Jeremy brought the Red Mach1 into work today so that we could test the new polisher on it -
We only wanted to test it on a couple of panels today - so did not bother to tape the car up.
First up - Preparing to polish. Important to have the correct materials ready to do the job -
The materials are Quick Detailer, Clay, Clay Lube, Polishes, Pads and clean Microfibre cloths.
I clay the paint first to remove surface contaminants. To do this, break off a piece of clay, knead it in your hands to make it pliable, form a small disc, then spray a bit of clay lube on the surface and gently wipe the clay across the paint surface using a straight motion. Do not use circular motions. The paint is only about 7 months old on this car and it is kept under a car cover, so there were not many contaminants in the paint.
Next i wiped the panel clean after spraying some Quick detailer on the clayed area.
We use Menzerna Polishes PF 2500, SF 4000 and SF 4500. The numbers of each polish denote the cutting ability of each polish. eg 2500 will polish out 2500 grit scratches, 4000 will polish out 4000 grit fine scratches and 4500 will polish out 4500 grit scratches, although 4500 is more a refining polish.
First stage of this polish will be PF 2500 with an Orange Lake Country CCS Pad. This is a reasonably aggressive combination which will leave a nice slick base for the finer polishes to follow.
This Mach1 only had a light polish before the Newcastle Nationals, so time to make it gleam.
If you look closely at the following pics - you can see a slight cloudiness in the paint -
After carefully fitting the Pad to ensure it is centred, i give the Pad just one fast spray of Quick Detailer to help lubricate the pad, then apply 4 pea sized dobs of polish to the Pad -
I then dab the Pad onto the panel to be polished. This should be a size of approximately 400mm x 400mm -
I then turn on the polisher to speed no.1 and spread the polish evenly over the area -
That only takes about 10 seconds, then i turn the polisher up to speed no.4 and work the polish into the paint. Slow steady movements are used, always keeping the polisher moving slowly across the surface. It will take about 4 minutes to move across the surface about 6 times. Overlap each pass by about 50%. After 4 minutes or so the polish will begin to go clear, then you are done and can then wipe off the excess polish with a clean Microfibre cloth. The only exception to the 4 minutes is if the polish begins to dust up. It hasthen gone dry and will no longer cut. So stop if you see this happen.
Continued next post.
Rocket.