Polisher Buying Guide?

hippyross

RMS Regular
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3,920
Y
Finished the car tonight. I'd say I'm about 10 hours into it and that's not incl the roof. Achieved what I set out, a shiny car. There are still scratches in the paint etc, but I'm not bothered about that, there are swirl marks gone though, for sure.

Another before/after of the fuel cap,

View attachment 195299

And a few photos of the finished article,

View attachment 195302
View attachment 195301
View attachment 195303

Should I now wax the car, or is the Ultrafina SE 50383 a finisher and doesn't need anything after application?
Yes definitely put a wax on
 

Gareth

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for a sealant it's hard to beat Gtechniq Liquid Crystal, you use it like a quick detailer. It's a great home users product

Is C2V3 a quick detailer or solely a sealant. As I posted above, I was gonna wax my car after running over it with a DAS6, but the thought of a 'spray and wipe' sealant sounds a lot better. After the C2V3 do i apply anythung further, or does it stop with the C2V3?
 

j44nty

RMS Regular
Finished the car tonight. I'd say I'm about 10 hours into it and that's not incl the roof. Achieved what I set out, a shiny car. There are still scratches in the paint etc, but I'm not bothered about that, there are swirl marks gone though, for sure.

Another before/after of the fuel cap,

View attachment 195299

And a few photos of the finished article,

View attachment 195302
View attachment 195301
View attachment 195303

Should I now wax the car, or is the Ultrafina SE 50383 a finisher and doesn't need anything after application?
That looks awesome.
 

MarkP

RMS Regular
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4,345
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Strabane
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zafira :-(
Finished the car tonight. I'd say I'm about 10 hours into it and that's not incl the roof. Achieved what I set out, a shiny car. There are still scratches in the paint etc, but I'm not bothered about that, there are swirl marks gone though, for sure.

Another before/after of the fuel cap,

View attachment 195299

And a few photos of the finished article,

View attachment 195302
View attachment 195301
View attachment 195303

Should I now wax the car, or is the Ultrafina SE 50383 a finisher and doesn't need anything after application?

When performing the cutting stage are you applying much pressure on top of the weight of the machine and what speed when doing the passes?
Ive been trying my car with a cheap rotary and notice the panel getting hot. Achieving 50% success which isnt enough.
 

Gareth

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Cheers @j44nty

When performing the cutting stage are you applying much pressure on top of the weight of the machine and what speed when doing the passes?
Ive been trying my car with a cheap rotary and notice the panel getting hot. Achieving 50% success which isnt enough.

Minimal pressure, I just did 3 or 4 horizontal passes, followed by 3 or 4 vertical ones. I spread the Megs/3M at speed 1 then cut at speed 4. Like I say, its far from a professional job, scratches still exist, but the swirls from poor washing by the previous owners are practically all gone.

I YouTube'd a lot to see different methods. I know i shouldn't have, but i did a whole panel at a time. I got the results I wanted, if I wanted a better job, I'd have narrowed the working area, but itd probably taken 20+ hours for that sort of work id imagine.
 

big_pete

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The technique with a DA is very different to that of a rotary.

You will generate alot of heat when using a rotary, you will also introduce marring and holograms etc at your cutting stage.

The paint on Passat CC is extremely hard, you are going to need to do several sets of cutting before you see an improvement.

Heat can really help with this process for an experienced user but can also have detrimental consequences for a beginner.

You need to be realistic about correction and what's possible too, you aren't going to get every mark out, 99.9% of the time that would be impossible. 60% is probably a realistic improvement for a novice home correction.

Also remember correct lighting, that's every single bit as important as your technique, machine and product/pad combo
 
Last edited:

Lyons

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Lyons
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I’ll probably be advertising mine if anyone is interested? Brand new and never out of the box! :joy:

Comes with all the stuff you’d need.

I have a das 6 pro 900w, 8oz meguiars cutting compound, 8oz meguiars finishing compound, 5.5” hex logic pad orange, 5.5” hex logic pad white, chemical guys fatty super drying towel, G2 gtechniq liquid crystal.

£170 for it all.
 

MarkP

RMS Regular
Messages
4,345
Location
Strabane
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zafira :-(
The technique with a DA is very different to that of a rotary.

