MX-5 OC Forum

Hi Gents and ladies and all in-between I am locking to purchase a polisher but do not want to spend the £140 for a MEGUIARS DUAL ACTION POLISHER G220 is their any other out their that you recommend. thanks in advance

Here you go.   http://www.toolbaydirect.co.uk/catlist.php?id=369&gclid=COu7iNTfypgCFQ9SQgodKSRm4g

Just double click the link. Don't be mislead by the price, they don't get used that much.

I have borrowed one of these and spent ages trying to get the glass finish without the same results as hand polishing ( I have clayed the car). I must be doing something wrong! are there any posts on how to use these polishers in the correct manner?

I would be be careful when "polishing" your car if you have no experience of polishers. The main reason being that the thickness of paint is not that much and you could easily cut right through it.

When I resprayed my car, Classic Red, I used a two part paint and it got four coats of paint. This paint is very good paint and one spray coat covers any thing that is on the body for instance, primer showing thro the top coat and other shades of paint due to the flatting of the original paint, unlike cellulose paint.              As a result I had plenty of paint thickness to work with. There are different grades of polishing heads with different grades of compounds you can use with these polishers. Suffice to say that a good glass finish requires finer and finer grades of head and compounds, and then you can use an orbital sander with very, very, very fine abrasive pads that will get the finish even better before the final polishing and waxing etc.  

 

so what you are telling me is surely for polishing out the imperfection in a new paint job i am only looking to get rid of swirl mark and give the car a good wax and polish.

Should i them not be using a polisher at all and only doing it by hand??

I understand that the paint is not the thickest on the car and i understand the dangers in using a polisher and i will be careful this is why i asked what polisher should i get.

If it is the case i need to pay the price of a good one i will do so but i was asking is their is one that did the same job for less money.

b0builder:

If it is the case i need to pay the price of a good one i will do so but i was asking is their is one that did the same job for less money.

I bought my variable speed polisher for £40.00 from a Kit Car show two years ago and when using it with the correct pads and compounds it does the job.

A friend of mine has come across the very smooth abrasive pads that are used on a good quality Orbital sander. They are "stuck" on with Velcro.

They are not cheap to buy but I can find out the price and where he bought them from, but you will need the Orbital Sander to use them. These are very fine abrasive, Eqivalent to P2000 I think, and I am sure will remove swirl rings as he has done part of his own Jaguar car with them.   I will find out about them them if you would like me to.      When the fine weather comes I am going to re-buff my car with these pads and then polish the car with Softer pads and polishes etc.

By hand is the best method. I use brasso.  Nothing else achieves that depth of shine.  Machines are time-saving devices for the pro-valeter. When you've Brasso'd your car I can honestly say I'm sure you'll never go back to any other method.

Cheers

Pete

A G220 and the correct process of polishes/glazes and waxes will shift all but the most stubborn imperfections in the paint, as Pollyana says though an orbital polisher will burn through the paint in seconds......... I'm a novice detailer and have had some superb results correcting paint swirls/holograms etc with it on various cars. I've bought pink cars back to red as well. What would be one of the best things fpr you to use is a non machine glaze with fiillers i.e. Autoglym super resin polish this has minor fillers in it so if you polish it hard by hand so that it goes clear then it should fill some of the swirls...... then use a good Carnuba wax based polish and put on several coats letting it harden in between them, then your car should drip gloss..... hope that helps. Halfords sell a Mequires carnuba based wax IIRC alternatively have a look at the various Detailing websites...... a word of warning though..... it's addictive and ends up costing a fortune.

Stockna:

By hand is the best method. I use brasso.  Nothing else achieves that depth of shine.  Machines are time-saving devices for the pro-valeter. When you've Brasso'd your car I can honestly say I'm sure you'll never go back to any other method.

Cheers

Pete

Sorry for slightly off topic but Brasso????? Tell me more please