hello everyone, first off sorry as i know this is the millionth thread about this! anyways, i want to get a machine polisher and have no clue which one. id be taking care of 5 cars. this is just a personal thing, not trying to make money. we have 3 audis, (2 black, 1 sky blue) white lincoln mkx and a burgandy maserati. let me know if you need to know the factory colors... i know them but thought this would give you a better idea. the 2 blacks are my main concern. these have a lot of swirls and these need the most work. they also have several deep scratch marks on the back end that you can feel when touching. i think (know) someone also rubbed against the side of one and need to correct this. i wax them all by hand and now want to try to clean them up and keep them looking like new! so if you guys could help pointing me in the right direction that would be great!
newbie wanting to buy make your own kit
- Thread starter torino06
- Start date
Ben@3D
New member
Hey Torinoo,
First off, if scratches can be felt, they are most likely gone through the clear and can not be removed. Polishing and waxing can make them less noticeable, but they will still be there. If your new to polishing, I would recommend a Random Orbital Polisher like a Porter Cable or Griot's.
First off, if scratches can be felt, they are most likely gone through the clear and can not be removed. Polishing and waxing can make them less noticeable, but they will still be there. If your new to polishing, I would recommend a Random Orbital Polisher like a Porter Cable or Griot's.
Accumulator
Well-known member
torino06- As noted, much of that marring is far to severe to be fully corrected. I'd lean towards having some paintwork done myself, but you could make it a lot less obvious via aggressive correction. You'll need to study up as the topic is too involved to explain here.
Touching up some of the worst scratches, perhaps with something like DRColorChips (sp?) might be worth considering.
Opinions vary on what's best for the aluminum exterior trim. Some people polish it aggressively (effectively removing any remaining factory anodizing/whatever it is finish) and then they keep it sealed with some durable product. I myself just polish it very gently (removing the worst, most obvious oxidation) and then wax/seal it, leaving an imperfectly corrected, but still-anodized finish.
IF you strip the factory finish off, you do *HAVE* to keep it sealed or it'll oxidize like any other bare aluminum, and that would look worse than it does now.
Touching up some of the worst scratches, perhaps with something like DRColorChips (sp?) might be worth considering.
Opinions vary on what's best for the aluminum exterior trim. Some people polish it aggressively (effectively removing any remaining factory anodizing/whatever it is finish) and then they keep it sealed with some durable product. I myself just polish it very gently (removing the worst, most obvious oxidation) and then wax/seal it, leaving an imperfectly corrected, but still-anodized finish.
IF you strip the factory finish off, you do *HAVE* to keep it sealed or it'll oxidize like any other bare aluminum, and that would look worse than it does now.
5pointadam
New member
What part of the car is that reddish pic? As for polishers, start with a Porter Cable or Cyclo.
Accumulator
Well-known member
torino06 said:
You mean the brightwork around the windows, right?
That's the stuff I was referring to when I posted...
Accumulator said:
The factory finish (I've been told different things by different Audi reps...the current guess is that it's clear-anodized aluminum) gets compromised and little pin-point issues show up. Those get worse until it looks like what's in the pic.
On drivers, I myself think of it as a "just live with it" situation as I don't want to deal with the near constant upkeep if I end up with bare aluminum. But...the new OptiCoating would be a good approach if you want to deal with it. You'd use whatever abrasives it takes to get the trim looking good (don't get those on the paint!) and then apply the OptiCoat. No, I'm probably not gonna do it on my Audis any time soon because on the cars that have that issue (wife's daily driver and my beater) things aren't all that bad and, well, I just don't care that much
which polishers should i take a look at? i think i will stay away from the rotary polishers. i have been looking at dual orbitals but have no clue the differences between them. i saw the flex 3401 is a good one but do not know why.... ive heard decent things about the cyclo and porter cables. can someone explain the differences?
Accumulator
Well-known member
torino06 said:
There are some threads were we get into considerable detail, and also quite opinionated
about all the different polishers. Well worth the dreaded SEARCH.Very short version (and this is merely IMO):
1) Overall- Griot's 6" RO (more capable than others of its type, very smooth running)
2) User-friendliness and build quality- Cyclo (but a bit on the gentle side when it comes to serious correction)
3) Good for serious correction- Flex 3401 (but some don't like it's "feel" and it doesn't finish out *quite* as well as the other two, not that most people could ever notice).
4) Decent but prone to issues and inferior to the Griot's- PCXP
5) Obsolete and barely capable- "regular" Porter Cable