Polishing machine, any recommendations?

[Sharman]

Fancy treating myself to a polishing machine and heard good reports about the Meguiars machine, but they seem a little expensive(compared to Halfords). I was going to pay for "Shine" to do my Black pearl GTI, But at £75, I'm tempted to buy a machine and do it myself. I'm just a little worried how skilled a job it is, as I don't want to make a pigs ear of it! Also, I can hire the meguiars for £30, but then need the polish etc. Any ideas of what works best on Black pearl? Decisions, decisions!!

[keith]

I used the Megs G220 to do my paintwork with some dodo juice lime prime and it brought the flakes out really well on my steel grey this was just a quick hit but very impressed far better results than by hand.

[stealthwolf]

I've machine-polished my own car. It's not difficult to get rid of light swirls, just time-consuming. Random deep scratches are harder to get out.

Both Megs G220 and Kestral DAS6 or whatever it's called are both good for beginners. Get some decent pads and polish. Also make sure you prep the surface beforehand (decent wash, clay the car too).

[Sharman]

Great advice about claying beforehand, I've used clay bar before with amazing results. Just out of interest, how many times can you machine polish, before getting too close to the paint? Obviously your're taking laquer off to remove the swirls.

[stealthwolf]

The best way would be to use a paintdepth guage to measure the paint thickness. Ideally you should not be removing more than 1-2 microns I think. Typically on a VAG car, expect around 110-130 microns, some of which will be primer/paint as well as lacquer.

Polishing should not be done more than twice a year for this reason.

[chip20]

I would be getting it done for £75.You can easily spend that on compound and polish alone!!!

[Jules86]

£75 for a correction detail? Where is this...tesco?

You get what you pay for with detailing. I use to charge around £300 depending on the car as it took me close to 16 hours when it was a large vehicle! Clean, prep, tape up, cut, restore, polish, seal, wax etc etc

[Gti_Mad]

^^^^ jules do you still do them ???

[Jules86]

^^^^ jules do you still do them ???

Dont have the time anymore mate, i work 60 odd hours a week over 6 days usually! Got to pay for the S3 some how 

There are some superb amateur and professional detailers on the this site though mate 

[Gti_Mad]

wow thats some mega hours dude


ok will have 2 post a thread i guess.....

[Jules86]

Not sure where your based but if its northwest then give JPC a pm, the work ive seen him do is nothing short of perfect

http://www.miglior.co.uk/

[Sharman]

"Shine" aka taketheweekendoff said it'd be £75 to do. Recently had a scratch repair done by these on the wifes' Mini and was impressed.

[bodger00]

Ive used a DAS6 polisher and they are quite effective and easy to use there are loads of guides out there and as long as you take your time the results are superb. I am just an enthusiast and I thought the results i ended up with were great.

For £100 you can get setup with everything you need.....other than the time it takes. 1 full day flat out is about right!
 

[matsu]

so can someone kindly put a recommended list fora beginnerto go and buy.
i,m gonna go for a silverline or das6 soon but need a simple shopping list. and then with some simple guides printed off my dads old focus isgonna get a good working.and ill prcatice on stuff untill i dare get good enough to work on SWMBO's mk4 gti aaniv...then and only then will my gti get a look in, andprob only after i get a proffessional to do it first and tech me as he goes along!!
thankks in advance
matsu

[stealthwolf]

here's what I went for:
- Megs G220 polisher
- Meguiars 7" cutting, polishing and finishing pads
- triple sample set of menzerna polishes all at different cuts - 2/10, 4/10 and 6/10 cutting abilities I think
- don't forget IPA. This is isopropyl alcohol. buy a solution, not the aerosol version. Mix 50/50 with water and use this to wipedown the car. Removes all polish residue.
- 3" backing plate and a set of cutting, polishing and finishing pads that were 4" in size (this is for small areas like the boot lip)
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