I felt pretty comfortable on the test panels that I used my Dewalt on, so yesterday I moved to my Black 04 GMC truck. Overall it was a good detail, but it could have been better. The main thing is I didn't make anything worse (well except for the trim that inadvertently got polish on it).
There were many scratches in the bed about 2" down from the spray in bed liner lip. They looked white and couldn't really catch my fingernail in most of them, so I figured just a surface scratch on the clear. I also had many "spiderwebs" and some minor scratching randomly around the truck. The main problem I noticed was on the hood. There was pretty bad water etching that I wasn't even aware of until I pulled it in the garage (first time EVER!).
The supplies I used are as follows:
Dewalt Rotary
Ingersol Rand pneumatic D/A
3m Black waffle pad x2
Meg's finishing pad
Transtar Tri-Cut polish
3m Perfect it II machine glaze (dark paint)
Meg's Gold Class Wax
Some things I noticed. I was suprised with the amount of pressure I needed on the rotary to "work" the scratches out (even the minor ones). This may be due to needing a more abrasive pad or polish for the amount of damage. I managed to cut the scratches in the bed down a little, but they are still there. I didn't want to do any damage, so I figured I would work on them more the next time around. I could not get the water spots out of the hood. I tried several times with everything from light pressure to heavy pressure and from 1000 to 1500 RPM on the rotary. My guess is I need more abrasives.
My conclusion was that I really don't like the transtar polish, but I have a good bit left and for the price, I will probably try to use it before getting something else. My wife's acura TL may be a good candidate for this since it doesn't need as much repair. The glaze didn't seem to do anything after polishing. I didn't notice any damage left behind after the polish, but went behind it with the glaze anyway. Although many people advised against it, I used the air powered D/A with a back up pad I had laying around to apply the wax. I used the Meg's finishing pad to apply and put a microfiber bonnet over it to take it off. It worked great, although I don't really like the wax too much. Same deal, trying to use it before getting something new. I'll try to post some pics before too long.
TravisT
There were many scratches in the bed about 2" down from the spray in bed liner lip. They looked white and couldn't really catch my fingernail in most of them, so I figured just a surface scratch on the clear. I also had many "spiderwebs" and some minor scratching randomly around the truck. The main problem I noticed was on the hood. There was pretty bad water etching that I wasn't even aware of until I pulled it in the garage (first time EVER!).
The supplies I used are as follows:
Dewalt Rotary
Ingersol Rand pneumatic D/A
3m Black waffle pad x2
Meg's finishing pad
Transtar Tri-Cut polish
3m Perfect it II machine glaze (dark paint)
Meg's Gold Class Wax
Some things I noticed. I was suprised with the amount of pressure I needed on the rotary to "work" the scratches out (even the minor ones). This may be due to needing a more abrasive pad or polish for the amount of damage. I managed to cut the scratches in the bed down a little, but they are still there. I didn't want to do any damage, so I figured I would work on them more the next time around. I could not get the water spots out of the hood. I tried several times with everything from light pressure to heavy pressure and from 1000 to 1500 RPM on the rotary. My guess is I need more abrasives.
My conclusion was that I really don't like the transtar polish, but I have a good bit left and for the price, I will probably try to use it before getting something else. My wife's acura TL may be a good candidate for this since it doesn't need as much repair. The glaze didn't seem to do anything after polishing. I didn't notice any damage left behind after the polish, but went behind it with the glaze anyway. Although many people advised against it, I used the air powered D/A with a back up pad I had laying around to apply the wax. I used the Meg's finishing pad to apply and put a microfiber bonnet over it to take it off. It worked great, although I don't really like the wax too much. Same deal, trying to use it before getting something new. I'll try to post some pics before too long.
TravisT
