Flex XC 3401 VRG Review w/ Pics
- Thread starter DJ_JonnyV
- Start date
toml said:
I'm sure you can...I haven't with VM or RMG specifically, but I have used the Flex with a black pad to apply other "like" products and it worked just fine. DJ_Jonny and I discussed this topic briefly before, IIRC we both agreed that we prefer using our old PC's for glaze/sealant/wax/cleaner applications.
The Flex is far superior to a PC when it comes to polishing/correcting. It's much quicker, still quite easy to use and produces an incredible finish. But the PC can't be beat when it comes to "application" type processes. The PC can be used with one hand and though the Flex is far from hard to controll....it can't be feathered around effortlesly like a PC. For that reason I prefer the PC for glazes and such.
However...if your goal is to burnish the paint that final 2-3% to perfection using a black pad and a very fine polish or glaze, I'd have to believe the Flex would be the way to go. I should note, I've done zero testing using the Flex for this type of stuff.
frostydog said:
I agree as well. Lighter and easier to use the PC for the easy stuff with black pads.
I'm changing too many things at once to comment too much on the Flex. I've used new polishes, glazes, sealants, etc... Getting a ton of experience in a hurry on a new car that the dealer swirled the daylights out of before delivery.
But important bottom line, so far I really love the Flex. Still have the red backing plate and can't wait to get the black one. Vibrations and noise seem far less bothersome than with PC. And correction is FAR, FAR better.
superchargedg
Twin Turbos
I still like to apply glazes and lsp,s by hand as i never did use the pc to do this.
I tackled an '04 (I think that's the year) Accord today. it was white and as dirty as could be. This is the first white car that I've done so it was a little bit of a learning experience as well. First lesson, white cars play hell with the white balance on your camera. I was able to get a few good pics. It had some pretty bad swirling on it as well.
This was an exterior detail only. I started out by doing the engine, wheel wells, tires, and wheels all with Adam's APC. Washed with a combination of Adam's car wash and Duragloss 901. I was running a little low on car wash, so I combined the two. Even after washing the hell out of the thing, there was a lot of caked in dirt on it. I proceeded to clay with Adam's clay and Adam's QD as lube. I really didn't realize how dirty this thing was until I did my test section. Holy sh!t was this thing messed up.
Here's a few before pics after washing, but before claying.
So, I busted out the new 4 oz. bottle of OC and the orange Erasure pad. After doing my usual moves, I pulled up and checked it in the halogens. First thing I noticed is there was a 2 x 2 section of black, built in grime that was just lifted from the surface. It took care of some of the swirling, but not as much as I would've liked during my run. So, onto the OHC. Still wasn't as satisfied as I thought I should've been. Well, back to old faithful - Menzerna IP. There were still some stubborn scratches. Son of a gun!!! Out comes the Menzerna Power Gloss compound, yellow pad, and kept it on a speed 6. Worked the hell out of it, but they still weren't budging. They were getting progressively a little better every time. So, did the fingernail test again, and it caught it ever so slightly. Sometimes, you just have to now when to move on. I retreated to IP + orange pad for the rest of the car.
As I progressed, I realized that there were still some minor swirling and spider webbing left. This after the same combination knocked out the same thing on the black MDX last weekend. I think I figured out why this was happening. There was so much built-in dirt on this car, that it was building up on the pad and re-introducing some of this swirling. Now, I don't have 10+ orange pads to use one per panel, and this job became more about getting the built-in dirt off than it did removing swirls. I was able to get about 65% of them out, but think I re-introduced some.
Here's a couple attempted 50/50 shots trying to show the dirt that was coming up:
I know it's really hard to see on a white car on a computer screen. On the first one look to the right of the Honda logo about where the right side of the center brake light ends. On the second, lood for the line about 1/3 the way down from the top of the pic.
Oh, and here's my new tape removal helper:
Here's some other before/afters. Again, hard to pick up sometimes with the white paint.
After:
Before:
After:
This is the front left fender, and actually turned out really well. I had just switched to a new orange pad.
Here's a few finals after applying FMJ:
Like I said, my WB on my camera was waging war with itself.
Did tires and splash guards with Adam's VRT. Hit the cowl and some other areas with Adam's In & Out. Did windows first with Prima Clarity and their short knap MF window cleaning towel, followed by Adam's QD. Really like the Prima Clarity btw. Hit the wheel wells with Adam's undercarriage. Did door jambs with Mequiar's QD. And think that was about it...
Well, I was a little disappointed in myself for not getting all the swirls, but in the end, the car looks much better than it did before as it is back to it's factory color again...white!!! And, like I said, I was able to get most of them out, but some still remained. I'm pretty sure why. The lady was paying for a polish and a wax, not a polish, polish, wax. Also, I don't have a pad per panel in my arsenal either (yet!). The Optimum stuff will have to get a better test run. The Menzerna stuff just seems to give me the right correcting ability, with the right breakdown timing with the Flex.
