one of those jobs you wish you had never started

[davsa4]

one door had a couple of minor scratches so flatted them out with 3000 wet and dry then machine polished , big mistake now it shows the rest of the paint work up , so




a full day flatting both sides of car and 3 stage machine polishing then a coat of hd wax for good measure and the results will speak for themselves

 

[outsideline]

Fair play mate, but thats why i pay some one lol! Its so time consumeing isnt it. Looks mint though for all your hard work.

Are those genuine black edition wheels??? More pics!

 

[davsa4]

no mate they are just budget alloys

 

[Oddie]

Looks fantastic mate ! Can i just ask what pad and polish combo you used ? My car is exactly the same as yours. I have just bought myself a Kestrel DAS-6 DA. I have 3 Menzerna pads (White, Yellow and Black) and i have Menz PO85RD 3.02 and PO85RD. I keep getting told that Audi paint is really tough so should i just hit it with the white compounding pad straight away ?

 

[davsa4]

Hi Oddie yes the audi paint is very hard , i flatted all the panels with 3000 wet and dry then used 3m green pad with fast cut 3m polish ,followed by 3m yellow pad with 3m fine cut polish then black hole on a sonus black pad ,then waxed using autoglym hd wax ,but think i will be going over again with dodo blue velvet tomorrow if weather stays dry .

cheers dav

 

[Oddie]

So do you think i will get good results if i use the white compounding pad with the Menz Power finish and then use the yellow polishing pad with the final finish polish ? I was then planning on applying either AG HD wax or Harly wax using the black finishing pad ? Cheers

 

[davsa4]

are you flatting or just compounding ,you will have to work the polish well to get swirls and rds (random deep scratches) out ,but steady away you cant really hurt the paint with a da it just takes a bit more effort ,would apply the hd wax by hand though not by da ,if you have any autoglym srp i would apply this with the black pad before waxing as it has slight fillers in for minor imperfection .

 

[Oddie]

What do you mean by flatting ? Do you mean using wet and dry like you did ? If so then i don't really feel confident enough to give that a go at the moment so i will just be using the DA with the polishes. I have got tonnes of SRP, i normally use this to polish the car by hand.I didn't think about applying that with the black pad, sounds like a good idea though. Will it be ok to apply the SRP on top of the Menz polishes ?

Cheers

 

[davsa4]

yes mate i did mean wet and dry but as you say try the pads first i am sure you will be amazed by the results just dont rush it , are you going to clay the car first ,i would advise it as this stops and contamination on the paint getting into the pad, think you can get a starter clay kit from halfords for around £20 ,you will be surprised at the amount of crap on the paint no matter how clean your car is ,when applying the srp by da just run it a lowest speed setting working slowly ,

 

[Oddie]

Yeah i will planning on claying it before hand anyway. I can't wait to give it a go now, just need a bit of decent weather !

Thanks for your help and advice mate, enjoy the S Line

 

[scotty76]

If you've not seen it there is a dedicated Detailing forum on here. Rock hard paint has been a discussion point this week. Head on over if you have questions: Detailing

 

[davsa4]

well managed to get another coat of wax on it today and waxed wheels ect

 

[Oddie]

Looks brilliant mate. I managed to get a bit of a go at mine although i had to stop half way through because of the rain. The results were quite good actually, especially considering it was my first attempt. I started on speed 1 to spread the polish and then moved up to speed 4 then 5 before dropping back down to speed 2 to finish off with. Does that sound ok ? And should i have used speed 6 ?

 

[JDM82]

Looks brilliant mate. I managed to get a bit of a go at mine although i had to stop half way through because of the rain. The results were quite good actually, especially considering it was my first attempt. I started on speed 1 to spread the polish and then moved up to speed 4 then 5 before dropping back down to speed 2 to finish off with. Does that sound ok ? And should i have used speed 6 ?

Your fine not using speed setting 6. You did it the correct way, using 2 to spread the product then upping the speed to 4 or 5 is fine. I go no higher than setting 4 to work the product in. I find speeds 5 and 6 are slightly too fast, you lose the control a little.

 

[Oddie]

Your fine not using speed setting 6. You did it the correct way, using 2 to spread the product then upping the speed to 4 or 5 is fine. I go no higher than setting 4 to work the product in. I find speeds 5 and 6 are slightly too fast, you lose the control a little.

Yeah, I felt a lot more confident and comfortable using it on speed 5. I am a little unsure whether i took enough time on each panel though. How much time should i spend buffing the polish in roughly ?

 

[davsa4]

all depends on how the polish breaks down and condition of the paint you are correcting ,i spread on speed 1 then move to 4 to work the polish , find any higher the polish is removed before it has chance to do its job ,then back to 2 to finish it off.

 

[Oddie]

all depends on how the polish breaks down and condition of the paint you are correcting ,i spread on speed 1 then move to 4 to work the polish , find any higher the polish is removed before it has chance to do its job ,then back to 2 to finish it off.

Cheers mate. I can't wait to have another go at it, just need a dry day... all day !

 

[JDM82]

I pass over the section I'm polishing in a side to side then up and down movement to ensure even coverage. I'll pass over around 8 times or more or until the product has totally broken down. I then wipe the section with a microfibre, if the product it worked in correctly, it should take no effort what so ever to wipe.
Are you priming your pads before use?

If not, priming is basically giving the pad your about to use a light mist of a quick detailer. This helps to lubricate the pad and ensures no dry pad is being worked over the paintwork.

