Hi Chaps,

I'm thinking of buying a rotary polisher to to remove some light swirl marks from my black full fat.

I don't have a huge budget for this, so I'm after advice whether a Silverline 180mm sander polisher with a spin rage between 900-3000 rpm will be sufficient.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-Silvers...d_cp_diy_1

If its okay to get me going, what else do I need in the way of pads and masking tape etc.

Also, will autoglym SRP be ok as the polish, or do I need something more exotic?

Thanks

Justin 
Gone - Range Rover Supercharged 2006


Last edited by JustinP on 21st Nov 2011 11:18pm. Edited 1 time in total

If it's only light swirls I would recommend doing it by hand, a rotary can do a lot of damage for the untrained....

Justin, best to get this done by the professionals my friend... You can cause hundreds of £sss of damage if you get it wrong...


Craig

I've tried removing the swirls by by hand and it looks great for a week or two but the swirls soon come back

Although I've never used a rotary polisher, I have respayed entire cars in my youth and then polished them using 1200 grade wet and dry followed by a cutting compound then a final polish. Although that was on fresh cellulose paint rather than the rock hard two pack paint that's used today.

I also plan to practice on my wife's car before I give the full fat a go  
Gone - Range Rover Supercharged 2006

You could get a quote form these guys:

http://cambridgeautogleam.com/default.aspx Graham

____
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Gone: 17MY RR Evoque SE Tech, Loire Blue
Gone: 08MY Discovery 3 XS, Stornoway Grey
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Hi Justin,

I guess that it looks good for a while because SRP has fillers.

I got a DA polisher as it's more forgiving way of getting rid of swirls

I got the Das6- pro from clean your car with Menzerna polishes.

That said I want to get hexlogic pads and then try the full Gtechniq system

I got some C1 and used it on the GFs car. Fantastic.

Mine has FinishKare 1000p wax on but I want C1, just coming into the wrong time of year to have to wash, dry, clay, dry, correct, seal!

In any case, someone who knows what they are talking about will probably help soon!

Also in my experience as an engineer I'd personally never let anything with Silverline on it in my house, just my £0.02.

Hi Justin

I have one of these and its great only thing is the pads and backing plate tha come with it are useless and even harmful.

I use hexlogic pads and 3m as these seem to be best.

I would recommend have a looking on Detailingworld.co.uk

SRP is highly thought of but I use Menzerma and Scholl 17 concepts products.

I learned all I know on detailing world very helpful and recommended  Present :2008 TDV8 HSE
Gone Audi A5 2.7TDI
Gone Discovery 3 HSE
Gone Mercedes CLK
Gone Range Rover 2.5 DSE

Have you looked at the Wiki on detailing to bone up before a purchase?

Be aware that there are cheap rotary polishers out there that just spin furiously, they don't have a dual action which can mean to the untrained/inexperienced, you can actually burn the paint and cause more swirl damage.

If you do get one, get a damned good one, don't go for cheap. Take a look at the meguiars one as a starter for ten Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

Anothern For a DA and the DA6! I've only just started to use mine and it's great just takes ages being the size of a FFRR. I use it with meguires compounds and pads. [img]http://www.fuelly.com/driver/rob2529/range-rover[img/]
04, 4.4V8, Vogue Oslo Blue with LPG.
"You can sleep in your car, BUT you can't race your house!!!!"

If something can't be fixed with a hammer....... You have yourself an electrical fault!

JustinP wrote:

Hi Chaps,

I'm thinking of buying a rotary polisher to to remove some light swirl marks from my black full fat.

I don't have a huge budget for this, so I'm after advice whether a Silverline 180mm sander polisher with a spin rage between 900-3000 rpm will be sufficient.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-Silvers...d_cp_diy_1

If its okay to get me going, what else do I need in the way of pads and masking tape etc.

Also, will autoglym SRP be ok as the polish, or do I need something more exotic?

Thanks

Justin

If you can stretch a little this is a much better machine, quieter and with better bushes that last longer;
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/machine-poli...d_806.html

As for pads go for either 3M (yellow & blue) or CG Hexlogic (White, blue & black)

My personal favourite polish brand is Menzerna. Great polish as long as you work it properly and best for me you can use it in direct sunlight.

