Your car maintenance regimen

[manny31671]

pwede bro, pang linis talaga un car shampoo...

sa case ko kase hindi ako gumagamit nang shampoo when cleaning, running water and MF cloth lang. so any polish, like scratch remover, cleaner wax lang pang linis ko... noon wala pa ako cleaner wax un joy

[EuroFD]

I've been into detailing as long as I have learned to drive. I've tried a lot of products (shampoos, waxes, equipment, etc.) to actually give out reviews for all of them based on my experience. After more than a decade of DIY detailing by hand waxing, I'm now into machine polishing and buffing using professional products. Mostly learning from detailing experts and watching videos over the internet.

All said, here's the best car maintenance advice: wash & wax weekly for the best shine and protection.

[madkatz]

*EuroFD: its nice to find someone that also has the passion for detailing to graduate to machine polishing, and yes up for this, i totally agree, if you have the time or if you could dedicate the time, this is the best way to keep your car looking like new.

[Djerms]

I've been into detailing as long as I have learned to drive. I've tried a lot of products (shampoos, waxes, equipment, etc.) to actually give out reviews for all of them based on my experience. After more than a decade of DIY detailing by hand waxing, I'm now into machine polishing and buffing using professional products. Mostly learning from detailing experts and watching videos over the internet.

All said, here's the best car maintenance advice: wash & wax weekly for the best shine and protection.

I agree. The time in between a more detailed regimen will be longer.

[jonjon_u]

... together, of course, with the proper products, tools, and processes.

[jmpet626]

Once a week Wash with California Wash mitts + Microtex Shampoo + Elite Drying Towel

Apply Collinite 845


Cali Duster lang in between washes

[manny31671]

*EuroFD: its nice to find someone that also has the passion for detailing to graduate to machine polishing, and yes up for this, i totally agree, if you have the time or if you could dedicate the time, this is the best way to keep your car looking like new.

maam madkatz, anu maganda machine buffer available jan sa Manila? minsan canvas ako dito sa Angeles, meron dito un 1 speed na black and decker lang...

and how many times in a year pwede natin i machine polish un auto? para safe padin sa clear coat... pwede ba gamitin dito un mothers power polish and power wax?

actually satisfied na ako sa hand applied products nang mothers, pero would like to invest with a machine buffer also, pang alis nang imperfections hindi maalis nang hand applied products, like swirl marks...

tnx in advance.

[madkatz]

*manny31671: hehe no maams pls, i just said "thats maam for you" because im not a sir, im a girl hehe, i feel awkward when called maam.

As for the machine buffer, it would depend on what you want to achieve.

First you have to ask yourself the following questions

1. what are your goals? ( paint defect removal? improving gloss through buffing? or simply applying product?)
2. what is your budget? ( BnD kp600 for about 3.5k? BnD WP1300 with velcro backing plate 4.3k? Makita 9227c 10.5k?)
3. how far are you willing to go? ( As far as buying pads? as far as buying compounds and polishes? )

Here's a brief overview of the machines i have and used.

BnD Kp600 - this is a good polisher in the sense that it is cheap, it can only be used for VERY light defect removal and applying waxes though, you could retrofit it by putting on velcro strips and then attach pads but it still does not have that much power left to tackle light to moderate paint defect removal. It does come with a sponge attachment and wool attachment, and sadly the only thing usable here is the sponge attachment to spread waxes, the wool attachment it too course IMO to be used safely without inducing swirls.

Porter Cable 7424XP - this is one of my top ranked polishers and one of my best recommendations but sadly it is not available locally. This would actually fall on a reasonable price as long as you know someone to bring it over from the US, but enough of that since its local polishers.

BnD WP1300 - this one is a rotary polisher, its cheap falling at 4.3k with velcro backing plate, well thats how much i got mine, it has enough power to tackle serious defects removal but the downside it that its noisy and its heavy, it does bog down a little when used with too much pressure but for the price its a fairly safe price shot for a noob beginning and starting to learn detailing, only thing left would be proper training and paint panel

Makita 9227c - this is a rotary polisher that is expensive but for me well worth it since it will last you a long time and its light and has less noise, its the polisher used by most dealerships and body shops, its also the polisher used by most professionals all over the world, everything about it for me it good except the price, this could also tackle serious defects.

If you would be using Mothers power polish and power wax with the BnD, my opinion is you are better off using the BnD with the power wax but not with the power polish since the BnD kp600 lacks the power to do any significant correction.

Actually there are OTC products out there that already remove those kinds of defects even via hand method, we have the SMAT product line of meguiars, we have Mothers Scratch remover, these products can remove swirls marks and blemishes by hand so you don't have to buy a polisher, Even for heavily oxidized and swirled paint we have Megs Ultimate compound which can greatly improve the defects and remove scratches and swirls by hand.

IMO if you are planning on investing on a machine polish, i would recommend you either get a PC 7424 or a rotary polisher where the BnD WP1300 is a deal and the Makita 9227c is a great tool, and just learn machine polishing the right way.

