First time using a DA

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MrLCA

MrLCA

Active Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2020
Messages
95
Location
Stevenage
Car
2011 C250 CDI
Evening all.

Had a rare day off today to myself so thought I would give the car a good compound and polish. I bought a dual action polisher a few weeks back in preparation. I have been watching loads of videos on how to do it and what not to do and have been inspired by @LeeJV 's recent posts in the detailing section.

I must say it took much much longer than anticipated. Before I put the pictures up I'll just run through my method.

1. Pre rinsed with the hose (lots of sandy dust on the car)
2. Sprayed fallout remover (Bilt Hamber korrosol) all around the lower half of the car.
3. Sprayed Bilt Hamber snow foam over the top of this and let dwel.
4. Rinsed with pressure washer.
5. Contact washed the car using Bilt Hamber car wash and the multi mitt method so that I was never putting grit back onto the paint work.
6. Hand dried.
7. Clay bar'd the entire car.
8. Used Auto Glym tar remover on the side skirts and the bottom of the rear bumper as these were still feeling rough even after clay.
9. Snow foamed the car again as it was now covered in a clay and lube mess, rinsed and dried.

So now the car was prepped I moved onto cutting. I used Meguiars ultimate compound and various pads to find which worked best. I ended up using a firmer pad for most of it as I was finding that it was taking ages to get any half decent results. Is Mercedes paint rock hard? I also found that it was really really messy. Loads of dust came off the pad and proceeded to cover the the rest of the car. Any way. Here are some before and afters. By no means perfect but I'm pretty happy with my first attempt.

Bonnet before
IMG_20210309_112033.jpg

Bonnet after.
IMG_20210309_131405.jpg

Boot lid before.
IMG_20210309_132401.jpg
Boot lid after.
IMG_20210309_134853.jpg

As I said. Pretty happy with my first go. Gave it a good coat of Meguiars ultimate liquid wax to finish off. Definitely more that can be done. All in time for it to chuck it down tomorrow!


Screenshot_20210309-192336.jpg
 
Can I ask which Da you used, been thinking of getting one as the wife's black Ml could do with a good going over.
 
Looks great, I guess it’s all on the prep. “Machine polished” my car the other day doesn’t seem to cut it for the amount of work undertaken.
 
Well done I have never had the courage to use a polisher I was given,it is not a orbital one and looks like a angle grinder but with much slower speeds,good to see you got some decent results .
 
MrLCA said:
Evening all.

Had a rare day off today to myself so thought I would give the car a good compound and polish. I bought a dual action polisher a few weeks back in preparation. I have been watching loads of videos on how to do it and what not to do and have been inspired by @LeeJV 's recent posts in the detailing section.

I must say it took much much longer than anticipated. Before I put the pictures up I'll just run through my method.

1. Pre rinsed with the hose (lots of sandy dust on the car)
2. Sprayed fallout remover (Bilt Hamber korrosol) all around the lower half of the car.
3. Sprayed Bilt Hamber snow foam over the top of this and let dwel.
4. Rinsed with pressure washer.
5. Contact washed the car using Bilt Hamber car wash and the multi mitt method so that I was never putting grit back onto the paint work.
6. Hand dried.
7. Clay bar'd the entire car.
8. Used Auto Glym tar remover on the side skirts and the bottom of the rear bumper as these were still feeling rough even after clay.
9. Snow foamed the car again as it was now covered in a clay and lube mess, rinsed and dried.

So now the car was prepped I moved onto cutting. I used Meguiars ultimate compound and various pads to find which worked best. I ended up using a firmer pad for most of it as I was finding that it was taking ages to get any half decent results. Is Mercedes paint rock hard? I also found that it was really really messy. Loads of dust came off the pad and proceeded to cover the the rest of the car. Any way. Here are some before and afters. By no means perfect but I'm pretty happy with my first attempt.

Bonnet before
View attachment 110233

Bonnet after.
View attachment 110235

Boot lid before.
View attachment 110236
Boot lid after.
View attachment 110237

As I said. Pretty happy with my first go. Gave it a good coat of Meguiars ultimate liquid wax to finish off. Definitely more that can be done. All in time for it to chuck it down tomorrow!


View attachment 110238
Click to expand...
Hey buddy, congrats on taking the plunge, it's great to see people having a go themselves, it can be a little daunting at first, it seems to take an age for a while untill you become more confident.

