ultimate detail

[southylad]

hi i have always looked after my cars and like cleaning them but as i read there is a lot more i could do , i need to do some paint correction on my a3 in brilliant red i have a lot of stone chips on the front and the odd light scratch and general swirls.
i have just bought a ultimate detail machine from ebay can anyone tell me if they are a good machine to start with i won the auction for £40 and the guy said hes only used it a couple of times i could have bought a silverline 180mm machine new for £50 but they look big and clumsy any advice for a begginer in this field would be great as i dont want to damage the car i want to improve it cheers in advance

 

[the_cueball]

The UDM is a dual action polisher, the Silverline is a Rotary machine... both very different machines in the way that you use them.

What UDM machine did you get, as I believe there were a few versions?

You will now need to select your pads and polish to use on your car... as always, start with the lowest cut combo and work back to anything more agressive, before coming back "down" to a finishing polish...

A DA will take a bit longer on (usual) hard Audi paint, but can be done...

Keep your work area small, start the machine off slow, raise the speed and work the polish, then slow back down...

there are guides on here and a site called detailing world that gives more help...

:icon_thumright:

 

[southylad]

cheers for the reply mate i am not 100% sure which udm i have bought yet untill it arrives as i won it on ebay auction it is a 110 v machine i know that much and the guy said he has only used it a couple of times and has the sponge set and two bottles of polish with it , could you advise me on the pads and a compound to use , as the things i have used before are like g3 and g10 and t cut etc etc , so any advise on where to start would be great

The UDM is a dual action polisher, the Silverline is a Rotary machine... both very different machines in the way that you use them.

What UDM machine did you get, as I believe there were a few versions?

You will now need to select your pads and polish to use on your car... as always, start with the lowest cut combo and work back to anything more agressive, before coming back "down" to a finishing polish...

A DA will take a bit longer on (usual) hard Audi paint, but can be done...

Keep your work area small, start the machine off slow, raise the speed and work the polish, then slow back down...

there are guides on here and a site called detailing world that gives more help...

:icon_thumright:

 

[the_cueball]

the 110v sounds like the US version, do you have a transformer to use with it?

As for polishes and pads.... there are loads! for the Audis I use Scholl polish and their pads, or 3M ones...

3M have good polishes and pads, as do Megs, Britemax and a load of others...

I'm a bit unsure of what would be the best for the DA, as I don't use mine much anymore (glaze, sticky paint and wet sanding mainly), I have a rotary....

At the very least I would suggest you get (using 3M as an example as they are nicely coloured coded):

Cutting compound and matching pad (e.g. 3m fast cut - green and green pad (or wool) )
Medium compound and pad (e.g. 3m extra fine - yellow and yellow pad)
Finishing compound and pad (e.g. 3m ultra fine - blue and blue pad)

You may not need them all, but this gives the greatest room for trial and error with polishing...

start with blue polish and pad....

And you may think about getting a paint depth reader, or at least a loan of one to make sure you have enough paint and clear coat to polish with!

You will be very hard pushed to "strike through" the clear with an Audi / DA combo with normal paint, but you never know, and it's usually a respray to fit that mistake....

:icon_thumright:

 

[southylad]

cheers for that will get some gear sorted the machine should be here today i do have a transformer, i was thinking this maybe made for the trade as all elec equipement needs to be 110v as do all our tools on site