Oh, and did I mention, I have a 5/8" Edge 2K rotary adapter in the mail for the Flex LK 302 VE rotary I picked up. I'm taking next weekend off on a little vaca with the family, so there'll be no updates next weekend. Let me know if there are any questions.
This was an exterior detail only. I started out by doing the engine, wheel wells, tires, and wheels all with Adam's APC. Washed with a combination of Adam's car wash and Duragloss 901. I was running a little low on car wash, so I combined the two. Even after washing the hell out of the thing, there was a lot of caked in dirt on it. I proceeded to clay with Adam's clay and Adam's QD as lube. I really didn't realize how dirty this thing was until I did my test section. Holy sh!t was this thing messed up.
Here's a few before pics after washing, but before claying.
So, I busted out the new 4 oz. bottle of OC and the orange Erasure pad. After doing my usual moves, I pulled up and checked it in the halogens. First thing I noticed is there was a 2 x 2 section of black, built in grime that was just lifted from the surface. It took care of some of the swirling, but not as much as I would've liked during my run. So, onto the OHC. Still wasn't as satisfied as I thought I should've been. Well, back to old faithful - Menzerna IP. There were still some stubborn scratches. Son of a gun!!! Out comes the Menzerna Power Gloss compound, yellow pad, and kept it on a speed 6. Worked the hell out of it, but they still weren't budging. They were getting progressively a little better every time. So, did the fingernail test again, and it caught it ever so slightly. Sometimes, you just have to now when to move on. I retreated to IP + orange pad for the rest of the car.
As I progressed, I realized that there were still some minor swirling and spider webbing left. This after the same combination knocked out the same thing on the black MDX last weekend. I think I figured out why this was happening. There was so much built-in dirt on this car, that it was building up on the pad and re-introducing some of this swirling. Now, I don't have 10+ orange pads to use one per panel, and this job became more about getting the built-in dirt off than it did removing swirls. I was able to get about 65% of them out, but think I re-introduced some.
Here's a couple attempted 50/50 shots trying to show the dirt that was coming up:
I know it's really hard to see on a white car on a computer screen. On the first one look to the right of the Honda logo about where the right side of the center brake light ends. On the second, lood for the line about 1/3 the way down from the top of the pic.
Oh, and here's my new tape removal helper:
Here's some other before/afters. Again, hard to pick up sometimes with the white paint.
After:
Before:
After:
This is the front left fender, and actually turned out really well. I had just switched to a new orange pad.
Here's a few finals after applying FMJ:
Like I said, my WB on my camera was waging war with itself.
Did tires and splash guards with Adam's VRT. Hit the cowl and some other areas with Adam's In & Out. Did windows first with Prima Clarity and their short knap MF window cleaning towel, followed by Adam's QD. Really like the Prima Clarity btw. Hit the wheel wells with Adam's undercarriage. Did door jambs with Mequiar's QD. And think that was about it...
Well, I was a little disappointed in myself for not getting all the swirls, but in the end, the car looks much better than it did before as it is back to it's factory color again...white!!! And, like I said, I was able to get most of them out, but some still remained. I'm pretty sure why. The lady was paying for a polish and a wax, not a polish, polish, wax. Also, I don't have a pad per panel in my arsenal either (yet!). The Optimum stuff will have to get a better test run. The Menzerna stuff just seems to give me the right correcting ability, with the right breakdown timing with the Flex.
Oh, and did I mention, I have a 5/8" Edge 2K rotary adapter in the mail for the Flex LK 302 VE rotary I picked up. I'm taking next weekend off on a little vaca with the family, so there'll be no updates next weekend. Let me know if there are any questions.
I just got off the phone with Powerhouse Dist. and as always, the guys up there are super great to work with. I asked about the new BP coming available, and was informed that they have some of a 130mm (5.12") that were passed around as sample BPs. I asked to buy one and have one on the way. The new one coming out is 140mm (5.51") and will not be available for probably a month at the soonest. So, if you want a 5.12" BP, you better call quick because it sounded like they only have 6 or 7 of them. I'm thinking 5.5" pads and larger now.
DJ_JonnyV said:
I ordered a Flex from them today. Dave explained the whole BP issue to me (without my asking) ... which I was already aware of, courtesy of the info here. He told me that the Flex would be shipping from the warehouse with the red BP but that they would be shipping a replacement BP free that was 5" in size. I think that's smaller than the black velcro ones some folks here have received, so it very well may be that they've moved away from the 6" BP and have no more 6" replacement plates.
