Going to polish the body & fill paint chips - Advice sought...
 

Hi there;

Car's going to be off the road for a bit. While it's off, I want to really go over the body, perfectly.

Grand Prix white, 1989 S4. A bunch of small stone chips, here and there. Moderate to heavy oxidation on the rear of the car. Mild oxidation elsewhere.

I have older machines, but have decided to just pick up a new orbital machine, and possibly a second, smaller machine at the same time. Also ordering pads & various compounds, etc.

I see a lot of choices out there. I tend to overthink everything, and it's getting a bit frustrating. Seems thusfar that the Porter Cable machine is my choice. Still up in the air about what brand & which particular compounds.

I want to make it as perfect as possible, and stay with it afterwards with frequent maintainence work.

Can anyone recommend their favorite combos? Is it worth the extra money for the additional, 3" polisher too?

Anyway, I was curious what other 928 people prefer. Any advice is appreciated. : )

Here's what I'm leaning towards as of now, as a starter point... I'll add on a bunch of other stuff too, I'm sure...

http://www.superiorcarcare.net/ed20pocacoki.html











Nick - 89S4

Many pros like the Porter Cable, but I think the Cyclo is maybe more forgiving.

Your best and most complete information is going to come from searching out the long old threads on these topics and asking forums that at detail specific like ...

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26009

http://www.autopia.org/forum/index.php

The two head type are preferred by the top exotic car detailers. I would not recommend using any type of machinery on your car without proper schooling, seriously.
Unless of course you are a professional , then I'm just running my mouth.

I've done a lot of this stuff before, but it's been a while so I'm not up to date on what all is out there now.

I liked the porter cable machine, partially because it has carpet scrubbing and general cleaning heads available. The dual head units seem cool, but, of course, other product videos criticize them.

Everyone with a different product just happens to sell the very best choice, of course. lol

Pro's wear out even good units in about year if they do a lot of wheel work, so a good sized shop buys a lot of polishers and people get preferences for one thing over another. Its a good reason not to buy a used polisher, pro's know about how long they last and if smart sell when life remaining is about 10%.

yes but that 10% will last a lifetime for people like me.

I killed my first Porter Cable (purchased through Griots) in about 4 years. Griots replaced it for free and upgraded to the new Porter Cable XP. I would hands down pick the XP for its added power, it works far better and smoother than the old one. I also wouldn't hesitate to buy from Griots, they're lifetime warranty more than pays for the slightly higher prices.

As far as products go, Meguiars, Menzerna and 3M are all good products and you really can't go wrong with them. Which polish level to choose depends on the finish. Since you have oxidation you will probalby need something with some cutting action to remove the top layer of paint. You will want to follow this with a fine swirl remover to leave a high gloss finish. I personally like Meguairs because I've been trained how to choose and use their products. I also have a ton of experience with their products (almost 20 years). If you decide on Meguiars let me know, I can offer up product suggestions.

Thanks for posting these links--they're really good! Coincidently, the second one had an AutoGeek ad for Porter Cable XP with what looked like the same extras as the URL Nick posted; but, $60 cheaper.

This is going to sound ridiculous, I'm sure, but I use a dewalt variable speed random orbital sander and I have never had problems with burning the paint or scoring or anything. Maybe I've just been lucky, or maybe I have a gentle touch, but it's certainly worked fine for me. Then again, I am not trying to produce a showcar finish, just a good clean like-new finish, so YMMV.

Technically any good random orbital produces the same motion and will work fine. The differences with what you buy specifically for polishing are the backing plates, speed adjustment and power. Does the Dewalt bog down if you push on the pad too hard? When I was first learning about polishing back when I was 15 I started with a sears orbital which was useless IMHO. No comparison to a PC or other higher powered RO.

I have a Porter Cable that's been sitting in my garage for over a year now. I've been reluctant to use it for fear of ruining my paint, plus my head swims everytime I try to figure out how to use it, which compounds to use, which pads, etc.

I was advised to practice on an old car first, which I think is great advice, but I think I'm going to let a professional detailer bring the paint back to life. I've got some bad fading and he comes highly recommended. Not cheap, but I think it will be worth it.

DeWalt is super powerful. I use it on the lowest speed setting, and it has torque aplenty. My father works for Black and Decker, so we get awesome deals on DeWalt tools through the company.

It really isn't that difficult (IMHO). If you have a spare car lying around, mess around with it first, but if you don't, the best place to practice is on the hood of the car. It is a flat surface and will catch the light well, which will let you spot your errors, and if you eff it up too badly, you can remove the sucker and repaint it trivially and start again, and you have lost nothing but some paint and your time. Also, the hood will have rock chips which will be perfect for practicing, since that is what you intend to do anyway. Additionally, if you get it right the first time, you learned a new skill (and will be able to do it again in the future should the need arise), saved some money, and got the job done. 100% satisfaction

I have found that the GP White paint on my 89 S4 is hard as rocks. I use a Porter Cable random orbital and it is essentially impossible to do anything bad with it. In fact, it hardly does much at all to the paint. Mild finishing abrasives, like 3M's Finesse-It II, which I really like and works well to remove fine scratches on other cars, will do essentially nothing but clean the paint. Any visible scratches will take more aggressive compounds. I'm not going to make any recommendations, but just say, don't be bashful when working on this paint. I will just say that I have used a lot of different finishing compounds and Finesse-it II leaves a finish that anything else over it looks duller.

For filling pits, I've used Langka and liked it. It's a chore if you have LOTS of small stone pits, but it works. http://www.langka.com/ You can go at it the traditional way with filling and sanding, but Langka is more effective and easier. If your touch up paint matches well, it leaves the pits invisible.

+1 on Langka. Been using it for years with good results.

http://www.cyclotoolmakers.com/polishers.php

Best of the Best. Only polisher recommend by Lamborghini...
The heads can be removed and replaced with brushes to use on fine leather as well.

Just feels like a quality tool when it;s in your hands.