Ok well needless to say my paint is a mess, tonssss of swirls, rock chips etc. My question is I bought a machine buffer or porter cable w.e its called haha and I tried it on my moms car. It didnt go so well, I tried and tried to get the swirls out on hers and I couldnt find any success. I used all turbowax products and followed instruction on how to from autogeek.net Would it just be easier to say F it and get it done professionally? Do they do a good job? I really want all the swirls gone, they look horrible! The rock chips though, all over the front of my rock are bad as well, is the only option to get it repainted and get a clear bra? sorry for it being so long and thanks to anyone that helps!

 

pick up megs 105 and 205 and watch it shine.. wanna see before and after pics of mine with it? i also have the PC 7424... start with the 105.. move it around a bit in a 2x2 area..start the buffer on a 3 for a moment then work it in with the 5 setting.. u may need to make more than 1 pass on bad areas.. i know my hood i needed 3 passes and parts of my door i needed multiple passes..

also try applying the cutting compound with the lake county orange light cutting pad.. pads make a difference as well

 

Hmm ya I didnt really like the Turbowax products, lets see some pics! How much pressure do you put on the machine? maybe thats my problem..Id rather not spend a crap ton getting it done somewhere else but I also want those rocks chips gone..there are tons!

edit: WOW megs stuff is hella expensive!

 

pressure depends on the area..if its a bad area i apply a little more pressure... im not laying on the thing or anything but im pretty firm with it in areas.. some areas u can just use the weight of the machine.. lemme post some pics up for ya.. im in the middle of mine myself

it is expensive lol but it is so unbelievably worth it its not even funny

beofre... obviously





after 1 pass and i did 2 more afterwords



its 10x better than the 2nd pic now.. i will get some of the sides up..unfortunately i only have my phone to take pics with though

 

wow, big difference, I dunno what Im doing wrong! Its too cold now to do a good detail anyways here so Ill have to wait till the spring, thanks for the help!

 

^ door before

Door after

 

Where 105 is concerned pad selection makes all the difference in the world and the orange pad u seggested does work really well with 105 . If u need a lil more aggressive cutting pad meguires burgandy 2.0 soft buff pad works well too . gotta be the 2.0 though , the older still available burgandy soft buff pad is yuk . If u choose to use the 205 too I wouldnt stray away from a LC white or more appropriate 2.0 megs soft buff yellow , again gotta be the 2.0 . From expirience its a perfect marrige to the 205 . The 205 will work decent with any quality polishing pad , I say decent because it is finicky with the pads it will work flawlessly with and blow u away

With the 105 , it works the best using the Kevin brown method of priming the pad ....and keep your pad very clean . Brush it after every panel , and idealy have 2 or 3 pads on hand . You shouldnt use 1 pad for the entire car .
-make cris cross patterns in the pad with 105
-spread the product ievenly all over the pad with your fingers , the key here is even coating without completly saturating it .
-set pad on a clean microfiber with machine off , turn on low speed with the pad on a microfiber for a minute or less .
-now ur pad is ready .
-apply a couple lines of compound to the panel your doing , Make your passes until the 105 starts to break down . Thwe lubricanting agents in this compound do break down rather qwickly so dont go crazy . Dont wipe off .
-Mist panel lightly with water
-make a few more passes with the PC without applying more compound . Let the water work the extra compound in the pad
-then wipe the panel clean with a clean microfiber . If u have any residue left ...lightly mist with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and 91% IPA ( alcohol ) ~or a good qwik detail spray that isnt a spray wax ( I use zaino z6 )

Using that method with the 105 and orange pad Ive in some cases been LSP ready not needing to polish swirl and holagram free . Which is pretty amazing imo for a compound and a orange pad . I have no expirience with turbowax products so I cannot comment on them , but that method explained above would work for their compound as well . Other people seem to be happy with their stuff , so maybe give another go with the stuff equipped with a little more knowlege before spending money on more products .

