A buddy of mine and I are planning on doing a complete detail job on our cars. He has a sivler BMW, I have my black Mustang. We need some advice though, as we are not sure on everything we need to do to attain the best results.
I know we have to wash and dry, then go over the car with a clay bar. After that, we want to use a buffer to get out the scratches and swirl marks. How do we do this? He has a pnumatic random orbital sander and a big air compressor, will this work? I think it revs up to 9,000 rpm, is that too much? What is the ideal speed to use when using the polish and what not, I see the porter cable machines go from 2,500 to around 6,000 rpm.

Another question is after the wash and clay bar, what polish do we use? I know there are rubbing compounds and abrasive polishes, but I don't know which is right for my needs. (My paint needs help. I have swirls and light scratches everywhere.) Also, what kind of pads do we need to use? Are there different pads to use for the abrasive polish, and a different pad for the polish to bring the shine back, then a different polish for the seal and wax? Alos, is the wax the sealant, or is there something else to apply before the wax?

As you can see, we aren't exactly sure on how to go about all of this. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: One more question I just thought of. . . How does all of this affect the clear coat? Is that going to get buffed away, and we have to rely on the wax to protect the paint? I know, I don't know anythign about detailng beyond washing, claying and waxing. Thanks for the help.

 

with the buffer you do not want to go 9000 RPMs that will just burn your paint your best bet is to invest in a porter cable kit from http://www.obsessivedetail.comsince you have a black car
and with porter cable pads if you buy the kit from justin they come with everything that you will need

to start off i would
wash then clay bar
then optimum compound to start geting rid of the swirls
then i would move to an obsessive detail light polish to take all the small imperfections
then the obsessive detail wet glaze this whill give the paint more depth and shine
then obsessive detail wet wax
and to finish it off i would use the optimum opti seal

if you buy a porter cable buffer you wil not have to worry about clear coat but if you use the one that you have you may burn the clear off

 

Forget the Buffer. Leave the buffer to the professionals or take a class on how to use it before you destroy your paint. Follow my steps below and you should be looking good in no time. You do not have to order anything special to get a good job done. If you have the time, you could order the supplies from Obsessive or you could go to the local autozone and get a good car wash soap, a mothers clay bar kit and a decent sealant. For black I would just go with Nano Wax for a store bought brand.

1. Fill 3 buckets with water. then add a cap full of soap
2. Spray with high pressure spray to suds the soap.
3. Pre rinse the wheels and wash rims and tires (wheel and tire cleaner helps)
4. Use the second bucket of soappy water and pre-rinse the car.
5. Wash the car with from top down to keep from scratching the paint with the grime from the bottom. (clean the wash mit regularly)
6. Rinse. Do not allow the soap to dry.
7. Use the soappy water again and wipe down one panel at a time and clay the paint while wet. then rinse
8. after the entire car is clayed this way re wash one more time with bucket number 3. Rinse and dry. Blow out all the jams with air pressure or just dry them all well. N
9. Put your tire treatment on and then apply the nano wax. Allow to dry to a haze and remove with a microfiber towel. Takes me 3 towels to remove the wax from my car.
10 now work on the windows and touch up any parts you missed. Use a paint brush to get the wax out of the cracks.

If you need additional help or have more detailed questions let me know I would be happy to help.

 

he wants to get rid of the swirls and scratchs and what you told him to do will not get rid of them and if you have a porter cable you will not ruin your paint

before i got myporter cable i have never touched a buffer and never taken classes or anything i have not messed up my paint at all

 

I highly recommend the Porter Cable package also. The PC is so popuplar because you can be a beginner at polishing and still get awesome results without having to worry about hurting your paint. You would have to leave the polisher on one spot for a long period of time to do any damage. I've sold hundreds of PC's to customers and have never heard of anyone hurting their paint.

My Optimum/Porter Cable package is very popular. This comes with the PC, backing plate, light cutting pad, polishing pad, finishing pad, Optimum Compound and Optimum finishing Polish. I really like the Optimum polishes because they don't dust like my brands and can be worked in longer without drying out.

After the polishing I recommend my Wet Glaze to add a lot of wetness and depth to the paint.

Then you can either put on a wax or sealant or both, this is just personal preference.

Many members here use my products and have been very happy with the end results. Let me know if you have any questions, I will be glad to help you out!

Justin

 

Just wait till he gets a sig, I'm sure it'll be a monster.

 

Thanks for the help.
I've washed and clayed the car enough to know how to do that.
Sounds like I should invest in a porter cable and then the optimum products. If I were planning on doing this all this weekend, is there anything I could get at a store that would take care of the swirls and scratches?

 

So, is there anything I can pick up at the store that would give me good results?

 

You could get Megiuars Scratch X for light swirls and scratches.