e.pie's DIY detailing thread

oldsaw wrote:

e_pie wrote: ....... my buffer is a DeWalt 849.

Does your DeWalt see double-duty as a sander?

No but it could if I wanted.

e_pie wrote: If it's rust on the paint from something getting on the paint it will buff out, if it's rust coming from the actual car rusting buffing won't really help.

The buffing part was more of a joke- just checking to see if wire wheeling it off, using filler, sanding, painting and clearing is the approved method. Probably not quite appropriate for this thread. Pretty certain it's not all the way through yet.

Teh E36 M3 wrote:

e_pie wrote: If it's rust on the paint from something getting on the paint it will buff out, if it's rust coming from the actual car rusting buffing won't really help.

The buffing part was more of a joke- just checking to see if wire wheeling it off, using filler, sanding, painting and clearing is the approved method. Probably not quite appropriate for this thread. Pretty certain it's not all the way through yet.

Ah, no idea, that's beyond my knowledge.

I'll keep you in mind when I need a car detailed. I am local. You work on Peterson or USAFA?

Jarod wrote: I'll keep you in mind when I need a car detailed. I am local. You work on Peterson or USAFA?

I work at Schriever, but I live near Peterson.

How do those foam pads work on Gel coat?

and any recommendations for Polishing gelcoat?

For certain types of badly oxidized, textured black plastic, I've had good luck with using a heat gun. Be careful, though, and test in a hidden spot first. It can be hard to not leave streaks and to make it even in appearance, but with patience it can be done. Also, once done, it lasts WAY longer than any chemical approach.

e_pie wrote:

Osterkraut wrote: Watching this. I've been using Optimum No Rinse for about a year now...it's magical.

Isn't it? I was skeptical the first time I heard of it, but it's awesome.

I need to find this stuff. Sounds like it would be great for spending a few hours and really cleaning out all my door jambs.

Seems like it would make bikini car washes a lot less fun though.

I used to live in mortal terror of using a rotary buffer, convinced it would rip all the paint off my car. And back in the days of wool pads, they would.

Now, with the foam pads, my dewalt 849 is all I use. Wonderful the job it does.

That said, I still hardly ever wax or even wash my cars. Love the look when I do it, hate the time it takes and the regular maintenance.

In reply to foxtrapper:

Thats kind of why I havent jumped on the buffer bandwagon yet.....Im afraid I'll accidentally the wrong compound or pad and ruin my paint or something.

It takes forever to do it by hand though, long enough that I always procrastinate waxing the car because its such a chore.

I'd like to do it at least once, maybe twice a year, on both our cars, so maybe I need to buy one already.....

With a wool pad and a rotary grinder, I could tear the paint off a car in seconds. Burn it and melt it in a split second. The heat buildup with wool pads is incredible. Hated it, swore I would never do it again.

Then I started seeing things with the foam pads. One guy online in particular, doing demos in response to questions and doubts. Close up detailed shot of him leaning on the foam pad, against high spots and ridges. No damage.

Then at the show with the vendors doing the same thing on their own cars, no damage. Even letting me try it on their car, again, no damage. No heat build up.

I finally got a set myself (mostly because the one lady got tired of my hand wringing and assigned me a set and ordered me to polish my very dusty looking car).

Really, it's worked as well as they say. With the foam pads and the most aggressive polish Meguires sells, I have never burned any paint. The most I can do is further thin very thin and oxided paint.

In reply to e_pie:

Is there a kit you'd recommend for someone who has experience and already owns a buffer?

ronholm wrote: How do those foam pads work on Gel coat? and any recommendations for Polishing gelcoat?

I've never polished gel coat before, I'm not really sure.

failboat wrote: In reply to foxtrapper: Thats kind of why I havent jumped on the buffer bandwagon yet.....Im afraid I'll accidentally the wrong compound or pad and ruin my paint or something. It takes forever to do it by hand though, long enough that I always procrastinate waxing the car because its such a chore. I'd like to do it at least once, maybe twice a year, on both our cars, so maybe I need to buy one already.....

I'ts next to impossible to burn through paint with a DA buffer. You would have to try REALLY hard to do it.

bravenrace wrote: In reply to e_pie: Is there a kit you'd recommend for someone who has experience and already owns a buffer?