Keep at it dude and keep learning . If your into cars its a skill you will never regret having

...btw the I didnt hear anything mentioned about a clay bar . Laying the proper ground to buff a car is equally important as the process itself . If the paint is not GLASS SMOOTH , dont even bother touching it with a buffer , you will not get results . If u arent using clay by all means get some . Skip the store bought bars , they are way to mild to anything . Looking a mild bar from like mezerna or a blue meguires bar .

 

well put... i myself so far have had great results with the 205 and the light cutting orange pad...i will have to try out ur method sometime though... wee what works best for me good write up

 

go to this thread it will give you a very detailed how to on getting out swirls and everything
https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/show-shine-140/hatrickstus-detailing-how-116717/

 

whats the best micorfiber to use so u dont get swirls????

 

Very nice cant wait till i get my Porter Cable so i can really get my car to shine
Subd..

 

i use cobra microfiber towels from autogeek.net...they work great

 

There are alot of options... just depends on how much you are looking to spend.

Cobra are top notch towels and so are supreme shine towels by Meguiars

 

new pic yay



^ as of today

 

I like the dragonfire brand from properautocare. com . Best Ive found yet of course thats jmo , as long as their of quality your ok . Also theres a process here to cleaning them properly . Dont use normal laundry soap . Most online suppliers sell a microfiber detergent . I use micro-restore brand . Unlike laundry soap this stuff does get everything out . Also dont dry them in the dryer with heat . Air dry , then run int he dryer with no heat to fluff the fiber back up .

I used to always write off stuff like this as un-needed and a bit excessive ...boy was I wrong .

Looks awesome 06 . If u havent done the same process to your wheels , DO do it I did it to my mine on my old SS and the gunmetal wheels looked insane . I actually wetsanded with 2000 grit beforehand as well .

 

im getting my car professionally polished and having the roof painted for $200, i wonder how it will come out.

 

great info and the pics looks amazing! one more question how much of the wax etc should I be applying each time I use it? like for every time I have to put more on, does that make sense? haha oh and how do you clean the pads that you use on the porter cable itself? Thanks!

 

haha i havent touched the wheels..i actually have brand new HPD cooldowns sitting next to me right now but no tires to wrap them in lol so im waitin to get tires but ima do the wheels this weekend and i literally just washed my microfiber towels in the laundry and in the dryer lol **** .. i will have to look into the micro restoring.. didnt know it existed..

go to autogeek.net and look up some snappy clean powder pad cleaner... phew thats a mouth full.. anyways.. grab some bags of that.. use 1 bag in 4 gal bucket with warm water. let the pads soak for 10 to 15 minutes and u can literally watch the left over compund run off the pad.. it works really well.. it cost me 12 bucks for 12 bags...they will last u a long time

also when applying the compund or wax i just put a small ring of compund, polish, or wax around the edge of the pad, work it around the area im working and then turn the PC7424 on

 

^ sweet deal thanks! oh ya one more...the rock chips. Anything I can do other than get it painted? its really bad, if I did ay idea how much it would be? Id get a clear bra after too I think

 

i have a few in mine.. ima take some spray to a paint brush..fill it in.. clear it..clay it.. buff it.. seal it.. stare at it i only have a few though.. depending on how bad they are some may come out..

or itll atleast hide them better

 

Most of the time rock chips wont come out just because polish doesnt cut that far down unless youre working with a rotary and wool pad even then its iffy.

Best option is getting it repainted.

 

bingo

 

I wish I could edit my posts lol I was going to add something like this

A rock chip is a crater in the paint that MOST of the time goes through the clear coat and paint...sometimes down to the primer. Once that clear coat is damage and removed your only option is repaint or touch up paint. Touch up requires wetsanding which also requires either alot of passes of M105 or a rotary with a wool pad.

If I were you id get everything that is damaged, repainted and when the paint is FULLY (30+ days) cured slap on a clear bra.

 

lol u cant edit?

 

ya I need to get it repainted, its bad...I dunno how it got so bad. I was just curious if there was a price anyone knew of roughly, how much are the bras and are they worth it??