quick howto on wheeling/waxing

[erk2581]

okay, i'm gunna attempt to do a quick detail on my car tomorrow, for those of you who dont know, its a 99 cougar, black, paint is horrible for the most part...i have a decent 10" orbital buffer, and im just wondering what excatly im supposed to do, i dont wanna claybar, and im DEFINITLEY on a budget, so no Zaino (sorry jonny)...im thinking a good wash/dry, then using a polshing compound with the orbital, and just a standard carnuba hand-wax? any ideas would be great, im gunna go to Murrays to get the stuff tomorrow...once again, on a budget, wanna do a polish/wax...THANKS GUYS!!! i'll post pics tomorrow when i'm all done

[JoeliusZ28]

I have never heard of using compound with an orbital buffer before. an orbital buffer is supposed to be used for wax application. i highly doubt youre going to get any kind of satisfactory result with that, it might even make it worse with swirls.

[erk2581]

so what kinda wax should i use? ive heard that turtle ICE stuff is pretty good...so just use the buffer to buff the wax on, then get it off by hand?

[SS4Matt]

i hate "random orbital" "polishers" / "buffers" i just use my Makita wheel and a combination of wool, white waffle or flat foam pads.

Not claybaring a black car is a bad move. claybar removes all road enviroment. you don't want to be wheeling or "buffing" all that grit and shit into your paint...black shows everything so one little piece of tar or something could get caught in your pad, then you'll put nice little scratches all down your paint as you continue.

random orbitals just put uneven scratches all over the place, i hate them.

wash car, Clay Bar it, since it's a '99 and black, it'll probably need a wool pad to really level it out, then go over it again with a softer foam pad of some sort. then rinse off all your compound dust and splatter and wax by hand.

3M finesse it is good compound, Wizards Finish Cut is what i usually use, Ardex Topaz is my favorite wax

[00firebird]

who says orbitals are only for waxing? i do all of my polishing with the PC.
i dont even bother buying products from the store anymore, the best shit you can get is all online. best waxes i would recommend are poorboys EX (dark colors) and EX-P (light) & collinite 845 for crazy long lasting protection

[cobalt camaro]

i would say it depends on what your going for but usually, i like to use a 3m product called clean cut, with a standard buffing wheel, and then follow it up with some micropolishing machine compound, or a machine glaze and a foam,dimpled pad. that always seems to get the swirls out, and makes the paint nice and smooth. I believe most of the time use the orbital around 1500 to 2500 rpms. and if you do plan on doing this, do it in the shade no direct sunlight and stay away from edges of pannels, it's easy to burn the paint.

[SS4Matt]

you can't heat up the paint with a random orbital, you really are not polishing the car. there's no way in Hell Rob's GTO would have looked the way it did without a wheel. a random orbital is just as good as hand compounding without the effort.

[cobalt camaro]

matt's right, i have a milwaukee wheel, it's the bomb diggity, i don't think you can get the equivallent shine that you do with a wheel, once you wheel your car once you'll be hooked, because the color is so deep, and the paint is so smooth.

[JoeliusZ28]

agree with matt 100%

[SlipStreamZ28]

Yeah, this will probably be the last year I use a off the shelf RO buffer, I want to buy one of the variable speed ones they sell on the net. I clay bar'ed the car last year and didnt get much off it so I probably wont bother this year. As soon as it gets warm enough I plan on cleaning the paint with some zanio fusion then rubbing it out real good with some polishing compound. Once Im happy with the paint, I'll do a coat or two of Z-2 then a coat or two of NXT. then finish with a good paste wax. I want to try some of that ardex matt was talking about just need to find out where to buy it.

[JAdair]

What kinda wheel would you guys recommend i would like to get one so i can do my car and my parents cars to lol maybe make some money

[JoeliusZ28]

What kinda wheel would you guys recommend i would like to get one so i can do my car and my parents cars to lol maybe make some money

makita. wheels arent cheap though and its not a skill you learn overnight.

[meissen]

I always thought random-orbital buffers were "the best" compared to orbital buffers? Isn't a wheel just another term for buffer? I always thought PorterCable was the best of the best.

[JoeliusZ28]

pretty sure orbital and random orbital is the same thing? but either way they arent for polishing... you need a wheel for that.

I have read that the porter cable is capable of both but ive never seen one so i have no idea how it works.

[tenpin842]

Yes, I agree with most everyone here. I have a multi speed wheel. I turn it down for rubber/fiberglass bumpers and such. I use wizards also, (for now)
Heavy cut for scratches or if we just got done wetsanding. Then I use the finish cut to get a really nice shine.

I personally whould ""wheel"" out your car 1st to do it correct. Tape off the edges of your car, and also tape off the rubber moldings if you think your going to hit them also.
That color match wax works really well.
But, I love the ICE wax! That stuff is really nice. But it doesnt last as long.
But I still use it. No white wax film left. Thats the best.