Detail a Junker! (Rotary newbies...)

Richard@BlackWOW

Richard@BlackWOW

New member
The PC (Dual Action Orbital Polisher) can go a long way to keeping the finish of your car swirl free. With the right foam pads and chemicals, it doesn't take a lot of effort on a car that's in relatively good condition.



But when you've got a car like this (yes it's been washed already)

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Sometimes a PC just isn't the right tool, and out comes the rotary buffer. Now while I've got a reputation for working on cool cars, this Saturn was one of my first rotary buffer jobs, and I brought it here as a great example of the type of car you want to learn on.



It's relatively small, most of the surfaces are flat, no ridges or high spots to accidentally burn in, and most of all, the owner coudn't careless about what the car looked like in the end.



The interesting thing about dirty cars is that from afar they don't look that bad



Of course, properly shined out they will look much better, from from this picture, it's not really obvious how badly neglected it is.



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Here's a hood shot

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Here it is, all polished out with my Makita rotary with M80. It was finished with a PC with M80, then #7 Show Car Glaze followed by NXT Tech Wax.



Pretty amazing huh?



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The current owner bought the car cheap because it was in such sorry shape!

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Some of the defects were really deep and it's not defect free. Thanks to a previous owner tying a surfboard to the roof, the roof was pretty scuffed up.



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Remember it used to look like this

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Before working



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Some defects still visible

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So get a good rotary buffer like this Makita or a DeWalt, learn to use it well!



Also remember that a PC and a rotary go hand in hand. A rotary cuts faster and does more work, but it's nearly impossible to get a buffer swirl free finish---follow up with a PC to ensure a completely swirl free, holograme free finish.
 
The CE is like the Harbor Freight one isn't it?

I bought the electronic speed control one--their top of the line buffer and I didn't like it. The most critical aspect to achieving the kind of results I'm getting is in technique, and part of that technique is proper speed control. With the Makita,

I can start really slow and accelerate and back off the speed by releasing the trigger. I can also set a maximum speed--most buffing is in the 1500 to 1800 rpm range--on my Makita it's speed 3. That means I can accelerate the buffer from 0 to 1800 rpm by squeezing the trigger. It also compensates the motor to keep it at the selected speed--say you press harder which would normally bog the motor down--the Makita keeps going.



Also important is when picking up the bead--applying chemical to your finish in a line. To keep splatter down, you want to spread the product out before buffing it in, and being able to accelerate is a big advantage. With my HF buffer, there were incremental speed settings from 0 to 3000 rpm--incremented by push button. IMO, it's a lot hard to learn and practice on a buffer like this, despite the attractive cost. Also IMO, this type of buffer is better suited for someone that's already experienced with using a rotary who can compensate for the tools deficiencies. Good luck!



Richard



gmblack3a said:
Excellent results!!!



I bought a cheap CE rotary, but have not used it that much yet.
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You're welcome. Note that while most of the pros like the Makita or DeWalt, I've also seen really old Black and Deckers and lately Hitachi has a buffer for around $99 for sale. I paid around $170 for my Makita off eBay. I've seen them run between $140 to $180 and after having used it, I should have saved my $60 on the HF and just bought the Makita in the first place.



Check out this old Black and Decker being operated by my buddy Mike. He's demonstrating a 3" or maybe it was a 4" pad he made on the spot from a chunk of foam--shaped with some sand paper.







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gmblack3a said:
Richard, Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Guess I'm gonna have to look into getting a real rotary.
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holy cow dude, i think you're literally right down the street from my previous house (from the pictures). you don't happen to live on moore street in mar vista do you?
 
Hah, well the pictures of the Saturn were taken in Burbank, but the Camaro and Mustang were at my house. But yep, we're neighbors.



I'm actually on Milton Street near Mar Vista--parallel to Ballona creek over where the 90 freeway dumps you at Culver.



I'm going to be fixing a MINI tomorrow from 8am to noon---hit some road debris--so I'm going to be polishing it out to restore it--the car is also all swirled out.



PM for my address info.



Richard



admac said:
holy cow dude, i think you're literally right down the street from my previous house (from the pictures). you don't happen to live on moore street in mar vista do you?
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haha. so many neighborhoods in l.a. look the same. i thought i could actually see my house in the background of one of those photos. i live in venice now, couple blocks from the beotch.
 
Richard, I'm not very far from you either. I kept looking at your pictures and thinking that it looked familiar to me.:)
 
octane,

U mentioned , when u used the makita, some of the swirls were not all taken out and you used the PC to correct it. At what point did u use the pc? are there any tricks, tips u recommend with the mikata, i will be using one this weekend. please be specific. thanks for your help.
 
^&04types said:
octane,

U mentioned , when u used the makita, some of the swirls were not all taken out and you used the PC to correct it. At what point did u use the pc? are there any tricks, tips u recommend with the mikata, i will be using one this weekend. please be specific. thanks for your help.
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Don't go past speed 3, and when you're applying the polish, smear it around on the slowest speed, then up the speed to work it in. Don't use a lot of polish. A glob the size of a quarter for a 2x2 should be plenty. If you need more work the first glob in first, then add more. If you add too much at once, it'll just spray all over the place. Mist the pad with water before you start. If this is your first time using a rotary, expect a little spray from the pad until you're used to how it works.



Good Luck! And make sure you tape off any plastic moldings...rotaries will eat them for breakfast if you hit it the wrong way...well it'll melt it a little.
 
Quite a bit has changed in terms of my experience level since I did this writeup. I normally use the Makita until I get a flawless finish, then for removing any holograms caused by the Makita, I use the PC to remove them.



With experience with the PC, you know what can be removed with it, and what needs a rotary. Using the Makita, it's possible to knock out the deepest defects, and then use the PC to finish if you want, or for what I do now, is through different pad/chemical changes, I can knock out all the defects and save the PC for removing holograms and applying LSP.



I generally work at around 1500 to 1800 rpm using the Meguiar's W8006 polishing pad and M80 Speed Glaze. It's a decent, mild to medium cutting that works in most situations. If I need more cutting, I'll go to M83 DACP.



If I need more than that--which is what I do with the Test Spot, a W7006 cutting pad and M83 or M84 might be in order.



On the other hand, for some cars that are scratch sensitive, sometimes a finishing pad like the W9006 tan pad using the most aggressive chemical like M84 is the solution.



You really won't know until you try it and get a lot more experience under your belt where you can be confident whether a process is at fault and not your technique.



Richard



^&04types said:
octane,

U mentioned , when u used the makita, some of the swirls were not all taken out and you used the PC to correct it. At what point did u use the pc? are there any tricks, tips u recommend with the mikata, i will be using one this weekend. please be specific. thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
 
I am getting ready to learn to use a rotary on a junker that I dont have to worry about pissing the opwner off. Its my Cherokee that is about as beat as that Saturn, maybe more so. It appears to have been brillow washed in the past...
 
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