Thread: First Go With DA

im easing into learning to machine polish so my brother needed his run about brought back a bit
bare in mind this is my first time and the car was in a pretty poor state appart from the obvious faded laquer its full of scratches/swirls my brother wasnt too concerned about the swirls etc jus wanted it back to origional colour
products used were
Menzerna - Fast Gloss S500
Menzerna - Compound Foam Pad (White)
FinishKare #2180 - Ultra Polymer Sealant
Meguiars Deep Crystal Step 3 - Carnauba Wax

some 50/50 pics





was gunna take some pics of the finished product outside but the weatherman thought otherwise will try get some when it brightens up
not too bad results for a first attepmt and just for a colour restore not a full correction

good effort matey boy we'll have you doing your own car in no time

not tha brave yet fella maybe in time lol

Yeah Matey, good effort there. Massive improvement on what you had to begin with. I'm sure your brother will be very happy indeed with what you've done. I bought myself a Kestrel DAS-6 and it sat there for ages until I plucked up enough courage to give it a go, lol. Takes a bit of practise and getting used to, but looks like you've got the hang of it already. Not a buffer trail in sight! Nice one!

thanks Paullie i was lucky i had his car to practise on would never have the courage to try it on mine lol

Originally Posted by drmole

thanks Paullie i was lucky i had his car to practise on would never have the courage to try it on mine lol

Haha, funny that. I did the same Dude, gave my Dad's a bit of a polish for him and it turned out okay, so did my own next, lol.

lol still not tha brave ill be the old mans next before mine as they say 3rd time lucky lol

yeah get ya practice in before you atempt your car dude otherwise it could look like this remember helen's car after it had been attacked by a novice

i missed tha at inters thought colin and grant sorted it for her who undone their hard work lol god eeekkk!

she had it resprayed as it was full of stone chips and stuff i couldnt beleve my eyes when i saw it in the sunshine i would be kicking down the door of the place who do it if i was her

thas bad
bet colin and grant are gutted

yeah i think they were as they had it looking very nice

and Colin said the bonnet was the hardest to correct too ouch

well shouldnt be that hard now as its new paint lol not the old vag hard as nails paint lol , i did a skoda octavia estate in work a few weeks back and my god my arms were falling off by the time i had done the bodywork on it hard as feck paint on it haha

Originally Posted by drmole

im easing into learning to machine polish so my brother needed his run about brought back a bit
bare in mind this is my first time and the car was in a pretty poor state appart from the obvious faded laquer its full of scratches/swirls my brother wasnt too concerned about the swirls etc jus wanted it back to origional colour
products used were
Menzerna - Fast Gloss S500
Menzerna - Compound Foam Pad (White)
FinishKare #2180 - Ultra Polymer Sealant
Meguiars Deep Crystal Step 3 - Carnauba Wax

Did you use FG500 with a white pad on a Vauxhall? That is WAY too aggressive. The polish and pad choice you've used, I'd only use on a seriously badly affected VAG car (which has very hard paint). The Vauxhall has very soft paint and using a polish and pad combination like this on it will have removed a lot of paint and probably micromarred the surface quite a lot.

On our cut scale, FG500 has a score of 10/10 (maximum cut). For a Vauxhall, I'd be starting with 85RE (2/10) Menzerna Super Finish (85RE) | Menzerna Car Care & Detailing Products on a green pad: Lake Country 140 mm Constant Pressure Pads | Lake Country Car Care & Detailing Products

Working up, if needed, to 203S (6/10 but with more fragile abrasives) Menzerna Power Finish (203S) | Menzerna Car Care & Detailing Products on an orange pad: Lake Country 140 mm Constant Pressure Pads | Lake Country Car Care & Detailing Products

Our guide here might help too: What Polish Should I Use? | Car Care Advice | Polished Bliss

Originally Posted by FranA3

yeah get ya practice in before you atempt your car dude otherwise it could look like this remember helen's car after it had been attacked by a novice

Those marks have been caused by a rotary machine, not a Dual Action machine. They are the result of too aggressive a polish not being worked properly - we're seeing a lot of this now as so many people who have a machine think they're detailers and then go and do this to someone's car: if you do go to a detailer, check they're insured first! That tends to give you an indication if they're serious or not.

We're finding it's the 'weekend warrior' types, who reckon they can correct a car in a day, who cause the most damage; most of them don't even have a paint depth gauge so they're machining paint without knowing how much paint they're taking off or even if they're about to burn through the lacquer.

thanks john great advice n product support as I said mind only FIRST time and the paint was badly damaged do I think a milder compound would have still worked given how bad the paint was cheers

Originally Posted by drmole

thanks john great advice n product support as I said mind only FIRST time and the paint was badly damaged do I think a milder compound would have still worked given how bad the paint was cheers

I think 203S and the orange pad would've worked and would have removed less paint etc.