[manny31671]

nice! tnx tnx tnx madkatz, dagdag kaalaman talaga sa akin yang pointers na binigay mo about the types of machine buffers (effectivity, and pros and cons nila)...

sis anu difference nang porter cable (PC 7424) and rotary polishers (BnD WP1300/Makita 9227c)? where to buy sis un Makita 9227c? puro BnD meron dito sa Angeles...

and last questions sis-

you said the wool pad that came with BnD Kp600 are too course (magaspang/rough). what should we look for when buying good ones (wool and foam pads)? ...what brand and where to buy?

also when should we use the wool pad and foam pad...

removal of scratch marks- wool or foam pad?
removal of swirl marks - wool or foam pad?
improving gloss- wool or foam pad?

and i've also watch some guys in youtube giving tutorials on the removal of scratch marks via machine buffer/polisher. they started using the polishing compount, then rubbing compound, then finish it with polishing compound again. is this the norm?

when i use mothers and/or meguires, anu gagamitin ko for pre polish, main cutting, then final polish?...

tnx talaga for the pointers sis

manny

btw, i am not opening a car detailing shop hahaha, i am just really interested to learn (ngayun semi retired na ako), sort of a hobby na cguro. andami ko auto na lilinisin- besides sa auto ko... sa mga siblings ko, sa parents, sa in laws. pang goodshot points sa kanila hahaha.

[jick.cejoco]

hehehe, some wives will get jealous. the hubby takes care of the car more than the family. the wife will find happiness somewhere else from somebody else

[jmpet626]

*manny31671

Go for PC7424xp.. Galing na din ako sa kp600 and ang laki ng difference nila sa performance sa pag remove ng scratches, swirls at pag apply ng wax. Gusto ko na nga benta yung kp600 ko.

[manny31671]

*manny31671

Go for PC7424xp.. Galing na din ako sa kp600 and ang laki ng difference nila sa performance sa pag remove ng scratches, swirls at pag apply ng wax. Gusto ko na nga benta yung kp600 ko.

hi sir, where to buy un PC7424xp?... and how much?

hehehe, some wives will get jealous. the hubby takes care of the car more than the family. the wife will find happiness somewhere else from somebody else

hi sir, huwag naman sana... naku pag nagkataon lagot sakin yun somebody... i ma machine buffer ko ang *R! nya hahaha (just kidding)...

actually goodshot ako sa household namin with my new "hobby" na car detailing, years ago sobra tamad ako maglinis nang kotse. mag vacuum lang hard labor na sakin... buti nalang nagka interest ako

[jmpet626]

Sa online ako bumili

http://www.autogeek.net/poca74pofcop.html


Mas mura kasi compared dito 12k ata yung last an nag inquire ako sa mothers santolan and hindi pa ata New model or "XP" Lumalabas almost 8k siya. Maganda siya for beginners since mas safe siya sa paint compared sa rotary

[manny31671]

nice! tnx sir jmpet626 for the insights. brand name pala un porter cable , kala ko another class of machine buffer...

nag research narin ako difference nang both - rotary polisher VS random orbital polisher (like PC 7424XP and Megs G110) - ...the random orbital polisher combines the spinning motion of a rotary polisher with the hand polishing motion of an orbital polisher. these two actions classify random orbital polisher as dual-action polishers... the rotation of the pad is not driven directly by the polisher. rather the momentum of the orbit forces the pad to spin in the same direction of the orbit. this 'fuselage' link makes random orbital polishers very safe to use...

makahanap nga sa Dau nang second hand, baka meron nun PC/Megs RO polisher...

un nalang pads (wool and/or foam) need ko pag aralan. what to use for specific purpose (scratch removal, polish, buffing, etc.). what brand to use and where to buy too...

and how many times in a year kaya safe to use un RO polisher (with mothers powerpolish, megs ultimate compound or swirl X) para safe padin un clear coat? also, is it also ok NOT to use na un cleaner wax? pag gamit na un RO with polish...

[nelz]

questions po ulit
1] ano po ba magandang QD?
2] ano po ba ginagamit sa pag-maintain ng roof rails?
3] pano po tanggalin yung watermarks sa headlights na galing po sa headlight washer??

TIA

[madkatz]

*manny31671: a Porter Cable is a random orbital polisher which means it greatly lower the chance for you to induce swirls since it just simulates the natural movement of your hand. The porter cable more of a oscillating polisher. The Makita 9227C and the WP1300 are both rotary polishers that spin/rotate from the center. As far as i know you can find both at Ace Hardwares, either that or if you are near manila i could refer you to where i bought mine, i got mine a lot cheaper as compared to Ace hardware prices, for that you'll have to pm me, but the last time i got my makita it was only at 10.5k and Ace sells it for 13.5K hehe

For the pads you could try to look for Meguiars or Lake Country pads, both supply wool pads and foam pads, the Meguiars can be found at Simex Trading just look it up and the Lake Country can be found on Hart International near San Juan.