Just some further tips for you here buddy, I'm not criticising in anyway, but this will help for the future

1. Don't prior rinse the paint. Just go straight on with your Autofaom @4% PIR. Dwell, rinse.
Then your contact wash.
2, once you have fully washed and dried the car then apply tar remover, allow to dwell untill you see the tar starting to run, then follow up with a MF towel to get an even covering, PW off
3.then Fallout remover in the same process as Tar., following with a wipe down and wash off.
This process makes the clay process more effective and safe.
4.you dont need to dry the car prior to Clay.
Use your lubricant or shampoo in a spray bottle with each section .
You can then foam again and PW rinse off to remove any remaining shampoo or lubricant, or you can IPA the panel when drying as this will evaporate while also removing any other chemical residue left on the paint.

ideally it makes life easier if you mask up any sensitive trims and rubber to help prevent damage and aslo limits pad contamination from the rubber sections.


now your ready to start the Paint correction.

This stage alone will take atleast 1 to 2 days for a minor correction, so don't beat yourself up buddy.

It always helps to prime the pad with some compound 1st other wise the pad itself will absorb the polish and dust faster.. then brush the pad out after each polish set to remove dust and compound, this helps maintain the pads cutting ability and reduces dusting. The more pads you have, the better, esp if they are sponge as they are harder to clean out after each set.

Mercedes paint is hard, trying to do it with a Da is very time consuming and will limit your results, so you should be pleased with your efforts matey, to do all that in a day takes some real effort.

Once you finish your single stage PC ideally wipe down each panel with IPa again to remove the polish oils before applying the wax, this will help the bonding of your LSP..
Great work , congrats for taking the plunge it's hard work, and admire your efforts buddy.

Shall look forward to seeing some more of your work.
 
LeeJV said:
Hey buddy, congrats on taking the plunge, it's great to see people having a go themselves, it can be a little daunting at first, it seems to take an age for a while untill you become more confident.

Just some further tips for you here buddy, I'm not criticising in anyway, but this will help for the future

1. Don't prior rinse the paint. Just go straight on with your Autofaom @4% PIR. Dwell, rinse.
Then your contact wash.
2, once you have fully washed and dried the car then apply tar remover, allow to dwell untill you see the tar starting to run, then follow up with a MF towel to get an even covering, PW off
3.then Fallout remover in the same process as Tar., following with a wipe down and wash off.
This process makes the clay process more effective and safe.
4.you dont need to dry the car prior to Clay.
Use your lubricant or shampoo in a spray bottle with each section .
You can then foam again and PW rinse off to remove any remaining shampoo or lubricant, or you can IPA the panel when drying as this will evaporate while also removing any other chemical residue left on the paint.

ideally it makes life easier if you mask up any sensitive trims and rubber to help prevent damage and aslo limits pad contamination from the rubber sections.


now your ready to start the Paint correction.

This stage alone will take atleast 1 to 2 days for a minor correction, so don't beat yourself up buddy.

It always helps to prime the pad with some compound 1st other wise the pad itself will absorb the polish and dust faster.. then brush the pad out after each polish set to remove dust and compound, this helps maintain the pads cutting ability and reduces dusting. The more pads you have, the better, esp if they are sponge as they are harder to clean out after each set.

Mercedes paint is hard, trying to do it with a Da is very time consuming and will limit your results, so you should be pleased with your efforts matey, to do all that in a day takes some real effort.

Once you finish your single stage PC ideally wipe down each panel with IPa again to remove the polish oils before applying the wax, this will help the bonding of your LSP..
Great work , congrats for taking the plunge it's hard work, and admire your efforts buddy.

Shall look forward to seeing some more of your work.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback. Definitely need to get some IPA as getting all the polishing oils off was effort. Cheers for the tips on process. Makes much more sense than the way I did it :) .

I can see why it will take a good few days to do properly now. Do you have any tips on how to cut faster? Harder pad? Harsher compound?

Also, any tips on working out PIR?

Thanks.
 
MrLCA said:
Thanks for the feedback. Definitely need to get some IPA as getting all the polishing oils off was effort. Cheers for the tips on process. Makes much more sense than the way I did it :) .

I can see why it will take a good few days to do properly now. Do you have any tips on how to cut faster? Harder pad? Harsher compound?

Also, any tips on working out PIR?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Hey buddy
If using a da, there really isn't a fast way to cut, they key with a free spinning Da is to keep the pad spinning, the pad will stall with too much pressure, most cutting compound need a rotary or forced Rotation DA, but as weekend enthusiast it will work out very expensive.
I generally use Koch chemie compounds, or Menzerna, Anglewax also do a fantastic single stage compound polish that will work on hard paint with a medium cutting pad suited for Da. Wool pads are the best for cutting hard paint but will leave pig tails esp on a free spinning DA, so you need to refine that again with a finish compund set.

For a single stage correction on a Da Scholl S20 on a medium/ hard pad will finish well, as would Koch chemie F6 matched up with a short pile MF pad, but again its harder with a Da. Keep the speed around 5 on a da for cutting, wipe down, then wipe down again with IPA to get the true finish.
Open cell pads are better suited for a da or MF pads, the shorter the throw of the machine the better your cut will be.
If your looking for a perfect finish you'll need a minimum of a 2stage correction, it all takes practice buddy.

