result on the bonnet!!

 

Sounds good mate, i think the most common meguairs products used with a machine polisher are #83 and #80 but i went for the menzerna stuff as its very highly rated, i have seen great results from it and its good value for money where as the megs polishes seem quite expensive.

 

SRP is a great polish but you are right its better for filling in swirls than actually removing any. Before using the machine polisher i used to give cars 2-3 coats of SRP which filled almost all the swirls and then sealed with Extra Gloss Protection and finally waxed.

[Mave 0]

Awesome results Bob

[dukest 0]

so whats your rates then rob?! :lol:

[herisites 0]

so whats your rates then rob?! :lol:

 

Well until it gets easier to do then too much! :lol:

 

I will hopefully get the rest done over the weekend if i have enough time and my sis doesnt need the car.

[Goldie 2]

Good work Rob..

 

I know my old mand has just aquired one of these, am a little hesitant on using it as dont want to make a mess...

 

Can you only use these for polishing and then wax by hand afterwards???

[herisites 0]

Well i think you could put wax on with one at a low speed but i would personally prefer to do it by hand using a foam applicator.

[Goldie 2]

So are you just using the bufer to take the polish off, or do you apply it with it is aswell????

[Andy665 0]

Been tempted to invest in a machine polisher for a while now - those Silverline ones look pretty good for the money, couldn't really justify a Porter.

[davebirl 0]

any place selling Silverline polishers online that you guys would recommend?

[herisites 0]

any place selling Silverline polishers online that you guys would recommend?

 

Ebay mate, thats where i got mine and for the money it seems pretty good.

[Phil K 0]

What did it cost? (if you don't mind me asking?)

[herisites 0]

So are you just using the bufer to take the polish off, or do you apply it with it is aswell????

 

Its not just a polisher to put polish on and take it off. A rotary machine polisher is used for paint correction like i have done above. The car was very swirly and instead of using a polish like autoglym super resin polish and just covering up swirls marks i used an abrasive polish which actually cuts a small layer of clear coat off thus getting rid of swirls/scratches completely.

 

The polisher is better at removing scratches/swirls than by hand because the friction it creates builds up a lot more heat and therefore breaks the polish down a lot more.

 

What you do with it is apply the polish to the pad and go over a small section at a time until the polish goes clear and then you buff it off with a microfibre cloth by hand and then go over with a less abrasive polish by machine to restore its shine and for even better results you then go over again by machine with a gloss polish which gives the paint more depth and shine. But i didnt have all the polishes available so just used the paint renovator polish and then applied a gloss sealant by hand.

[scarlet_vr6 0]

very impressive! but surely your rado doesn't need this? It always looks fantastic in the pics you put up!!

[herisites 0]

What did it cost? (if you don't mind me asking?)

 

They are about £40 plus delivery so works out at just under 50 notes which is really cheap! And comes with 3 years guarantee so cant be bad really.

[G60SC_Stoney 0]

i bought one of those silverline polishers ages ago off ebay, i didnt have as good a result as you did, thats why its just left in the bottom of my cupboard, found it was good for getting corrosion off my porsche wheels though!!

[herisites 0]

very impressive! but surely your rado doesn't need this? It always looks fantastic in the pics you put up!!

 

Yeah i know, it does look good but thats because i use the polish that fills in the swirls so it appears better than it actually is. Some areas are really quite swirly so i want to get it looking perfect. I wont do it on my car yet though until i am fully confident with it as i dont want to ruin it!

 

I also just wanted to learn it as i have a few mates that would like their cars doing so i have offered to do theirs. And i have to go back to uni for my final year in october so will be skint and wont be able to run the corrado :( so thought doing something like this would be a little earner in my spare time perhaps :)

[herisites 0]

i bought one of those silverline polishers ages ago off ebay, i didnt have as good a result as you did, thats why its just left in the bottom of my cupboard, found it was good for getting corrosion off my porsche wheels though!!

 

Thats a shame. I suppose you do get what you pay for to some extent but i followed some good guides as well as watched some videos etc so i went about it properly which is probably why i managed to get good results. I have the proper polish for the job now so i should hopefully get even better results soon 8)

[scarlet_vr6 0]

wont be able to run the corrado :( so thought doing something like this would be a little earner in my spare time perhaps :)

 

oh no! but good plan!

[herisites 0]

wont be able to run the corrado :( so thought doing something like this would be a little earner in my spare time perhaps :)

 

oh no! but good plan!

 

Yeah i know, its going to suck! especially if i get it supercharged knowing i have a 300bhp vr6 corrado sitting in the garage only wheeling out occassionally to run and give a clean :( BUT i am going to keep it insured and taxed etc so it will see the road occassionally and if i do some details in my spare time it will get more use :D

[scarlet_vr6 0]

I guess the best way to look at it is that you won't be putting too many miles on and it'll make the times you do drive it worthwhile :? Sometimes I wish I could afford another car so that my rado could be a bit better looked after. Well I've made a start to improving mine...

 

Jealous about a charger too!!