He also said that they've had the new 5 1/2" BP enroute for a couple weeks now, and that it usually takes about a month to receive product from Germany due to Customs. So, it may be sooner rather than later ... or I could have misunderstood what he said. The part number will be 328-200, and the price will be $14.12. He also shared that it had some cushioning in it, so it probably won't be quite as rigid.
I was thinking "Why not wait until the machines come with the new BP?" In an indirect way, Dave answered my question by saying that Flex North America has several hundred of these polishers on hand and wouldn't re-order until they'd depleted their stock. So, while the new BP may be here shortly, it may be some time before the warehouse stock reflected the new BP.
So, I ordered the Flex and may get the new BP when it arrives. It should have shipped today and I'm expecting it by Friday.
superchargedg
Twin Turbos
Congrats by joining the small but growing comunity of flex users.
The Flex arrived today. Three days from NC to MA, no problems. Came with the red velcro BP. I'll call Powerhouse tomorrow and see when I should receive the replacement plate with the black velcro.
Wow is all I can say!! This is a substantial tool that makes the PC look and feel like a toy! I can't wait to try it out ... hopefully in the next two weeks depending on the weather here (have to polish outside).
On to a couple questions ... the manual says to switch the machine on before placing it on the surface to be polished and run the polisher up to the set speed. I'm thinking that's more like a rotary technique where you lay a strip of polish on the paint and pick it up with the polisher. Are you all doing that or the PC technique (polish on pad, pad on paint, spread the polish w/polisher off, then turn on the polisher)? I can't see having polish on the pad and turning the machine on before the pad is placed on the paint.
Also, have any of you tried the Flex without the handle?
Finally, what kind of storage options are you all using? Jonny, you mentioned a B & D bag/tool cart combo from Costco, but I couldn't find it on their website. Anyone use something else?
Thanks, and I know I'm going to enjoy this machine.
Wow is all I can say!! This is a substantial tool that makes the PC look and feel like a toy! I can't wait to try it out ... hopefully in the next two weeks depending on the weather here (have to polish outside).
On to a couple questions ... the manual says to switch the machine on before placing it on the surface to be polished and run the polisher up to the set speed. I'm thinking that's more like a rotary technique where you lay a strip of polish on the paint and pick it up with the polisher. Are you all doing that or the PC technique (polish on pad, pad on paint, spread the polish w/polisher off, then turn on the polisher)? I can't see having polish on the pad and turning the machine on before the pad is placed on the paint.
Also, have any of you tried the Flex without the handle?
Finally, what kind of storage options are you all using? Jonny, you mentioned a B & D bag/tool cart combo from Costco, but I couldn't find it on their website. Anyone use something else?
Thanks, and I know I'm going to enjoy this machine.
wannafbody
wannafbody
check Big Lots for canvas tool bags
toml said:On to a couple questions ... the manual says to switch the machine on before placing it on the surface to be polished and run the polisher up to the set speed. I'm thinking that's more like a rotary technique where you lay a strip of polish on the paint and pick it up with the polisher. Are you all doing that or the PC technique (polish on pad, pad on paint, spread the polish w/polisher off, then turn on the polisher)? I can't see having polish on the pad and turning the machine on before the pad is placed on the paint.
Also, have any of you tried the Flex without the handle?
Finally, what kind of storage options are you all using? Jonny, you mentioned a B & D bag/tool cart combo from Costco, but I couldn't find it on their website. Anyone use something else?
Thanks, and I know I'm going to enjoy this machine.
Hey, Tomi, glad you like it!!! I don't think we've seen a person not satisfied with it yet. It really is a great machine.
I apply my polish the same way as I would my PC. Polish on pad, spread manually, turn Flex on about speed 2, spread some more, then get to the a$$-kickin'.
As for the handle, I never really put it on. I like it with my left hand (usually) on the top of it right above the pad for better control and maneuverability (sp?).
As for storgage, I found the B&D bag at a local CostCo by my house. It wasn't on their website. You can pick up a tool bag just about anywhere, such as Lowe's. I actually saw some pretty good ones at Sears hardware stores too. Just expect to pay between $30 - $50 for something decent.
Have Fun!!!
wannafbody
wannafbody
Does the Flex have a RO with forced rotation mode?
superchargedg
Twin Turbos
That,s weird mine didnt come with a handle.Im gonna have to call about this.Whoops are we talking about a side handle.
Old Pirate
AMG Classic Car Detailing
I got a chain saw....:chuckle:
zzzzdoc said:
Mine came with the handle on as well. Check the instructions because it shows you how to install the handle. Removing the handle should be just the opposite.
BTW, my 5" BP from Powerhouse (replacement for the red velcro 6" BP) arrived a day after the Flex did along with my invoice. They sure are a class act.