Im doing my first polish this weekend- couple questions

[Turbocoop]

I just got all my stuff in that I ordered from autogeek- LC 5.5" orange cutting pad, LC 5.5" green polishing pads, Pinnacle XMT Int. Swirl Remover #3, and Poorboys EX sealant.





My truck is an 03 Chevy, and the paint is pretty bad- lots of swirl marks and some spots. It came from up north so Im guessing the salt on the roads didn`t help either... I tried to get some good pics of the swirl marks but they didn`t come out very well. The truck is really dirty now too so that made it worse looking. It does have really bad swirl marks all over it. Heres some pics of how it looks now:









And heres one of the big scratches that Im worried about, do you think it will come out with the polisher? I cant feel it when I rub my hand on it:





I doubt this will come out, but I bought a glass polishing pad too- its the yellow one on the left in the pic. I scratched the back glass really bad when I was sitting in a beach chair riding in the back one night, I know it was stupid. Will anything at least help this a little???





Ive been reading a lot and watching instructional videos so I think Im ready. Should I practice a little on another car first if I can find one? Would it help to clay bar it first or just wash it really good? Last time I clayed it was a few months ago. Any more pointers you guys can think of for me?



Thanks for the help.

[DOHCrazy]

I think you`ll be fine without working on another car first. DA polishers are pretty hard to mess up.



Definitely clay bar it first.



What type of polisher are you using?

[imported_sal329]

I would think you would need a less abbrassive polish to use after XMT 3 and before using the EX

[LQ9SS]

It would help if you let us know which polisher you are going to be using.

[Turbocoop]

I would think you would need a less abbrassive polish to use after XMT 3 and before using the EX

What do you think I should use? I was gonna do it today so is there something I can get locally???



Sorry I forgot to say Im using a PC 7336

[haper]

first, for the deeper scratches if your nail catches in them then you will probably not get them out w/ machine polishing. so understand that some scratches just will not come out and don`t `force the issue` w/ the machine or you`ll risk harming the paint.



second, be patient and take your time especially w/ the PC.

• work in 12 x 12 inch sections
  
• squirt three pea size dabs around the outer edge of pad
  
• blot / rub polish from pad onto surface b4 turning on buffer to avoid splattering
  
• start at low speed and move quickly to spread polish evenly
  
• then up it to 5 or 6 moving 1 inch per second over lapping 50%
  
• just b4 poilish breaks down drop to 3 and do one last pass to minimize hazeing
  
• 3 – 5 mins until broken down
  
• as polish thins out lighten up the pressure and increase movement
  
• stop once the polish breaks down (begins to dust)
  
• remove w/ microfiber towel
  

[Turbocoop]

I got the front fenders, bumper and hood done over the weekend. That took over 4hrs and I had to stop cause I had plans already. It looks great- I got a lot of the more noticeable scratches out and almost all of the swirl marks are gone too. Im still getting the hang of it, but Im very happy with the results so far. And this poorboys EX is great, it rained this afternoon and after my hood dried off there wasnt even any waterspots... Heres some more pics:

[LQ9SS]

Looks good man.



It`s me from ss.com (SS Silv)

[snowskate]

yup

you`re getting it!!

[redundant]

Excellent work