Hi Guys,

As the title suggests I need a bit of advice on polishing my car. I have never attempted a cut and polish before so I need some advice so I dont stuff my paint work.

Firstly, I assume I am correct in that I have a clear coat finish on my magna? Then, if this assumption is correct, then I assume one needs to be rather careful when doing a "cut"???

Below, I have posted some pics as to what products I have at my disposal.

I tried using the kitten polish by hand and this made it nice and shiny but the surface of the paint was still rough. I park below a gum tree and I think the rough surface of the paint may have something to do with the tree (damn tree lol ). I should point out though, that its not that bad, but it is noticeable. i.e. you can feel it but not readily see it.

Then I went to repco and bought the meguiars paint cleaner. It states on the back "Rub your hand across the top surface. If it feels rough, you need to use paint cleaner". Well, I bought this stuff on this advice and it did'nt do jack for me :angry: (should I take it back and ask for a refund??)

So, now I buy the turtle wax product in the hope that it may be a "mild" cutting compound. It feels no more abrasive than the meguiars paint cleaner (which is not abrasive at all), so I feel I may be wasting my time using this too.???

From what I can gather I am trying to be too careful I think? But I'm really not sure, ok, I'll admit it, I dont have a clue lol . Obviously following the blurb on the back of the bottle is not getting me anywhere. So I need some help.

So far I have tried these products by hand using the directions on the bottles. I am now thinking it may be time to get some mechanical assistance in the form of a random orbital sander (which I have) and attach some appropriate pads to it. From the pics below I have picked up a couple of pads today but I am not sure if these will be any good, which ones to use in which order and lastly, I would hate to damage my paint.

So can someone tell me if I can use the random orbital with either of these pads and with any of these products or wether I need to purchase different products for what I want to do? Finally, can we stick to affordable solutions here as I am working on the basis that it is not a show car and its not a prestige marque. So something affordable and appropriate would be good :D

goto http://www.autopia.org/

then goto Learn and have a good ol read :), when i get some tim off work (more then 1 day) i will be having a go at detailing my car properly

Gum trees are bad mmmkay

For excellent results do the following:

(1) wash the car with your normal car shampoo

(2) get product called T-CUT (get the colour to suit your car colour)

(3) do 2 coats of it, 1 cloth to rub it in....other 2 polish it off

(4) once the WHOLE car is done then use your liquid polish (the kitten is good)

(5) 1 coat, 2 cloths, on and off again.

- its can be a painful job but effectively you are cuttign down a coast of paint, makign it look good, then shining it up

(6) you will then have god damn shiney nearly new lookign paintwork :D

i say first clean ur car using usual shampoo (i use armourall wash & wax) then use detailing clay to rid of all the other dirt that stuck on, then use a medium cut n polish on the car (dunno what ur paint is like) then put a carnauba wax on it should come up reall nice

If your paint just has unwanted stuff stuck to it (feels rough) then a detailing clay will be much better than Meguiar's Paint Cleaner. Not sure about the rest of your paint job so depending on that you might not even need a cut and polish.
Just go over the paint with the clay and go from there.
Definitely wax it to protect it from future bombardments of gum tree crap. If you use any machine to do work on your paint, be extremely careful. Try it out on some hidden part of paint, like the insides of your doors.

What sort of polishing colour would u use on a "gun metal grey" car though?? black??

']i say first clean ur car using usual shampoo (i use armourall wash & wax) then use detailing clay to rid of all the other dirt that stuck on, then use a medium cut n polish on the car (dunno what ur paint is like) then put a carnauba wax on it should come up reall nice
Can you tell me what brands you use to do this? Also, what is a "clay"


If your paint just has unwanted stuff stuck to it (feels rough) then a detailing clay will be much better than Meguiar's Paint Cleaner. Not sure about the rest of your paint job so depending on that you might not even need a cut and polish.
Just go over the paint with the clay and go from there.

Again, what is this "clay" stuff?? what are good brands??

its... well clay lol

basically u get clay (not ur usual ordinary clay tho, proper detailing clay) and flatten it out, lubraicate it and run it over pait of car it basically cleans everything off the clear coat

http://autopia.org/kb/index.php?page=index_v2&id=31&c=root

When contaminants get a solid grip on your car's paint, washing alone may not be enough to remove them. Pre-wax cleaners also may not be able to exfoliate large particles. In this case, you have two choices: use a polishing compound, which removes a lot of paint material, or use a clay bar. Clay isn't a polish or a compound, it is a surface preparation bar that smoothes the paint and exfoliates contaminants.

Tree sap and tar specks can also be safely removed with a clay bar.

read link for more info :)

I use Meguiar's Detailing Clay, comes with their Quik Detailer spray for lubricant. The clay is a bit small and very sticky so make sure to spray lots of the Quik Detailer, or you can use soap. Just make sure to use a lot of whatever lubricant you choose.
You can get it at Autobarn, Repco or even Kmart. Follow the directions on the back. It's easy. Only thing is if you drop the clay on the ground or it gets dirty, you have to throw it away, cos it's just going to do more harm than good.
The clay will remove deposits and other "yuck" from your paint, but will not fix any scratches or swirl marks.

Thanks guys, I think this clay is what I need. Sounds quite easy which is a must for me lol

Thats a good writeup at autopia too, thanks [Thugdout]! :D

EDIT: hmmmmm I think Holly can come and rub my panels if she wants. Yum!!