Basically for heavy swirls and moderate scratches, most of the professionals use Wool, but you could also use Foam, its takes a little longer but it still gets the job done, and with foam you get less swirls

As for Light Scratches and moderate Swirls, that would be a light cutting foam pad

And for very light swirls and improving gloss you would have to use a light polishing foam pad.

As for the polishing part, no matter how much youtube video's you watch, it still does not make you know how to polish a car, take it from me, i've researched nearly all the video's and watched it and tested it on a test panel and i still didn't get the results i wanted, i had to undergo training from meguiars and mothers to be able to get the results i wanted from the rotary, with the RO or dual action polisher, its pretty much very user friendly, with using this kind of polisher you could go and polish your car once you get your polisher. With my rotary training, i really did learn a lot of things, what to do and not to do, but in the process i also had to burn a lot of paint and strike through so i can see how far you need to go to start damaging the paint.

As for the rubbing compound part, normally what people here do is evaluate the paint visually and then go for a 2 step which is polishing and then waxing, that or a 3 step which is rubbing compound and then polishing and then waxing. But the SOP in other countries are different, and IMO it is safer, and thats what i also do. What i do is use a polish first to see if a polish can already remove the defects, so based on my polishing stage i could already evaluate if i need to be more aggressive and use a rubbing compound, or if another polish could already do the trick or if i could already proceed to the waxing stage. In the detailing world when using abrasives it is always best to use the least aggressive method to save more clear coat, so i guess thats what they did since its the SOP in other countries, they just tried to polish and check what the next step would be.

For Meguiars

You could use, Megs 84 compound power cleaner for your rubbing compound stage and then Megs 83 dual action cleaner polish for the polishing stage and any wax you want for waxing stage but their SOP is Megs 26 hi tech yellow wax.

As for Mothers

Its either Mothers Rubbing Compound or HP Pro Rubbing compound, depending on the defect that is, and then Step 2 and 3 for the two other steps. The Mothers SOP here uses MarkV for their abrasive steps, for that theres too many products to consider.

[madkatz]

*manny31671: i would take jmpet626's advise on getting the porter cable and staying away from the kp600, i have a kp600 right now collecting dusts, and the porter cable already has enough power to do correction, but of course at a longer working time, the porter cable is what people usually get when they want to graduate from hand application but still need more experience for a rotary. So in short the Porter Cable is a great tool for learner on how to deal with paint before you jump to a rotary where in the untrained hands can really do serious damages. We both got our Porter Cable from that site and i guess its safe to say that we both feel its worth ordering online.

[madkatz]

With the pads and other stuffs, if you are ordering for a PC online, i would suggest you save up to include the proper accessories as well like pads and polishes, its a lot more expensive getting them here and sometimes i feel like its even cheaper to have it sent via air here.

As for the polishing question, safe depends on how you define it, and its definition is also affected by how long you want to keep your car. For me i only polish my car when there are defects like scratches and moderate swirls, as much as possible i don't polish my car since all of our cars lasted us more than 15 years so i guess its a trend in the family, so in short my advise would be to only polish when deemed necessary, as for improving gloss however with the proper finishing polish, you could do this every year and still be confident about the amount of clear coat you have. With the cleaner wax query it is ok not to use the cleaner wax already once you do the polish but i will still recommend you use it every other month or every 3 months to remove old wax deposits and oxidized paint, think of it as a facial scrub for the paint.

you could try visiting this site and check out their application guide for Lake country pads

http://www.lakecountrymfg.com/applicationguide/

[madkatz]

*Nelz:

1. It depends on what your goal is, if its just for cleaning the paint you could the QD BB sells, its good enough for removing bird droppings and dusts safely. If its looks then TW Platinum is good and also great for the budget, Moms Showtime is also good and it doesn't cost as much.

2. For roof rails hmm that would depend on the condition of the railings, if its already a little dull you might need to find a aluminum polishing compound for that both mothers and megs has that, it comes in different names though but i've tried nearly all of them it all works well as long as its for aluminum that is, for chrome its a different story you need a chrome polish for that. For maintaining its shine you could find a nice synthetic sealant that can be used for metals surfaces

3. It depends on the headlight type, if its glass you might need to get some elevo water mark remover, or Glass Science Glass Scrub. If its plastic, you could use Mothers plastic polish or Megs PlastX

[jmpet626]

*manny31671: i would take jmpet626's advise on getting the porter cable and staying away from the kp600, i have a kp600 right now collecting dusts, and the porter cable already has enough power to do correction, but of course at a longer working time, the porter cable is what people usually get when they want to graduate from hand application but still need more experience for a rotary. So in short the Porter Cable is a great tool for learner on how to deal with paint before you jump to a rotary where in the untrained hands can really do serious damages. We both got our Porter Cable from that site and i guess its safe to say that we both feel its worth ordering online.

Ok din yung kp600 + lc pads for wax and glaze application pero for defect removal PC pa din talaga. Mura online and may mga products na wala dito na easily available online. Naka 4 orders ako sa AG nung last sale nila nung feb