Results of Vector circular polisher

J

JHowell1976

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For those that don't know, last week I picked up one of those inexpensive Vector circular polishers. I also picked up a 3M 7 inch hookit back plate, 3M hookit white foam compounding pad, 3M hookit wool compounding pad, and two 3M hookit grey polishing pads. I didn't get the wool pad at first. I used the machine on my miata and it turned out very nice. I then went and bought the wool pad and decided I a: needed to practice using the wool pad on something that didn't matter if I damaged the paint, and b: I wanted something with really crappy, neglected paint. Enter the 1987 Massey-Ferguson model 1045 light duty farm tractor with red paint. I took all of the pictures after I had finished the job. This picture is of one of the rear fenders to show just how bad the paint was on the entire thing.
 

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I only cleaned up the hood as the polisher pads are rather expensive, and let's face it, it's a tractor. To begin, I simply wiped down the hood with some detailer spray that was laying around. I didn't exactly worry about removing the wax build up since it's never seen wax, and I didn't feel like doing the whole dish soap charade. After that I used the 3M wool pad along with some 3M rubbing compund on the entire hood. I ran the buffer at about 1200 RPM. Once the hood had been compounded I removed the remaining compound residue with a standard red shop towel, because it's a tractor and tractors don't get microfiber. Then I put one of the grey polish pads on the buffer and broke out the 3M swirl mark remover to use as polish. At this point I decided to commit to doing this hood proper because it was already looking so good I wanted to see how far I could take it. This is a picture of the finished hood. In the next post I'll explain what else I did
 

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Like I said I decided to take it all the way. So after the swirl mark remover, on went some Meg's #7(I believe) show car glaze (I think that's what they call it, I know it's a glaze though.) Then I wasn't about to let my work from the past hour go to waste, so on went two layers of Klasse AIO, and finally a layer of Klasse SG. I know it's overkill but I just wanted to see ho far I could take it. Here's another picture of the hood.
 

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These are the results of a 50$ buffer. But the buffer is only one factor here. I didn't hesitate to shell out big money on high quality pads and a backing plate. The total cost for those was about 150$. Also people tend to be nervous about using the wool pads. I wouldn't use one if I didn't have to. But if I had to use one no big deal. Of all of the pads I found the wool to be the easiest to control even at up to 1500 RPM. I also used the swirl mark remover at about 1500 RPM. I burned the paint in one spot and I knew I did. It happened because I didn't keep the buffer moving. But it's a small spot on an edge. The Klasse SG was a PITA to buff by hand, so I took out a cheap terry bonnet and put it right on the backing plate, and took of the remaining SG at about 2000 RPM. You'll notice that the stickers on the sides are in poor shape, but I was surprised to see that the polisher even rounded down the edges of the cracks on the stickers. This final shot is the hood finished. It also shows the red cover for the instruments and fuel tank that I didn't polish. Notice the difference. Tell me what you think people.
 

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JHowell1976 said:
and I didn't feel like doing the whole dish soap charade... I removed the remaining compound residue with a standard red shop towel, because it's a tractor and tractors don't get microfiber.
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You sir are quite funny!! Thanks for making me laugh.



Oh and excellent job on the tractor. It looks impeccable!
 
JHowell,



Great write-up and pics! I'm still laughing about the line "because it's a tractor, and tractor's don't get microfiber"! :) The Vector seems to be a pretty viable tool for the weekend warrior. I'm going to drop in Terry and the fine folks at Proper Auto Care over the Christmas break and pick up one of the Vector's, along with pads/backing plate.

A couple of quick questions: Was this the first rotary you've ever used? And did you get a lot of product sling from the rotary?



Thanks,



David
 
Actually it was the first buffer of any sort that I used. The foam pads seem more prone to slinging than the wool. If you have an autozone nearby you can save a little money and pick up one there, they are a bit cheaper than Proper Auto Care plus you don't have to wait. And you can get good quality pads right away if there is a Carquest in your neighborhood.
 
JHowell1976 said:
Like I said I decided to take it all the way. So after the swirl mark remover, on went some Meg's #7(I believe) show car glaze (I think that's what they call it, I know it's a glaze though.) Then I wasn't about to let my work from the past hour go to waste, so on went two layers of Klasse AIO, and finally a layer of Klasse SG. I know it's overkill but I just wanted to see ho far I could take it. Here's another picture of the hood.
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why did you use #7 and then AIO? the AIO would just remove the #7.
 
I did that step not thinking. I suppose I could have skipped it. Doesn't matter anyway. It only added maybe 5 minutes to the procedure.
 
Fine job. Everyone should have a tractor to practice upon! The fact that you KNEW you were burning an area is a GOOD thing! Now you know!



Good selection of products... are you taking the tractor on tour?



Jim
 
Well, I have plenty of test subjects myself: lawn tractor, two real tractors, very rusty 1986 GMC Jimmy [still some spots to polish, though :)], and my dad's 1991 GMC 2500 Extra Surface Area Edition [extended cab, long box]. By then, I hope I'll feel comfortable enough to go onto my car, a 1990 Honda. :)



Good job on the tractor, I'll be sure to post all my progress!
 
Good selection of products... are you taking the tractor on tour?
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I don't know about going on tour, but I think maybe I'll get the 54's on the back chromed. After that some HID headlights, I was also thinking of maybe a turbo but then I just thought, well I can just put on some stickers from a company that makes turbos, those alone are good for a few horses right? It's already got a 12 speed trans and fully locking rear. The hydraulics it already has will put the b*tch slap down on any gangsta-rappin hoodrat or 17 year old riceboy. But then I'm gonna have the head and intake extrude honed, put in some larger fuel injectors (yes it has fuel injection) and maybe add a propane fogger (it's a diesel.) And to those people who think I'm going to do all of that, after I'm finished I'm going to go smoke some crack with a 12 year old Malaysian hooker.
 
In all honesty though, a tractor is a great object to practice on. They have large flat surfaces with no unnecessary trim to get in the way. Most have neglected paint, but even though it's been neglected, the paint is very durable. Most of the farmers I see around here have tractors that are fifteen years or more older then the one I have and they still have paint that can be worked on, but if it gets damaged, who cares? And you can go down to the local Massey-Ferguson, John Deere, or Case dealer and pick up new paint already mixed and ready to be sprayed and I don't think Massey-Ferguson red has changed in the past fifty or sixty years. And you know what else? You just might be white trash if you know as much about tractors as I do.
 
I've always wanted to repaint Dad's Massey for him. The paint is almost 30 years old, so it could use it. There aren't a whole lot of things to paint either, hood/cowl, fenders and a couple miscellaneous pieces.
 
Scott P said:
I've always wanted to repaint Dad's Massey for him. The paint is almost 30 years old, so it could use it. There aren't a whole lot of things to paint either, hood/cowl, fenders and a couple miscellaneous pieces.
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If you have a nearby Massey dealer, then you have paint. I'm seriously giving this some thought just as a way to get a little practice actually painting something. But they sell the paint for use in your own spray gun, or in spray cans, they have the primer, etc. I need to do some fairly aggressive rust removal on this one. It's one of the japanese made Massey's, and at that time the Japanese didn't exactley have a quality process for galvanizing steel. As old as your father's is, it must be British. If I decide to do this I'll let you know. But if I do it, I'm going to replace the decals on the sides which I'm sure will become rather pricy. I'll also have to get the furnace in the garage operational so I can have some consistent temps to work in.
 
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