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Anyone polish their car with light cutting compound or finish polish?
- Thread starter acarney
- Start date
The MasterBlaster is amazing and again one of those tools that is a bit over-the-top but no leaf blower pushes air like that and absolutely great for drying wheels as well as getting water out of all the nooks and crannies. I've owned on for a long time and it has served me well. Just wish I had the 30ft hose option at the time but instead I had to buy two 15ft sections and connect them. 2 of my friends thought I was crazy for spending that kind of cash on a 'blower' when you can buy a garden variety unit for under a $100...until they saw the thing in action, then they understood. The analogy I use is that the garden blower is like a Nissan Leaf and the MasterBlaster is a Tesla - they both get the job done but the speed and efficiency are quite different.
I don’t know why I didn’t get the DI system earlier. LOVE it. Can wash the car and let it sit there even In midday sun. How long the DI media lasts depends on the tds of your water. Last time I measured my tap water was 44 tds. I only use DI for final rinse unless I’m washing in the sun....which I would never have even attempted to do before I got the system. I’ve used it for one full year...pretty much weekly washes and meter is still reading 0. DI System is much better paired with any PW that reduces flow to 2gpm. My kranzle with 4.0 nozzle puts out almost 2gal/min @ 1000psi at the nozzle. Your PW...is rated at lower gpm....so I’d imagine would help to extend the life of the DI media.
As far as drying, I use an ego leaf blower...never had an issue. Unless you’re using it in a sand storm....what are the chances of it picking up sand in the air and blowing it on your car?
jkoya
NA2 NSX
Our tap water averages about 90 tds and the first set of resin beads lasted well over 4 years before the attached meter moved from the 000 mark. I use it to fill the buckets for wash solution and rinse before and after washing for 3 cars. My replacement resin beads were over 4 years old when installed and they are working fine and shows 0 tds with our meter (CR Spotless told me they recommend replacement resin be used within a year). On the flip side, a read a review from a CR Spotless purchaser from Arizona with very hard water. They got less than 50 car washes before they had to replace the resin....
I consider myself an enthusiast detailer and would detail cars for friends and family....many years ago. Dream garage would have 4 bays: 1 for detailing, one for my golf simulator and other two for cars lol. All this talk, I was about to pull the trigger on a rupes mark III, bought a pair of gotrax xr ultra scooters instead lol.
Looks like the city’s water quality report says the average is 58ppm tds and I would be happy with 10 to 12 washes out of a cartridge. Out of the medium spotless system that means roughly 12 gallons or so per wash or about 10 minutes of using my power washer. That would be roughly $5/wash cost with this DI System. That’s not bad at all. I don’t think I need to soap it up with the DI since I don’t really have a problem getting it washed before that dries... and I can always hit half the car with a second layer of soap to keep it wet if I’m going to slow.
Seems we have some similarities. I still do some occasional detailing and scuff removal for friends. By your handle and avatar seems you are also a BMW enthusiast. I came close to buying the Mark III but ended up going cheap (relatively speaking) and bought an Adams Swirl Killer. It's not a Rupes but is significantly better than my PC - I'd recommend that to anyone for good band for the buck DA polisher. Having 3 DAs and 2 rotaries, I'm done with buying polishers. Incidentally, I also have a GoTrax.
JasontheBeaver
Jason Barker
Those circular marks are exactly what I'm referring to with Tesla paint, veeeeeery common. But they do polish out reasonably easily, especially for a professional. Regarding pricing, I prefer to not just spot-repair because then those areas will always be shinier than the surrounding areas. If someone twists my arm I'll do it but they almost always regret it after when they see the difference, and end up paying me to just do their whole car.
My price for an Exterior Detail Service with correcting those kinds of areas is in the $398-$498 ballpark. Your area will probably be different. A quick online search shows that I would probably choose Recon Tri-Cities Detail, although I don't see them listed as a member of the IDA, which would concern me. Take your car to them for an in-person quote.
JasontheBeaver
Jason Barker
Don't waste your time and energy... wash it like this. If you have a ceramic coating it makes it even easier.
One of the great things about ONR is that it significantly softens the wash water. If you really want to get nutty about it you can buy a couple gallons of distilled water (~$0.80/gallon at Walmart) and use that for your ONR wash.
When I used to do very regular traditional washes (pre-ONR), I always wanted to get a DI system but couldn't push past the concern of ongoing costs associated with the resin. Maybe my concerns were unfounded but obviously I've survived without it.
