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-   -   A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/102011-superb-car-cleaning-polishing-detailing-guide-239.html)

That's a great detailers armouryclap:.Would you please share with us what all products you have ?

Experts, which is the best rubbing compound you would recommend. Preferably one that is locally available and can be applied by hand. Incidentally the surface has very minor swirls and dead bug marks. I have used Formula 1 Scratch Out and found it to be average. Looking to restore clarity.

Thanks.

Since the Polish didn't do the trick, try 3M Finesse It Rubbing Compound. Apply carefully as it's highly abrasive, a little compound can do wonders for tough marks.

When you consider rubbing compounds, the product will mention how abrasive it is. It will say e.g. it will remove 3000 grit sanding marks/scratches or 2000 grit marks etc. These grit numbers are the sand paper specs. They come in 1000,1500,2500,3000 standards. 1000 being the most abrasive, 3000 being the finest. So it will be a bit of trial and error depending on the scratches that you have. IMO do not opt for 1000 grit as that is body shop stuff and you may land up damaging your paint. You must be careful with anything below 2000. You can also use Turtle wax - they have a nice product.

Rgds

@ Tsk - Have tried 3M a while back, its a good product. Thanks.
Scratch Out says its a liquid rubbing compound, but worked best on "de-yellowing" my headlamps.

@Garipagol - Thanks for the insightful info. Will check out turtle wax and post the results.

Also apart from ordering clay online, is there any place i can buy it here directly. Amazon etc. take quite a while on standard shipping. Ve been clayless this past month :D
Regards.

How about this rubbing compound. Pidilite Industries Have heard that its a light rubbing compound which works well on deep scratches. Regarding the 3M one, for a novice its a complete disaster(personal experience). So be careful while using it.

Jopasu has listed their Clay Bar on eBay. Special deal today. No idea if its costly.

eBay India: Clay Bar (item 110595594388 end time 06-Nov-2010 13:31:07 IST)

The usual price for this is 1800/- INR, had inquired about the price around a month back by calling Jopasu when it wasn't listed on ebay.

I'd have ordered one but my mom & wife would kill me if I spend another penny on anything remotely related to car detailing :Frustrati, diesel it is until then for removing tar spots.

Finally tried out my Flex 3401 DA over the weekend !
Decided to try out the least aggressive approach first after evaluating the paint condition. Went with the Lake country 6.5 : orange pad with Megs 205. Test subject was our red ruby, the Swift !

Before that, opened up the backing plate for oiling the felt ring as gurus suggested :




After oiling the felt ring :



Attached back the backing plate with the supplied allen key :



Could not understand the reason for oiling (manual does not say anything) but on closer inspection the ring seems to be in contact with the backing plate.



Marked the backing plate to check the rotation



A quick audit & go ahead by Kitty !



Divided the hood into two sections, tried out the left side as a test section :



Swirls !



Claying with Megs clay bar & clay lube (Optimum No rinse )



Priming the pads with Megs 205



After a few passes, the swirls are reducing !



Voila !! Where have the swirls gone !?



Proof that even a newbie can use the Flex to remove swirls ! Our driver in action working on a section !



My other observations :

- First tried out at speed setting of 2, 3 then went up to 5 for swirl removal, to get used to the vibration & understand the mood of the machine. (kind of like learning to ride a horse !) The cruise control is very useful. Lock it into speed & just concentrate on holding the pad straight on the surface. To release, press the trigger once.

- One needs good upper body strength & forearm grip to control the flex, it has a tendency to start running away. Takes good amount of grip to keep it in control.

- Needed to keep lots of MF towels handy. This was a single stage repainted paint (at Maruti ***) & lots of residue was getting picked up by the towels.

- Kept a bucket filled with soapy water ready & dropped in the pad once done. Washing pad was real easy, just scrub lightly under running water with a toothbrush to clean. squeezed excess water out & dried with velcro side facing upward.

Will be completing the rest of the car shortly & post some daytime pics ! Do pour in your suggestions & comments !!

@ Nirmal : great sir , but i have few questions :D

1. Is it necessary to clay paint before polishing ???didnt the polish do the same thing ???
2. which ring exacty you oiled ???, sorry cant make out from pics.please mark a pic.
3. how to know that now we have to stop polishing ??? any markers for same ??

Geat work. :thumbs up

Hurray! I have hope now, my stop to Nirmals detailing center is around the corner! BTW if you had to run multiple passes to reduce the swirls, does that mean that we should run 105 and then 205?
Its going to be fun now;)

Nos007 - Thanks ! My replies in line below !

1. Is it necessary to clay paint before polishing ???didnt the polish do the same thing ???
A) Claying is for removing above surface bonded contaminants like bird poo, brake dust, acid rain etc which form a bond above the paint surface. Removing it helps the surface refinement process. Kind of like a facial scrub/wash !

2. which ring exacty you oiled ???, sorry cant make out from pics.please mark a pic.
A) Im attaching a picture with the felt ring circled in red. The 3rd pic is after the oiling.

3. how to know that now we have to stop polishing ??? any markers for same ??

A) Since 105 & 205 use Meguiars SMAT abrasives (super micro abrasive technology) which don't need to break down during the process, one can stop at any time the defects are removed. I stopped a few times to inspect to see if the swirls were being removed or not. Once the surface cleared up, i stopped. Important is to try it out on a test spot & study the results.
Once you know the paint surface & kind of defects you're dealing with, you can proceed with the rest of the car :)

MKH - It will be interesting to see the results on your ANHC ! I guess we need to go with the 205 & orange pad first, if that doesnt work, then 105 with an orange pad, followed by 205 with orange or white. After seeing the results im sure your ANHC will be completely swirl free !!

Really great work man! :D

After using the orange pad, you can finish/jewel the paint with grey pad and M205 again at a lower speed for that extra 'pop'!! :D

Great you tried M205 first. In case of a repainted panel, you can also try M105 for quicker defect removal with just a few passes.
btw did the polish dust a lil' or no dusting at all? (M105 dusts like hell!!!!)

and did you try applying sealant/wax with the red pad?

I see you taught the driver the right manners while using the DA! Nice!

btw I was jeweling my paint and the guard at my house came over and told me to let him try the DA.
I was like, 'what harm could he possibly do'. But he suddenly increased the speed and i immediately shut off the power. Then I made him understand that I had already removed defects and was just jeweling the paint so high speed was not at all needed.



After that he never interfered! lol

Hey Sohail - Thanks to you & Garipagol for all the inputs !

I did try 105 for the doors & fenders, got good results with fewer passes. What i found strange is that there are some scratches which aren't clearing up with multiple passes of 105 also. Will try & capture them & post pics. I can't even feel the scratches with my finger nail, would it be needing wet sanding & then a pass of 105 ?

Did face a dusting problem, wasn't too much, kept spraying on some water from time to time to keep it wet. 205 is a great product to work with, stays wet longer !

I haven't tried any of the other pads yet, am trying to master the defect removal first. Gosh, Im sure your heart must have been in your mouth when the guard increased the speed :eek: Our driver has become car crazy too, hes a fast learner & was observing me on the test spot. post the results, he finished up a section too !

Nos007 - Pic attached of the felt ring !

The swirls i have are lighter than on yours, or max they are same. So applying 05 should be enough, it will be fun, though i would be a little sad to see sealant layers get stripped off, will be worth it though!