After that I would use something like Poor Boys glaze, either Black Hole or White Diamond depending on the colour of your car.

Lastly the LSP. You have hundreds of choices and all act/last slightly different from one another and for me it all comes down to personal preference.

If your ever near Swindon and would like some tips feel free

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Lucky

Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated

Yep as already stated if working by hand it's always best to try to hide the defects instead of correct them it's a thankless task. SRP is a great at it and readily available off the shelf. There are better products IMO though and can be bought easily on line. If you want to use a machine again as above I would recommend buying a da. A rotary is dangerous only with the untrained, as is a da but much less so. I would recommend getting a menzerna trial set, a finishing pad and some surbuf pads. Try a finishing pad with a finishing polish and if that's no enough go to the surbuf pads and work up through the polishes until you get the desired results, then refine with finishing pad and polish. The beauty of the surbuf pad is it can cut like a b1tch if needed, or not with a weaker polish but always finishes fantastically and like other names producing the newer style (mf) pads these don't need masses of pressure to get correction thus meaning the pads themselves last much longer. I still turn to these pads in times of need if the rotary is just not playing (on sticky paints etc). Take your time and read lots. And most of all enjoy it that's the important thing after all

A useful link for you
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=63859

Thanks chaps,

I think SHMBO will let me stretch to the Dodo Juice spin doctor @£95, so I will probably go for that one.

www.cleanyourcar.co.uk also sells the CG Hexalogic pads, so I can order everything at the same time.

The pads come in either 4" or 5.5" so which ones do I need?

From the looks of it the white pad has a light cutting power. Would I use that with something like AG SRP to remove the swirls, or is it intended to flatten out slightly deeper scratches?

The black pad contains no cutting power, so is that used to apply a top wax / sealer?

Finally, whats the Dual Action bit all about? I understand the difference between a rotary and an oscillating polisher, but I'm not sure what a DA is.

<edit> I think Matt has just answered my last question, a DA is oscillating type </edit>

Thanks

Justin 
Gone - Range Rover Supercharged 2006

Da is the oscillating one you speak of. Word of warning, the spin doctor is crap. Better with a high quality da IMO. If you want a cheaper style rotary look towards a silverline. With the hex pads, not to get boring, but there are so many colours as they use different foams. Some are closed cell some are open. I would recommend black for finishing, white for one step polishing and green for moderate swirl removal. After that yellow or orange cut pretty hard. Srp is not a machine polish and although some use it to good effect it really isn't the best. Go with "proper" machine polishes, either a menzerna bundle as I suggested or my fave pair of meguires 105 and 205. They are epic. But I really think a da is the way to go it's a much more versatile machine

You'll want to go with 5.5". These are much more forgiving by creating much less heat but you still have to be very careful.
You can use the non cutting pads for either the glaze and/or lsp.

My problem with a DA is it takes way to long to correct a panel. Yes it's safer but with common sense you will be fine with a rotary.

Luckyluciano wrote:

You'll want to go with 5.5". These are much more forgiving by creating much less heat but you still have to be very careful.
You can use the non cutting pads for either the glaze and/or lsp.

My problem with a DA is it takes way to long to correct a panel. Yes it's safer but with common sense you will be fine with a rotary.

The larger the pad the more heat is created with the rotary due to increased friction. The reality is you need all sizes of pads, from car to car I will use 3 to 4 differing sizes for various shapes and contours. Yes you are right a da can take much much longer but honestly if time is a concern when perfecting your own car I really think it's time to give it to a pro. Nothing good ever came from rushing when detailing. Alright I am biased lol and spend hours but IMHO it's better as an a mature to take time and get a panel at a time done to your satisfaction, protect it and move on. Get the car completed in your own time, second coat of lsp et voila. Sped should NEVER be a factor when using a rotary that is where accidents happen. Plus, and again this is only my opinion, but I don't think you should ever do any machining, let alone with a rotary, without taking thorough paint readings. Hense why I still use my da regularly, great on bumpers for keeping heat down, great on sticky paints, less aggressive on unknown paints if you have them and a better finish can be achieved with less effort by a novice. It is an alround more versatile machine.

That said, whatever you do, just don't get the spin doctor