Now, my Metrovac (that you can "reverse" for use as a blaster as well) on the other hand is invaluable. So much so that I actually have 2 of them. First I bought brand new for like $225 or whatever they were with a starter accessory kit. The second I was able to pick up new on the Bay for like $115! Definitely get one!
When I used to do very regular traditional washes (pre-ONR), I always wanted to get a DI system but couldn't push past the concern of ongoing costs associated with the resin. Maybe my concerns were unfounded but obviously I've survived without it.
Now, my Metrovac (that you can "reverse" for use as a blaster as well) on the other hand is invaluable. So much so that I actually have 2 of them. First I bought brand new for like $225 or whatever they were with a starter accessory kit. The second I was able to pick up new on the Bay for like $115! Definitely get one!
I'm also a big fan of Menzerna PF106 and lake country pads. I don't think I'd use the orange pad on Tesla paint, but I used it on my Audi vehicles (also dark blue) with great success. I like to use the Flex 3401 polisher rather than the PorterCable (I have both, but the PC has been gathering dust since I got the Flex). I plan to do my 3 this weekend and I'll be using the Lake country white pad, Menzerna PF106, and the Flex polisher. Then I'll wash and wipe down with isopropyl alcohol and apply a liquid ceramic coating.
Ceramic product: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D4NXNTV
Polish: https://www.amazon.com/Menzerna-Super-Finish-PO106FA-32/dp/B003WGMBF6
Polisher: https://www.amazon.com/Flex-XC3401VRG-Positive-Drive-Rotary-Orbital-Polisher/dp/B001DB0NVG
Pads: https://www.amazon.com/Lake-Country-Smart-3-White-3-Orange/dp/B07DTNPV1X
If it wasn't a brand new car, I'd also clay it first.
Best,
I bought the PC many many years ago. I would love a new Rupes and have no problem paying the $$ for one. I’m meticulous in maintaining the paint and do everything I can to minimize wash induced swirls. So for something I use once very 1-2 yrs...It’s not worth it for me when the PC still gets the job done. As the saying goes...a good craftsman never blames his tools.
Some of my tools for weekly washes
View attachment 532776
I'd be interested in your thoughts on the system to deal with hard water. My well water is fairly hard so I'm always struggling with water spots. Wondering how well your washing system works.
Best,
My 3 had 1650 miles on it when purchased so I opted to use a slightly more aggressive (orange) pad with a very mild polish with my Flex. It worked out just fine. I think the main thing people need to do is not use pressure when polishing. Let the weight of the DA and the abrasiveness of the pad and polish do all the work.
Convert that PC to handle 4 inch pads, that works great for smaller areas.
That is a great suggestion -- I have my Flex for larger areas and put a different backing plate/etc. on my old PC 7424 for tiny areas (like the mirror housings, under the rear spoiler, etc.) Man, the PC is so loud, wobbly, and overall less efficient than the Flex, but I guess it gets the job done.
WHAT?! Don’t use a foam cannon?! Are you crazy man? How else will I get every person walking down the street to stop and look at me for a moment as I’m covering my car with foam?! I know they all walk away thinking “wow, that guy is really serious, that car must be really expensive/rare/unique/etc”
Let’s just say I can wash my car in glaring full on mid day sun with not one cloud in the sky.....and not worry about a single water spot. I prefer not to...but I can lol.
very good advice....the PC gets bogged down very easily. I don’t do it because it’s easy for me to tell. But another good advise for people getting into a DA...is to put a line on the backing plate....to make sure it’s still spinning and not bogged down.
I use a 4” on pretty much my whole car now. Takes alittle longer on bigger panels....but we have no roof and now have ppf on front 1/4 so doesn’t take long to polish.
WHAT?! Don’t use a foam cannon?! Are you crazy man? How else will I get every person walking down the street to stop and look at me for a moment as I’m covering my car with foam?! I know they all walk away thinking “wow, that guy is really serious, that car must be really expensive/rare/unique/etc”
haha...I have a neighbor across the street that’s a huge car guy. He actually commented on how clean my black 335 was...and couldn’t believe the condition of my daily driven 10yr old paint. Everyone else must think I’m crazy when they see this lol.
This brings up another question I have. I have my 3 fully wrapped on the front, but since the car was brand new (and I was pushing my budget already) they didn’t do any paint correction on the front.
Did you have any paint correction before PPF was applied?
If not, do you notice any difference with light cutting and/or polish on the rest of the car? I don’t plan to go real heavy, just enough to remove swirls and then a finish polish, but I don’t want the front to look different from the rest of the car
I figure in motion and possibly to the untrained eye they wouldn’t notice, but it would drive me insane.
Example of what needs corrected
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