Rotary polishing techniques w/ M105 & M205

I posted a month ago or so a Red Dodge 2500 Quad Cab, using Makita 9227 Purple wool foam pad and white LC Pad followed by LC Gray Pad with 85rd.......can re post if it would be helpful


I did a search for your posts and couldn't find it. I think I remember reading the one you are refering too. If you could post the thread it would be great. Thank you.

Here is my 1st shot at the rear driver's side door. It has some pad scratches from me trying to remove something that was on the door. I don't have my purple pad yet and have noticed that I'm not getting the whole way through the swirls with the Solo 2.0 W8207 & M105 and 3 passes.

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Dave, judging by the condition of your paint and the number of passes, I think you're about at what you should expect with the results you are seeing. The paint looks pretty hammered and that scratch in the second pic and under the halogen in the second 50/50 probably won't come out without sanding it.
 
I know I should be happy if the entire truck comes out like that test did. However, I'm sure it can look better. I'm thinking the 8207 pad just doesn't have the cutting power based on some of the swirls still being present.

I purchased a LC 4" orange foam pad and am going to try hand polishing the section and see how it comes out. I need to take some pics outside of the before and after. Even if it doesn't come out it should look a 100X's better than it did before based on the test panel.
 
Dude. Your paint was super jack'd up. If you can just get the rest of it looking that well without wetsanding, I think you should quit while your ahead

Is this your first time using a rotary?
 
Thank you. Technically, it's my 2nd. I did a test section on my hood 1st and then wanted to try one on a side panel.

Guys at work are amazed how well the test panel looks. I guess I just want it to be perfect. But if I wanted that I should have started working on it years ago. I agree that if I can get the rest looking like that I should be happy. I'm going to do the whole front today and maybe a door or 2. I'm going to take some pics of the entire vehicle before I do any more work and post the before and after. Got my purple foamed pad to try out too.

Thanks to everyone for all of the help.
 
I got the purple pad and have been following the leep at 1000 RPM or so and using water to spritz. I did 2 shots with purple/M105 and 1 with black and M205. The scratch is almost gone and can only be seen if you look a certain way.
rest of back door before.
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after pics
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after 1st coat of BFWD

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where scratch was at:
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Now on to rest of truck!!! Thanks to everyone for their advice.
 
Holy Cow, Dave !!!
That is just beautiful work ! And you're new to the Rotary too !!!

It's like a giant black mirror !! I am so proud of you !!!!!!! :hurray:

For the polishing stage, as you already know, keep the polishing pad flat, no pad edges, unless it is really light touch, for a second, and you should be able to polish that big boy out just beautifully. Looks like you already have and applied BFWD - amazing look, don't you agree ?

Looks like you have learned well, young grasshopper. :)

Boy, dont you just love those L/C Purple Foam Wool pads? They are the only thing I ever use on dirty airplane paint, and a lot of very scratched car paint.

Great, great, job, Dave ! Thanks for sharing the pics..
Dan F
 
Thanks for the compliments everyone. :biggrin:

Thank you to Dan & Mike for all of the advice. I followed good advice and sound techniques.

Dan,
The purple foam pad is awesome. Very easy to use and it really cu t my work time way down too. 1 pass, sometimes 2 and I was done. Remembered to spritz w/ water after 105 started to dry and then worked until dry again. Unlike the 5 or 6 with the 8207 yellow pad for 1 little test spot. I did the entire front door and hood faster in less time than I took for the test section. And, the scratch was almost gone. The paint looked pretty good after the PFP. I finished off with 205 on the black pad. I did 2 passes just to make sure it was like glass.

The rotary wasn't as scary to use as a lot of people seemed to make it seem. :thumbup:


After I finish the paint I need to move on to the plastic/rubber and then tackle the interior. And then it's on to my wife's Rogue and maybe my brother in law's vette.
 
Thanks for the compliments everyone. :biggrin:

Thank you to Dan & Mike for all of the advice. I followed good advice and sound techniques.

Dan,
The purple foam pad is awesome. Very easy to use and it really cu t my work time way down too. 1 pass, sometimes 2 and I was done. Remembered to spritz w/ water after 105 started to dry and then worked until dry again. Unlike the 5 or 6 with the 8207 yellow pad for 1 little test spot. I did the entire front door and hood faster in less time than I took for the test section. And, the scratch was almost gone. The paint looked pretty good after the PFP. I finished off with 205 on the black pad. I did 2 passes just to make sure it was like glass.

