Just got..

[Mobb]

A few things from Cleanyourcar...

Just generally wanted to clarify if my thoughts and procedures are correct.

Heres what I have;

3M Complete Rotary Kit; Which consists of:

1 x 3M Rotary Polisher
1 x 3M 125mm Ultra soft Backing Plate
1 x 3M Fast Cut Plus - 1 litre
1 x 3M Extra Fine Polish - 1 litre
1 x 3M Ultrafina Finishing polish - 1 litre
1 x 3M Green Compounding Pad
1 x 3M Yelow Polishing Pad
1 x 3M Finishing Pad

Aside from that I also got a few mits, cloths, sprays, glass cleaner, snowfoam and lance, bucket, clay and a massive waffle drying towel.

Now the question is do I simply use the rotary as it states?

Green pad with fast cut plus
Yellow pad with yellow extra fine polish
Finishing pad with the ultrafina polish

I know that I have to foam the car, wash off, ironx the wheels and lower halfs, rinse, wash whole car, clay then dry before I start polishing.

 

[Alex]

I have the same kit and rotary as you and I use it on a "B/C" setting and exactly as you stated (green, yellow, blue - in this progression).
I also have a set of smaller 3M pads (same colours) which I use on wheels and interior wood trim.

 

[Mobb]

Great

Do you get good results? Thinking of starting this tomorrow.. How long did it take you?

Where did you get the smaller pads from for the interior? I need some.

 

[Alex]

75mm pads and plate were from Cleanyourcar. For better result I had removed all wood pieces from the car before I polished them. It's pretty straight forward, but I must admit I took a lesson or two from my local crash repair shop.

 

[mikec32]

Sounds like a good setup bud!

I use the 3m rotary for my back up and love the 3M pad and polish range. Except the compounding pad (green) as there so hard, there rubbish for curvy cars such as porsche etc. Hence I use LC wool pads as they make 2 types of wool pads for aggressiveness, they produce minimal heat and fle4x around everything. But thats just a personal preference.

But im guessing you have use a rotary before? If not obviously practice on spare panels and read this front to back a million times.

Machine Polishing by Rotary Polisher - Full Guide - - Detailing World -

also b/c speed is far to slow unless thats for ultrafina, on the 3m rotary.

Cheers

Mike

 

[mikec32]

The spot pads are also not made for interior machine polishing. These are obviously for small areas such as bumpers with vents and grills, slim side skirts, some times spoilers etc. Remember the spot pads, being small, will not cut as quickly as the larger pads so you must work them for longer to generate heat in order to brake down the abrasives. not saying though you cant use them for wood and metal areas of interior of cars etc.

 

[mikec32]

Have to start a thread on detailing armoury to see what members like to use on there pride and joys!

 

[Mobb]

I dont have any experience with using a rotary or a DA, I have read that guide loads of times and will read it again before doing anything.

I plan to start on my boot and after hopefully getting good results on that I will move on to the rest of the car. I figured that It would be a safe bet to start on the boot? As its a fairly easy area, being flat and also would be the best area to start considering it can replaced easier than anything else on the car.

Will have to have a look for the those spot pads on CYC.

@Alx - So using that progression what kind of results did you get? Did you have many defects before starting? Were they all gone after?

Also did you use the same compounds and polishes as used on paintwork on the wood finishes inside the car?

 

[Alex]

@Alx - So using that progression what kind of results did you get? Did you have many defects before starting? Were they all gone after?

Also did you use the same compounds and polishes as used on paintwork on the wood finishes inside the car?

I never had to do the whole car as I decided to have it resprayed last year. Rotary simply helps me keeping it scratch free. It is impossible to get rid of all defects so respray might be eventually a better option.

ML's interior has plenty of wood trim that is usually scratched and covered in swirls. I spent a day polishing it out to perfection. Luckily there's plenty of lacquer on top so I just took my time and worked one part at a time. I used the same 3 compounds, just smaller 75mm pads. Since it's been done I used 3M Rosa Pink polish with pink cloth to keep it pristine.

 

[Mobb]

I never had to do the whole car as I decided to have it resprayed last year. Rotary simply helps me keeping it scratch free. It is impossible to get rid of all defects so respray might be eventually a better option.

ML's interior has plenty of wood trim that is usually scratched and covered in swirls. I spent a day polishing it out to perfection. Luckily there's plenty of lacquer on top so I just took my time and worked one part at a time. I used the same 3 compounds, just smaller 75mm pads. Since it's been done I used 3M Rosa Pink polish with pink cloth to keep it pristine.

Im not looking to remove heavy defects as there isn't any.. Just small scratches and swirl marks.

Ill have to buy some of the smaller pads and get to removing the trim and polishing it.. Where do you get your products from?

 

[Alex]

3M stuff from 3M direct : 3M Select - Car Care Products
Everything else from CYC and the like.

 

[Mobb]

Thanks ^

Lastly will my sequence be correct and effective?


Use green pad with green cutting compound a pass at a time waiting until the compound goes clear, then wipe of with a cloth, make sure the defects are gone (swirls etc) if not go at it again... then use the yellow pad and polish, finally followed by blue pad and polish..

OR

Use green pad and polish ~ wipe off, followed by yellow pad and polish ~ wipe off followed by blue pad and polish then wipe off, if the defects remain, go at it again until I get the results I want.

Which one is correct?

 

[300CE]

Hi Mobb, i used a DA for the first time the other week. I started off using the least aggressive pad/polish and was amazed by the results (i finished the whole car with this). You could try this first and if your not happy with the results, try the next pad/polish up.

 

[Alex]

Thanks ^

Lastly will my sequence be correct and effective?


Use green pad with green cutting compound a pass at a time waiting until the compound goes clear, then wipe of with a cloth, make sure the defects are gone (swirls etc) if not go at it again... then use the yellow pad and polish, finally followed by blue pad and polish..

OR

Use green pad and polish ~ wipe off, followed by yellow pad and polish ~ wipe off followed by blue pad and polish then wipe off, if the defects remain, go at it again until I get the results I want.

Which one is correct?

I personally do it as per your second scenario. You should see the difference as you go, so if not happy, just use a bit more compound and try again. Yellow and blue are quite mild anyway. If you can still see scratches/swirls after the green one, the other two will hardly help.

 

[Mobb]

I personally do it as per your second scenario. You should see the difference as you go, so if not happy, just use a bit more compound and try again. Yellow and blue are quite mild anyway. If you can still see scratches/swirls after the green one, the other two will hardly help.

Thankyou

 

[adam87]

Make sure you wipe down with IPA after each polishing stage so you get a true finish and not one filled with the polish.