Did some paint polishing while I was gone

**FishinCricket** · 01-27-2013, 07:40 PM

I've been messin around on the detailing forums (Autogeek, mainly) and have had some interesting results!

Gotta love white paint:

Looks good, eh?

Look closer:

Not just swirls, but nasty scratches!!!

Well, I fixed those:

Griots Garage Random Orbital polisher and Meguiars Ultimate Compound/Polish did the trick, then I applied Collinite 845 for some initial protection. Still contemplating the next layer.. Got a wheel brush ordered to take care of that nasty stuff in the wheel barrels, plus some stuff to polish the exhaust tips.

Anyway, here it is in all its 200k mile glory!

Now to get the AC compressor fixed... Grrr

**REVNORR82** · 01-28-2013, 02:20 AM

Looking good. Its amazing how a little elbow grease and time can greatly change the appearance of a car.

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**INMY01TA** · 01-28-2013, 04:30 AM

White hides all those scratches pretty good, try black. Broken AC compressor, I was always looking for a reason to ditch my AC all together.

**35th-ANV-SS** · 01-28-2013, 07:44 AM

Nice work.

**robs98mysticZ** · 01-28-2013, 04:15 PM

Great Job!!!

**FishinCricket** · 01-29-2013, 11:55 AM

Thanks folks!! Far from done though. Once you start detailing its awful difficult to stop! lol

**35th-ANV-SS** · 01-29-2013, 12:00 PM

My arms and hands would probably say otherwise

**FishinCricket** · 01-29-2013, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS

My arms and hands would probably say otherwise

Das why I bought a Griots DA...

The first close up photo, above (the one that reveals all the scratches) was AFTER hand compounding it twice and hitting it with a cheap "car buffer".. The machine made all the difference. Definitely worth the investment!

**35th-ANV-SS** · 01-29-2013, 02:37 PM

I have looked into them vaguely over the years. I really need to just stop being afraid and get one. I'll just use it on one of my other cars first.

**FishinCricket** · 01-29-2013, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS

I have looked into them vaguely over the years. I really need to just stop being afraid and get one. I'll just use it on one of my other cars first.

Yeah, I read a million words regarding the "free floating spindle assembly" Dual Action Polisher, watched numerous how to videos and quizzed the body guys I know til they were tired of my silly questions.. Then I finally bought into the idea and started researching the difference in the available DAs..

The main thing to realize is that the "dual action" is effectively mimicking the motions that the human hand makes when waxing, polishing or compounding by hand.. It's design impedes it from heating the paint (or the fiberglass underneath in the case of our fancy hoods) which is where you run into problems and can "burn" through paint.

With the DA you just have to make sure you have a decent layer of cleat coat in the first place..

Frankly I'd suggest you go to Autogeek.com and start on the "how-to's" tab... Nothing I have read there has been off the mark yet. THIS LINK should shed some light on my statements about DA's, with illustrations even!