I'd just buy thing individually if you already have a buffer. Lake Country Yellow, Orange, Grey, and Blue pads. Optimum Compound, Polish, and 3M Ultrafime Machine polish. Then wax of your choice.

e_pie wrote:

nderwater wrote: e_pie - great photos and write-up, it looks like you're pretty good at this. That NSX is awesome. What do you charge to do a car?

Thanks. It depends on the car, how bad the paint is, and how much painted area there is on the car, a general ballpark is usually around $225-275 though. A full detail usually takes me about 6 hours.

I detail on the side, but for some reason, people around here (RI) really get hesitant to pay much more than $175 for a job. Thus, I never go crazy with a full resurrection. I'll top out at around 5-5.5 hours.

The guys in CA who can get $400 baffle me. I'd KILL to tap into that demographic.

e_pie wrote:

ronholm wrote: How do those foam pads work on Gel coat? and any recommendations for Polishing gelcoat?

I've never polished gel coat before, I'm not really sure.

I have gel coat on my carbon fiber hood. Treat it like you'd treat paint and it'll come out fine. Like paint, very difficult to screw it up with an orbital and foam.

Mine gets cloudy over time, so I have to do it once a year (well, I did when the car was less of a garage queen).

Ah well in that case I may have done gelcoat before on my CF hood before it was painted.

I'll probably never shell out the cash for a buffer, but the paint on the integra is DEAD. Do you think I'd have okay results with claybar + polishing compound (by hand) + wax? Or should I just stop being a cheapc*nt and go buy a HF buffer?

In reply to poopshovel:

Want some "super coupons" for the buffer.. 25 bucks for the cheap cheap HF buffer.. and I think it was 39 bucks for the one with the electronic control...

I bought one of those to try out.

I'll let you know how the pads work on fiberglass... I am waiting for them to show up.. and don't want to bust out the wool... (polishing a hobie cat)

poopshovel wrote: I'll probably never shell out the cash for a buffer, but the paint on the integra is DEAD. Do you think I'd have okay results with claybar + polishing compound (by hand) + wax? Or should I just stop being a cheapc*nt and go buy a HF buffer?

Just get the buffer, your arms with thank you.

I will say though.. I bought it because I wanted the horsepower and extra size for some junk around here...

That Portercable package deal linked to on the first page seems like a better deal for the long run now that I have purchased pads and all the accessories..

Granted I have 'bigger' and more stuff.. but.. uuhh yeah.. This seems like a good deal after I did some shopping around.

http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-porter-cable-kit.html

I bought this one... (super coupon makes it 39.99 right now.. with the two year no BS exchange deal for 9.99 more)

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-electronic-polisher-66615.html?ccdenc=eyJjb2RlIjoiMjEwMTU0NjEiLCJza3UiOiI2NjYxNSIsImlzIjoiMzkuOTkiLCJwcm9kdWN0X2lk%0D%0AIjoiMTk0MSJ9%0D%0A&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1612a&utm_source=1004

And this set of pads...

http://www.autogeek.net/bfpk400.html

And the full line up of Meguiar's Compounds, glazes and wax..

I spent more than the Porter cable kit.. Hopefully I did better...

Partial inspired by this thread, I bought this for $24.99 via a local newspaper coupon 2 days ago. It's a shame I blew another $150 on other crap when I was there, too (nearly all at major sale prices, though).

http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/polishers/7-inch-variable-speed-polisher-sander-92623.html

Seems like I'll get my money's worth out of it.

Any suggestions for cleaning glass? Both inside and outside.

I can never get it to my satisfaction.

OK, I'm a believer now. I just spent some time going to town on my wife's '98 M3/4/5 with my clay bar, some Meguiar's liquid cleaner wax that I already had, and the previously mentioned HF tool (stock pad only). Wow. Even my wife giggled about how good her car looks when I dragged her out to the garage to see the results. I don't think her car's looked this good in the last 10 years. It definitely has that indoor dealer showroom shine and looks more like 4 years old than 14. I'm cheap, and I'll be selective from the list of suggested products, but I'm convinced of the technique, now. Thanks for the advice.

PS. I am cheap. I noticed the pad soaks up a lot of wax and even though my applied coats were VERY thin I probably used about twice as much wax as if I had done it by hand. Do the better pads do the same thing? If so, any tricks to not waste a ton of material?