As for working out PIR,
Its really simple buddy.
Fill your cannon with water. Then empty this via the JW into a bucket with your PA adjuster turn fully clockwise, Measure the total amount of water in the bucket. For instance if you have say 10ltrs of water, 10,000ml × 0.04 =400ml product to 600ml water in your cannon.
 
LeeJV said:
Hey buddy
If using a da, there really isn't a fast way to cut, they key with a free spinning Da is to keep the pad spinning, the pad will stall with too much pressure, most cutting compound need a rotary or forced Rotation DA, but as weekend enthusiast it will work out very expensive.
I generally use Koch chemie compounds, or Menzerna, Anglewax also do a fantastic single stage compound polish that will work on hard paint with a medium cutting pad suited for Da. Wool pads are the best for cutting hard paint but will leave pig tails esp on a free spinning DA, so you need to refine that again with a finish compund set.

For a single stage correction on a Da Scholl S20 on a medium/ hard pad will finish well, as would Koch chemie F6 matched up with a short pile MF pad, but again its harder with a Da. Keep the speed around 5 on a da for cutting, wipe down, then wipe down again with IPA to get the true finish.
Open cell pads are better suited for a da or MF pads, the shorter the throw of the machine the better your cut will be.
If your looking for a perfect finish you'll need a minimum of a 2stage correction, it all takes practice buddy.

As for working out PIR,
Its really simple buddy.
Fill your cannon with water. Then empty this via the JW into a bucket with your PA adjuster turn fully clockwise, Measure the total amount of water in the bucket. For instance if you have say 10ltrs of water, 10,000ml × 0.04 =400ml product to 600ml water in your cannon.
Click to expand...
Brilliant. Thanks for the info! This has been a great help and will definitely give me a better understanding next time I give it a go :)
 
LeeJV said:
If using a da, there really isn't a fast way to cut, they key with a free spinning Da is to keep the pad spinning, the pad will stall with too much pressure.
Click to expand...
If you use a wide felt marker to put a line on the rear edge of the backing plate, you can immediately see if the pad has stopped spinning and adjust you downward pressure accordingly.
 
Good point buddy, forgot to mention that👌
 
MrLCA said:
Evening all.

Had a rare day off today to myself so thought I would give the car a good compound and polish. I bought a dual action polisher a few weeks back in preparation. I have been watching loads of videos on how to do it and what not to do and have been inspired by @LeeJV 's recent posts in the detailing section.

I must say it took much much longer than anticipated. Before I put the pictures up I'll just run through my method.

1. Pre rinsed with the hose (lots of sandy dust on the car)
2. Sprayed fallout remover (Bilt Hamber korrosol) all around the lower half of the car.
3. Sprayed Bilt Hamber snow foam over the top of this and let dwel.
4. Rinsed with pressure washer.
5. Contact washed the car using Bilt Hamber car wash and the multi mitt method so that I was never putting grit back onto the paint work.
6. Hand dried.
7. Clay bar'd the entire car.
8. Used Auto Glym tar remover on the side skirts and the bottom of the rear bumper as these were still feeling rough even after clay.
9. Snow foamed the car again as it was now covered in a clay and lube mess, rinsed and dried.

So now the car was prepped I moved onto cutting. I used Meguiars ultimate compound and various pads to find which worked best. I ended up using a firmer pad for most of it as I was finding that it was taking ages to get any half decent results. Is Mercedes paint rock hard? I also found that it was really really messy. Loads of dust came off the pad and proceeded to cover the the rest of the car. Any way. Here are some before and afters. By no means perfect but I'm pretty happy with my first attempt.

Bonnet before
View attachment 110233

Bonnet after.
View attachment 110235

Boot lid before.
View attachment 110236
Boot lid after.
View attachment 110237

As I said. Pretty happy with my first go. Gave it a good coat of Meguiars ultimate liquid wax to finish off. Definitely more that can be done. All in time for it to chuck it down tomorrow!


View attachment 110238
Click to expand...
Hi you would be better using a wool pad than a foam one as the wool one cuts a lot better and doesn't produce as much heat than I foam one also th da takes a bit longer to do the job compared to the rotary saying that the da is a lot better and safer if you have never used one before
 
A wool pad on a DA for a first time user! Is that wise Captain Mainwaring? Although Mercedes clearcoat is some of the hardest on the planet, it is always wise to remember you can't put back what you take off. The number one rule is to start with the least abrasive combination and work your way up until you find a combo that JUST solves the problem. It is always best to leave enough meat on the bone to fight another day. Although you are unlikely to burn through the clearcoat, it is best practice to tape over the edges of panels because this where the clearcoat is thinnest.
 
Years ago, my dad used to polish his car, a Mk2 Cortina in dark blue, with Tcut...looked lovely with grey primer showing through the swage lines...
 
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