Best practice is to always start with the least aggressive combination you can get away with an work up from there until you find the 'sweet spot'.

Hopefully it'll make things easier for you in the future - as ever, if there's anything you'd like to check, just ask either here or via email or phone.

thanks again john next up is the old mans golf in silver will order a less aggressive compound 2day

The Golf is hard paint so I'd suggest starting with the Menzerna Orange pad and Menzerna RD3.02. Step up to the white pad for areas which need more correction.

Refine it down with Menzerna 85RE on the Menzerna Yellow pad.

awesome thanks john ljcky I got cars to practice on lol

Just reading through this thread. I'm intending to get myself a PB DAS-6 Hard Paint Polishing Kit | Machine Polishing Kit For Cars With Hard Paint later in the year. So far I've only ever clayed/polished/waxed my S3 by hand, but want to move on to the next level with a DA machine polisher. To be honest, from reading up and looking on here & the DW forum, it looks pretty straightforward to me so long as you're sensible about it. My car has all original paintwork and hasn't been machine polished before, so paint depth should be fine.

I don't want to over-simplify it and make a mess of the car, but surely machine polishing (to a satisfactory if not "professional" level) is a case of using the right equipment with a good dose of common sense?

Am I right? What are the risks to watch out for?

pretty much and mainley its about taking ur time and doing it in stages

Originally Posted by John @ PB

Did you use FG500 with a white pad on a Vauxhall? That is WAY too aggressive. The polish and pad choice you've used, I'd only use on a seriously badly affected VAG car (which has very hard paint). The Vauxhall has very soft paint and using a polish and pad combination like this on it will have removed a lot of paint and probably micromarred the surface quite a lot.

On our cut scale, FG500 has a score of 10/10 (maximum cut). For a Vauxhall, I'd be starting with 85RE (2/10) Menzerna Super Finish (85RE) | Menzerna Car Care & Detailing Products on a green pad: Lake Country 140 mm Constant Pressure Pads | Lake Country Car Care & Detailing Products

Working up, if needed, to 203S (6/10 but with more fragile abrasives) Menzerna Power Finish (203S) | Menzerna Car Care & Detailing Products on an orange pad: Lake Country 140 mm Constant Pressure Pads | Lake Country Car Care & Detailing Products

Our guide here might help too: What Polish Should I Use? | Car Care Advice | Polished Bliss



Those marks have been caused by a rotary machine, not a Dual Action machine. They are the result of too aggressive a polish not being worked properly - we're seeing a lot of this now as so many people who have a machine think they're detailers and then go and do this to someone's car: if you do go to a detailer, check they're insured first! That tends to give you an indication if they're serious or not.

We're finding it's the 'weekend warrior' types, who reckon they can correct a car in a day, who cause the most damage; most of them don't even have a paint depth gauge so they're machining paint without knowing how much paint they're taking off or even if they're about to burn through the lacquer.

this damage was caused after it was resprayed by a monkey who didnt have a clue about how to machine a car i was just posting the pic as a example i know a da is totally different from a rotary mate lol

Originally Posted by The Doctor

Just reading through this thread. I'm intending to get myself a PB DAS-6 Hard Paint Polishing Kit | Machine Polishing Kit For Cars With Hard Paint later in the year. So far I've only ever clayed/polished/waxed my S3 by hand, but want to move on to the next level with a DA machine polisher. To be honest, from reading up and looking on here & the DW forum, it looks pretty straightforward to me so long as you're sensible about it. My car has all original paintwork and hasn't been machine polished before, so paint depth should be fine.

I don't want to over-simplify it and make a mess of the car, but surely machine polishing (to a satisfactory if not "professional" level) is a case of using the right equipment with a good dose of common sense?

Am I right? What are the risks to watch out for?

Absolutely; common sense is the most important thing.

Take your time, don't try and tackle the car in one go.

Work a section of a panel at a time, and work the polish for a good length of time; the most common issue I find with first time polishers is not working the polish long enough and they don't get the results they're looking for.

Just take care, be aware of the risks and follow our guide: What Does Polishing Do? | Car Care Advice | Polished Bliss

If you need any specific advice, just email me (enquiries@polishedbliss.co.uk) or call.

The Hard Paint kit's been designed with VW/Audi paint in mind. You might, however, find the kit with the Power Plus machine a little better suited; the Power Plus has a lot more torque and on hard paints this is a big benefit: PB DAS-6 Power Plus Hard Paint Polishing Kit | Machine Polishing Kit For Cars With Hard Paint

great effort daz and its always nice to get some help/advice form the professionals!