Brun

My 04 Fab has covered 170k miles and has only seen a polishing cloth on a hand full of occasions and has maybe seen a wash once a month.
Last wknd i clayed the bonnet, applied Werkstat acrylic (which i find a complete PITA to remove - am i doing something wrong?) and then blackfire paint protection. It's smooth and shiny but there's loads of swirls and the black seems to have lost some of it's blackness - if you follow?
This brings me to the dilemma - i don't wan't to spend £300 on a paint correction but am happy to splash out £160 on the PB Paint polishing kit with the DAS-6 polisher. I'm not looking to bring the car up to show and shine levels but i want to go way beyond what my achy arm can achieve. I see on all the write ups cars covered in blue tape. Is that really necassary for the level i'm looking at? Don't want to spend hours at this.

Open to suggestion

Davey L

iTrader: (3)

I got a polisher and all the workstat kit from polished bliss - hepls when they're 10 minutes from my house. My car got a good wash, clay, polish and seal. All in i took about 4 hours to give the car a good full going over. The polisher was used with a fine pad and polish a few places needed some coarser polish but the swirls were virtually eliminated and are just starting to reappear now 2 months after i did it. After a wash the car gets a quick going over with the Workstat Gloss and i can't complain about it.
I think it was £230ish for all the gear from the guys at polished bliss and some good info on what to do - though it was about 4 months between buying it and using it so i got a refresher from their web site. I didn't use any tape - they only use that to show the difference between before and after and seal off the bits you don't want the polisher to touch. I did mask off some of the plastic trim parts cos it's a pain in the *** getting polish marks off black plastic apart from that it was all relatively easy.

ilogikal1

The tape is to protect trim from getting stained by any polish and to protect the pad from any dirt trap areas - last thing you want to do is drag dirt trapped between trim across your paint work - amongst other reasons, so I'd say it is necessary with any machine polishing really.

If you're looking for a quick solution you might want to consider something with fillers rather than correction. It won't remove the swirls, just hide them, so they'll come back eventually but proper correction can take some considerable time to achieve over a full car.

Also, I find the Workstatt not too bad to work with really, you may be using too much product if you're finding it difficult to remove. A quick detailer will help to shift any stubborn residue though.

Brun

Not really looking for a super quick solution - just wanna get on with it. I suppose the tape is fairly straight forward to apply/remove?

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

Yes tape only takes a few minutes to put on and it invaluable as it protects the handles and plastics etc

I would work on an average of a hour per panel to do the Job properly
So try to allow 2days rather then rush it in one by the time you clay it ,detar it ,rest then start the polishing then you then have to wax it and seal it .
Subaru paint is very soft so check it constantly
Budget for £150 for the das6 machine ,2 cutings pads ,a finishing pad and 2 bottles of cutting fluid and a roll of tape
Shop around as prices vary a lot On detailing world
I personally uses chemical guys as their hex pads are rated the best make sure you spray a lube on the pads first and a blob or two on the pads gave him a call and he will go through what you need and offer a good first time discount as once you get onto CG products you tend to stay with them.

I also noticed tim from clean your car has a good offer on the das6 with a bag at the moment
There is also an idiots guide to machine polishing on detailing world read it a few times before you switch the machine on

Make sure you wear safety goggles though and put the cable over your shoulder so it doesn't rub against the bodywork

ilogikal1

As above really. The blue tape that PB sell is ideal, it's low tack enough not to cause any problems removing but sticky enough to stay in place whilst you want it to and you can leave it on all day without any issues.

I bought the DAS-6 kit from PB, the only thing missing from the soft paint kit really is a finishing pad IMHO. Everything else to get you started is there.

Brun

Thanks for the detailed replies
The car is a fabia so going by the PBS guide, the car has medium paint!

ADV.

Try buying direct from 3m or your local paint shop supplier.

What I will say is it takes as long as it takes.

Take your time and enjoy learning, rather than rush it and leave a poor finish.

As well as the machines mentioned, you will need some lights to help you see the correction you are achieving.

Oh, and panel wipe for checking after polishing if you can't get hold of ipa.

Have fun

Brun

ipa?

ilogikal1

Isopropyl Alcohol, it's used to remove residue and oils that might mask some swirls that haven't been corrected.

ADV.

As above.

You can buy it in 5L at 99%, then dilute down to around the 30% mark (which is strong enough)

Panel wipe can also be used and might be easier to get hold of.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

I had a long winded post replying to this , but site crashed ! Basically invest in aftercare products for AFTER paying a pro to do it. You will save having a load of gear that will be rarely used as its a big(ish) job , that cant be done to often anyway. I wont be using mine anytime soon , took me ages and a few washes later the swirls and scratches showed up even more obviously on clean panels.

Thats the short version off my advice. (wish someone had gave it to me , as class as my car looked at the time , the swirls didnt take long to return)

Brun

I understand what you are saying but i feel it's probably right for me. The car is 8 years old, 171k miles and has only ever seen a polishing cloth twice or three times. It would cost me £300+ to get it to any sort of level professionally as the paint is well faded, patchy and covered in swirls. I'm not prepared to pay that for a mile muncher when i can have a bash myself for under £200. I might enjoy it???, if not then i can sell the kit without losing my entire investment

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

Maybe borrow the stuff ? I had the same idea as u , just regret it.

Brun

Tis a thought but i fear not many people would be willing to lend out their kit. Is there a second hand market for these things?
Off for a look at Ebay

ilogikal1

Might be worth having a look on Detailing World too to see if anyone's upgrading their kit

ADV.

If your local to stockport, I can help (as in borrow of the da, you get your own pads)

Of course a deposit of your car will do

On a serious note, any local members I am more than happy to help out.

...seamus...

If you're looking at mild paint correction such as removing swirl marks and spidering then halfords have an offer on their orbital polisher for only £35 at the moment

use this together with swirl-x from meguiars and a paint cleaner then just re-wax

the difference will be huge and you'll spend around £50 including a couple of spare bonnets, polish and polisher

I would recommend at least taping up the water channels and plastics as well

MMT WRX

you can hire a Meguiars G220 from here for £30.00 plus polish and pads for two weekends.
http://www.rollupandshine.com/meguia...hire-139-p.asp

Brun

^^^^^
That looks like the winning post

MMT WRX

I hoped you may think that.
They are not far from me and seem to have positive feed back on a couple of forums.
I'm looking at getting this kit at some stage.

johnson12

I am from congleton and would be happy show you the way to do it with a rotay but if you never done it before and buying ur own go da route as rotay can do damage in the wrong hands.

Brun

I'm just putting this on hold for a bit as i've come across a few rust bubbles on both sills and rear arches so i'm gonna sort that first.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

if you are getting a few bits painted , see if you can blag a quick buff from the painter while he is doing the new bits ?

Brun

johnson12

The buff from the painter most likely will be with a wool pad tho which wont give a great finish without the refine stage.