 

[Oddie]

I pass over the section I'm polishing in a side to side then up and down movement to ensure even coverage. I'll pass over around 8 times or more or until the product has totally broken down. I then wipe the section with a microfibre, if the product it worked in correctly, it should take no effort what so ever to wipe.
Are you priming your pads before use?

If not, priming is basically giving the pad your about to use a light mist of a quick detailer. This helps to lubricate the pad and ensures no dry pad is being worked over the paintwork.

That sounds pretty similar to what i was doing today. I did notice that the polish was really hard to wipe off on one of the panels, clearly this was because it hadn't been worked in enough. I wasn't priming the pads no, i will have a read up about that now. How often should i clean the pads ? After every time i use them ? And what is the best way to clean them ? Cheers folks

 

[JDM82]

Yeah, clean the pads after every use. The best way is to a little washing up liquid, a little will do and make sure you throughly rinse the pads out, you don't want any soap left in the pads. There easy to wash.

You can prime a pad by either a light mist of your pad with a quick detailer spray or you can use the product that your using the pad for. You simply apply the product to the pad and use your finger to cover the whole pad with the product. This ensures no dry pad and good lubrication.

I use the quick detailer method. It less messy and quicker.

If the polish was really hard to wipe off, you could have either not worked it well enough or your using too much product.

This is a decent guide to have a read through: How to prime a foam pad when using a DA Polisher - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum

 

[Oddie]

Yeah, clean the pads after every use. The best way is to a little washing up liquid, a little will do and make sure you throughly rinse the pads out, you don't want any soap left in the pads. There easy to wash.

You can prime a pad by either a light mist of your pad with a quick detailer spray or you can use the product that your using the pad for. You simply apply the product to the pad and use your finger to cover the whole pad with the product. This ensures no dry pad and good lubrication.

I use the quick detailer method. It less messy and quicker.

If the polish was really hard to wipe off, you could have either not worked it well enough or your using too much product.

This is a decent guide to have a read through: How to prime a foam pad when using a DA Polisher - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum

Thanks mate, really appreciated. To be honest i think i made a decent job of it considering it was my first go. The kit i bought was this one

DAS-6 Dual Action Polisher - Menzerna Intro. Kit - Clean Your Car

Would you say this is a decent combination to start with ? When i get a chance to spend all day on it i am planning on doing the following..

PO85RD 3.02 via the white compounding pad, PO85RD via the yellow polishing pad, AutoGlym SRP via the black finishing pad, and then finally a coat of AG HD wax

Does that sound ok ?

 

[JDM82]

Yeah the kit you have is a great starter kit. The good thing about DA polishers are there so safe to use and the results you can acheive are great. You will notice your results getting better as you become more experienced with the DA.

The products your planning on using are fine, Menzerna make quality products, I'm not a big fan of AutoGlym to be honest. There's nothing wrong with them, I used to use there products but the more I got into detailing I realised there much better products out there for the same price. Im a big fan of Dodo Juice, Chemical Guys, Poorboy's etc etc but AutoGlym is fine too.

 

[Oddie]

Yeah the kit you have is a great starter kit. The good thing about DA polishers are there so safe to use and the results you can acheive are great. You will notice your results getting better as you become more experienced with the DA.

The products your planning on using are fine, Menzerna make quality products, I'm not a big fan of AutoGlym to be honest. There's nothing wrong with them, I used to use there products but the more I got into detailing I realised there much better products out there for the same price. Im a big fan of Dodo Juice, Chemical Guys, Poorboy's etc etc but AutoGlym is fine too.

Ok thanks mate, your advice is much appreciated. I am well and truly hooked now, i keep looking outside thinking shall i just go and do a little bit more ?

 

[JDM82]

If at any time your doing your car with the DA etc and you need to leave it for a while or over night, I sometimes break it up into 2 days when I'm doing a full detail.

You should give the panels a quick wipe over with a quick detailer and a microfibre cloth. You'd be surprised how much air born contaminates and dust cling to your bodywork in such a short period of time.

Just thought id mention it with you saying you have the urge to go out and do some more.

 

[Oddie]

If at any time your doing your car with the DA etc and you need to leave it for a while or over night, I sometimes break it up into 2 days when I'm doing a full detail.

You should give the panels a quick wipe over with a quick detailer and a microfibre cloth. You'd be surprised how much air born contaminates and dust cling to your bodywork in such a short period of time.

Just thought id mention it with you saying you have the urge to go out and do some more.

Don't worry, i stayed strong and decided to leave it. I am planning on spending a full day on it as soon as the weather allows

 

[davsa4]

results like this make it all worth while but there was no way i was going out to video it so sorry for the quality through the window

hd wax at work - YouTube

 

[Rastamouse]

Looks good,need to get mine done ( horrible swirls !! Grrr) started yesterday, washed,clay bar,wash again then ****** rain!!! Need some dry weather and some time to have my first go on my das-6 with menzerna polishes and cg hex logic pads. Any tips???

 

[B4rrett]

Looks good,need to get mine done ( horrible swirls !! Grrr) started yesterday, washed,clay bar,wash again then ****** rain!!! Need some dry weather and some time to have my first go on my das-6 with menzerna polishes and cg hex logic pads. Any tips???

thats the exact same combination I used last year to detail my audi. Although the cg hex green pads cuts into the paintwork to remove the swirls when using menzerna power finish, I found it was still taking along time to acieve perfection due to the extrahard laquer. I achieved better results with the cg hex orange pad and powerfinish, then I went over with it to perfect it with a cg black pad and meguires polish with almost no cut followed by cg black hole then a wax. the results were stunning esp for my first go.

Barrett

 

[bigrich690]

car looks brilliant as usual mate, would love to see this in the flesh