New Makita Revives 1991 Celica

Craigster

New member
Finally got the new Makita. My old Sears rotary was in poor shape, though I used it on boats, I wouldn't trust it near cars. Since the PC was not cutting it " :lol " for me lately, I picked up the Makita. After 16 years together, I guess Diane knew that look in my eye when I verntured outside yesterday....

Im sorry there are no before pics. Of course the camera battery was dead when I started. Trust me though, this car was horrible. It is our station/NYC car and sits either at a LIRR train station or in a side street in the bowels of Queens near the subway. It hasn't seen any real exterior care in about 5 years. It has been hit, dinged, sat on, pigeon bombed, used as a couch by bums and winos...you get the picture. But we just leave it messed up, less likely to be broken into at least. Well, after a few hours of:

Wash
Optimum Polish - Orange LC pad
Optimum Polish - White LC Pad
NXT via PC Blue Sonus Pad

I chose the Optimum as it has a long work time and its cut is determined by the pad used. I thought it would work better for me out of the gate as opposed to something say like FPII. I was truly amazed at the results -

di1.jpg


di2.jpg


di3.jpg


di4.jpg




It took me about 10 minutes to re-adjust to a good machine. The bail on the Makita helped that a lot as it allowed me to get just the right hand placement to move the machine how I wanted, instead of how it wanted to go. I was floored at how the swirls and most scratches disappeared. For anyone thiking about a good rotary, dont wait...Grab one, find a friend or relative with a bad paint job and give it a try. You'll be amazed at what you can do with the rotary and the great products available to use.
 
That came out real nice. :bigups
Now you can't use it as a station car... they are supposed to look crummy :lol

"J"
 
That car looks amazing! I really like those older celicas!

Kind of off topic, but how does the car drive? I had a 94 celica (after your body style) and I totally admired that cars handeling and gas milage. If I could get that great handeling and gas milage back out of that older body style, Ill be looking for my gas saver ASAP! Is that car a GT or a GTS?

Great job!
 
Craigster said:
Did you try it out?

You're going to love it.

I have used it on my test panel and am a little nervous to use it on a car yet.
I dont want to burn the paint.

Greg
 
Borgus,

Its a GT. Still starts and handles great, though it creeks and moans abit. Gas mileage is about 25 in the city and we still can get about 35 on the road, but we hardly use it. Di likes riding in the Mach...Cant say I blame her...

Greg,

Try the Optimum Polish with a white or grey pad using like 2 or 2.5 at most. The OP works a long time so you dont have to worry about it dusting too quickly. You have it in no time. After seeing what you've done before, you'll be the rotary king before you know it!!
 
Someone was paying close attention to Sean. Looks like he's out of a detailing gig at your place :) That looks EXCELLENT! How long did it take to polish?
 
GregCavi said:
I have used it on my test panel and am a little nervous to use it on a car yet.
I dont want to burn the paint.

Greg
Don't worry about it, I laid into mine pretty hard today to get some deeper stuff out on the Taurus and there's not a burn mark that I can find. Just keep it moving (not too fast) and you'll be fine. Once you take the leap you'll be glad you did.
 
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