Car buffer machine - such a good investment!

[adrianpowers]

Thought i would like to share the result of a good 9 hrs hard work yesterday cut and polishing and waxing my car for the first time in 5 years. I have a friend who recently bought a $40 buffer machine from autobarn and he told me it would take the whole day to do a good thorough job...and he wasnt joking!

After going to the carwash he used a claybar to collect some of the hard dirt that sticks to the paint. The back of the mini under the window is the worst part and the clay bar picked up a lot of stubborn dirt particles and made it a lot smoother.

After that we went back to my garage and used cut and polish with the buffer and did 3-4 layers of that. The swirls on my car were terrible under the garage light and was fairly obvious with the black paint, i never knew my paint was in such bad condition. The cut and polish got rid of all the small scratches and swirls and i noticed things i never saw before like stone chips (thats how well it worked!). Then we used a polish to go over everything to make it more shiny and smooth with the buffer and finally 2 layers of wax.

Now my paint looks almost like brand new. I would strongly recommend buying the claybar and the buffering machine. Its much more effective than manually doing it with ur hand.

In the first photo i did half the bonnet as a comparison and you can clearly see the difference the after cut and polishing with the buffer. Third photo was taken today as today is like the only sunny day of the week.

[minicabrio]

Looks excellent - good job!

So which polishing machine did you buy, and how did you find it? Did you practice on anything first?

I really want to invest in a good polishing machine, but might have to go down the scrap yard and source a panel to practice on first

[adrianpowers]

It was my friend who bought it from autobarn, it was the most popular one there at the store and its pretty cheap. I dunno how much better the more expensive ones are, but i imagine it would spin faster and wouldnt vibrate ur hands so much like my friend's one did.

I dont think you have to practice, you cant really go wrong with it. Just in case, go buy one at a car place and they also should supply all the correct pads for it. Also make sure the car is clean (use claybar if necessary) and that the car has cooled down, i.e. lift the bonnet up to cool it down if you have driven recently. Do it in sections or panels and take your time, you really gotta work the cut and polish into the paint to make the most out of it. Also use a very soft microfibre towel to remove the cut/polish/wax each time and repeat.

[porkie convert]

Washed my slightly used MCS for the first time Sunday after collecting from dealer last week. After removing the polish that was applied for the sales yard apart from the normal minor sins in the paint that are only discovered the first time you go over the car with a leather, I found my car has areas where someone has been very over zealous with a buffing machine to the extent that the panels have circular 'flat' areas of paint giving a matt appearance against the normal high gloss duco. Extremely obvious when the car is parked in the sun so much so that people at work commented to me about it. I've complained to the dealer today and will be returning tomorrow with the car for them to see my issues. Wish me luck, I'll keep you posted as to the sort of reception I receive.

[adrianpowers]

Quote: Originally Posted by porkie convert (original)

Washed my slightly used MCS for the first time Sunday after collecting from dealer last week. After removing the polish that was applied for the sales yard apart from the normal minor sins in the paint that are only discovered the first time you go over the car with a leather, I found my car has areas where someone has been very over zealous with a buffing machine to the extent that the panels have circular 'flat' areas of paint giving a matt appearance against the normal high gloss duco. Extremely obvious when the car is parked in the sun so much so that people at work commented to me about it. I've complained to the dealer today and will be returning tomorrow with the car for them to see my issues. Wish me luck, I'll keep you posted as to the sort of reception I receive.

Thats sounds quite bad! Prob not much you can do about it other than doing it properly, and its probably not worth it to get it resprayed. Maybe get the dealer will pay for a good polish and wax job, my friend took his car to a place and paid like $300+ and the guys spent the whole day on it and it apparently turned out quite well (i would think so for $300+). But yeh if no luck then try do wat i did, i dont think it can go wrong. Good luck!

[MickyD]

Quote: Originally Posted by adrianpowers (original)

It was my friend who bought it from autobarn, it was the most popular one there at the store and its pretty cheap. I dunno how much better the more expensive ones are, but i imagine it would spin faster and wouldnt vibrate ur hands so much like my friend's one did.

vibrations are much better than spinning, a decent polisher has an orbital action rather than spinning (a rotary is MUCH more likely to introduce holograms/swirls). TBH, I just use a $30 orbital from bunnings with a meguiars pad on it, not that I've done it in about 6 months or so, waste of time in Melbourne winter

[Quickbrick]

Nice job Adrian.

Are those Simmons wheels you have?

[adrianpowers]

Quote: Originally Posted by Quickbrick (original)

Nice job Adrian.

Are those Simmons wheels you have?

Nah they r Work Meister S1's from Japan.