You will generate alot of heat when using a rotary, you will also introduce marring and holograms etc at your cutting stage.

The paint on Passat CC is extremely hard, you are going to need to do several sets of cutting before you see an improvement.

Heat can really help with this process for an experienced user but can also have detrimental consequences for a beginner.

You need to be realistic about correction and what's possible too, you aren't going to get every mark out, 99.9% of the time that would be impossible. 60% is probably a realistic improvement for a novice home correction.

Also remember correct lighting, that's every single bit as important as your technique, machine and product/pad combo

When looking closely there are light scrapes along the sides as well as the swirls. Id say I've done about 3 sets on the door panels and have removed 50% of the swirls but none of the scratches, yet I can't feel them with my nail. It does look better and I have yet to add Black Hole and Nattys wax.
I've been doing this with my £50 Silverline rotary to see if its any use or if i should buy a da for better results.
Funny thing is it has just died on me lol. Maybe a sign to buy a proper das6.
 

big_pete

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Alot of people assume that if you can't feel it it will polish out. That is an old wives tale. When you can feel it that only relates mostly to a scratches width rather than depth.

What you are seeing are probably very deep marks that have penetrated most of the clear.

When you are fixing a mark, in essence you are removing the surrounding paintwork until they are at the same level

ie before correction your surface looks like.


---------__---------_---_-----_--------__-----

Where the aim of correction is to get the surface like this
________________________________________

The reality is that it usually ends up looking like.

---------_--------------------_--------_-------------

As it is either simply not safe or possible to repair. The way we also look at it professionally is that is it worth causing the greater surface to be more vulnerable after correction for the sake of some deep defects.

Hope this is of some help. A DAS6 will be less effective on your paint but it will be much safer for a novice so with greater time you may see better results.
 

MarkP

RMS Regular
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4,345
Location
Strabane
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zafira :-(
Alot of people assume that if you can't feel it it will polish out. That is an old wives tale. When you can feel it that only relates mostly to a scratches width rather than depth.

What you are seeing are probably very deep marks that have penetrated most of the clear.

When you are fixing a mark, in essence you are removing the surrounding paintwork until they are at the same level

ie before correction your surface looks like.


---------__---------_---_-----_--------__-----

Where the aim of correction is to get the surface like this
________________________________________

The reality is that it usually ends up looking like.

---------_--------------------_--------_-------------

As it is either simply not safe or possible to repair. The way we also look at it professionally is that is it worth causing the greater surface to be more vulnerable after correction for the sake of some deep defects.

Hope this is of some help. A DAS6 will be less effective on your paint but it will be much safer for a novice so with greater time you may see better results.

Any help is appreciated Pete as I know this paint is very hard.Regarding a da, less effective is not what I'm looking for. I know about the fears of rotary but I'm using a foam pad not a mf one and don't stay on the one spot too long so might just try and repair my cheapo one. What speed would you say is best after spreading the polish and does pressure need to applied when cutting?
 

Eager

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fields
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broooooom
To add, if you want to give it a bash, I can happily lend you my das6 and pads and compounds, I haven’t used them in ages and it will let you see the time and effort required, it’s not just a Saturday afternoon job and I gather your a family man from your posts so polishing a car for 2 days might get you a strong look from the wife... lol

Did you get the strong look ? :broken_heart:@Lyons
 

MarkP

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Strabane
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zafira :-(
I've spent 3 evenings doing 4 doors, 1 wing and a bootlid. And haven't even polished yet lol.
Think ill have to take a sneaky day or 2 off work to so it when I get a polisher sorted.
 

Gareth

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Belfast
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Blok5 keep it, other than that it will need ordered

Couldn't wait for an online delivery so took a trip out to Blok51

20180608_175812.jpg
 

Gareth

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RE keeping pads clean, what's the best method? Reading online there's a million and one methods. APC and wash by hand, APC and fire it in the washing machine, any normal APC, pad specific APC's. Jesus, it's just a head melt. Anyone recommend a good product and method on how to keep pads clean, thanks.
 

Steve

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Bus
I just rinsed mine in warm water then let it air dry. Worked well with the Scholl that was on it as it must be water based. Didn't work well at all with Poor Boys Black Hole, it seems oily, so I've no idea how to clean it properly.
 
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