The rotary wasn't as scary to use as a lot of people seemed to make it seem. :thumbup:


After I finish the paint I need to move on to the plastic/rubber and then tackle the interior. And then it's on to my wife's Rogue and maybe my brother in law's vette.

Your a quick learner but never get too confident or cocky with a rotary. Its very easy to burn an edge with wool and compound and happens in a nano second .Taping the edges is a good idea . Also make sure to clean up compound splatter(doorjams ect...) right away or it can be very hard to do later on .

Also dont try to do too much in one day or you will be very sore the next day ! Happy your doing so well with your first rotary experience!:thumbup:
 
I'm definitely trying to stay within myself.

I should have stayed with the same routine for the rest of my truck. Did the rest with wool and 105 and then passenger's side with the 205 and black pad. Thought the wool and rotary looked ok in the garage for the bed and top and then out in the sun I saw the swirls on the parts I didn't use the 205. Still have a lot to learn.

So, Tuesday I'll go over those areas with the 205 and then seal the panels.

The wife's car will be broken down into a few days as well.
 
Looks like you are off to a great start! Remember that perfection is almost unobtainable on driven cars with our negative consequences.

Either you thin the paint so much that further polishing (required to keep it perfect) will be dangerous or you thin the paint so much that the UV protection (in the 1/5th of the clear-coat) is removed.

Settle on very good and you and your truck will be much happier in the long run.
 
+1 with Todd above - you have done just awesome right out of the gate; you know what you had before, and what you have now, and the difference is so wide, its even hard to believe, as even your friends at work have already said.

We always want to Detail out a Client's vehicle so that there is the best possible clarity with the minimum amount of material removed from the paint, so that this can be done over again and again, etc.

You have no doubt, seen these guys, especially the guy who posted above me here, do unbelievable work on certain vehicles, whose owners want and pay for the Ultimate shine, etc., and perhaps dont drive these vehicles enough to need this level of Detailing very often anyway - or in other words, their baby's are garage queens, show cars, etc..

We, on the other hand, have to use our D/Drivers every day and they sit out, and get hammered and all kinds of stuff, so when we bring them up to the level you just did, we for the most part, call it good, and next time its due, we do it again, hopefully early enough so that all that good work is not entirely gone and the next re-freshening will be easier.

I am sure when you are done, there will be no other truck around that can match the clarity and gloss you put on yours, and once the sun comes out for awhile, you will be blinding people who are crazy enough to look into the paint with the sun reflecting off of it. :)

Again, congratulations on a job well planned, studied, thought out, and executed !! Yes, it is hard and tedious, we all can agree with that, but the satisfaction you get and improvement and protection you have given your paintwork is totally worth it, don't you think ?

Glad to help, hope we see and hear from you again, and keep on doing what you are doing so well !! Have lots more experiences, etc., to give you with the other parts, of your vehicle, and look forward to helping you Beautify America - One Car at a Time ! :)

Thanks Proper Auto Care, for being there with the right products for Dave, and for all the help and advice you offered him.
Dan F
 
I know that the truck can't be perfect due to the condition when I started. I'm not expecting much from the sides of the bed and tail gate and after this polish and seail I'll only use the 205 with black pad to touch up maybe twice a year as needed. At least I got it to a good starting point to maintain.

I don't know if I ever posted that I did this with a Harbor Freight $35 rotary. I've read a lot of posts by people stating these rotaries are junk and don't maintain speed or have the power. I didn't respond to any of those posts until I had a chance to really get into working with the tool. I'd have to disagree with those comments about the tool. While they probably aren't as good as a Mikita in durability for the weekend warrior they will do the trick.

What really got me motivated on my truck was a coworker wanted to know why I'm willing to spend so much time on my truck and why I don't just take it to Zebart and have them seal it. I told him that all they are doing is sealing over the scratches with filler to hide the scratches and they are still there. I also told him I was going to prove to him that polishing and sealing a vehicle will look much better than taking it to a place that doesn't really care about detailing your vehicle the right way. I can't wait to show him pictures here at work and in person when we go golfing this Friday.

I plan on placing our new vehicle on a schedule right away so it never gets to the sad state my truck was in. The dealership must have dry toweled the car.

I'll keep posting my adventures in detailing as I go along. Thanks again to all of you.
 
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