Alright folks. I have my TORQ FX10 in hand. Now what?

[Cleanfreak623]

Ok folks.

I have the polisher in hand. Now I’m waiting for the rest of the supplies to arrive. However, I am getting cold feet and getting a little nervous to be honest. I’m reading as much as I can on google and quite frankly I’m a little overwhelmed right now.

Is a Paint Gauge essential ? They never seem to mention it on the Chemical Guys videos and the reason I’m going with their products is the fact they have a lot of videos describing how to and the steps which makes it easy for me.

Now, if I do get a gauge what good is it if I don’t know what the thickness is supposed to be ? Every car is different and even the same models could have Paint defects or previous owners etc... a lot of variables it seems and I don’t want to mess anything up.

I’ll be using the combo of orange pad, white pad and black pad. Along with V Line polishes.

Should I practice on a junk yard hood first ? Or am I over thinking this ?

Here is what I’m working with......

Polisher: TORQ 10FX

Polishes on hand: V32 V34 V36 V38

Glaze: Glossworkz

Sealant: Jetseal

Wax: Mother’s Synthetic

Pads: orange, white and black in 5 inch and 3 inch

Backing plates: stock, 5 inch flex 3 inch flex



Here is my Wife’s paint. Sorry for the dirt. Hopefully you guys can see it. Also in the last one her paying looks like it has an oil film on it. Not sure what oh is or if it’ll come out. It goes shiny if I rub my finger on it but goes hazy/oily again [emoji2369]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190502/9ec7c9597ce45fac059aaefc82d4b996.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190502/9650fdd2d7e166c05a7feb8e40d0a5f1.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190502/9f91f6f402d3407f8504ea508563190c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190502/79ae4565f8fa40edd0ceabb44b6db88b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190502/8870610b3d902bc451c0d2506a3247c2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190502/a94be1e5d0fe4a77e7d4fc773af26d7e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190502/c36d90f4fea0b0c48e5aca764e8d85a0.jpg

[Rsurfer]

Is the car new? If not, what year, make and color? Has the paint been polished (compounded) before?

[sudsmobile]

You're way overthinking it. Way.

[Cleanfreak623]

Well, mine is a 2017 Ram in black with super soft clear coat and wife has a 2013 JX35 also in black. My truck has paint correction from when I bought it. They tried to deliver the truck with some scratches and chips. I refused to take it until they fixed it. So I have an idea of where they buffed but no clue in clearcoat thickness.

My wife bought hers used so who the heck knows. Hers is pretty bad so I’m assuming I’ll have to go through a few layers of clear. Mine should be fairly straight forward I would think....

I just don’t to create more problems or ruin the paint.

On another note I noticed looking up Chemical Guys more on the other side of things it seems as though they’re not that popular compared to other companies. The reason I like CG is the products I’ve used so far seem to work as described and I’m happy with results. Some people seem to think it’s all snake oil.... that’s the problem with google. You have a cut on your finger next thing you’re convinced it’s finger cancer. This is why I sort of stuck with CG and focused my attention on them and their products/ videos etc...

If I choose another company like meguiars will the sale technique, pads and steps apply? Now I’m second guessing myself. This is why I hate google and prefer places like this. So I can get up to date real info from people who like minded when it comes to a topic.

Thanks folks [emoji106]

[dlc95]

Give this a watch:

YouTube (https://youtu.be/ulWXODgg8V4)

[custmsprty]

Well, mine is a 2017 Ram in black with super soft clear coat and wife has a 2013 JX35 also in black. My truck has paint correction from when I bought it. They tried to deliver the truck with some scratches and chips. I refused to take it until they fixed it. So I have an idea of where they buffed but no clue in clearcoat thickness.

My wife bought hers used so who the heck knows. Hers is pretty bad so I’m assuming I’ll have to go through a few layers of clear. Mine should be fairly straight forward I would think....

I just don’t to create more problems or ruin the paint.

On another note I noticed looking up Chemical Guys more on the other side of things it seems as though they’re not that popular compared to other companies. The reason I like CG is the products I’ve used so far seem to work as described and I’m happy with results. Some people seem to think it’s all snake oil.... that’s the problem with google. You have a cut on your finger next thing you’re convinced it’s finger cancer. This is why I sort of stuck with CG and focused my attention on them and their products/ videos etc...

If I choose another company like meguiars will the sale technique, pads and steps apply? Now I’m second guessing myself. This is why I hate google and prefer places like this. So I can get up to date real info from people who like minded when it comes to a topic.

Thanks folks [emoji106]

Start here:

Auto Detailing Facts, auto detailing Tips, How to detailing Guides, how to polish, how to wax, DIY detailing, do it yourself guides (https://www.autogeek.net/detailingtips.html)

[Cleanfreak623]

Thanks guys!

[Coatingsarecrack]

Try the chemical guys forum..... JK. Lucky for me I found this forum before getting knee deep into chemical guys my neighbor uses. In all honesty works great for him.

Should start with a test spot with least aggressive to most with pads and polishes. If paint not to horrible wouldn’t worry to much as you won’t be using any heavy correcting polishes.

What’s condition of your paint?

What polish’s do you plan on using?

What pads and how many do you plan to use?

All questions you should research. I’m doing my 1st correction and I can sympathize with your angst. Good luck.


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[Cleanfreak623]

Try the chemical guys forum..... JK. Lucky for me I found this forum before getting knee deep into chemical guys my neighbor uses. In all honesty works great for him.

Should start with a test spot with least aggressive to most with pads and polishes. If paint not to horrible wouldn’t worry to much as you won’t be using any heavy correcting polishes.

What’s condition of your paint?

What polish’s do you plan on using?

What pads and how many do you plan to use?

All questions you should research. I’m doing my 1st correction and I can sympathize with your angst. Good luck.


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I edited my first post to show products and paint on wife’s car [emoji6]

[Calendyr]

A paint gauge is a good tool to have but it is not necessary unless you are doing heavy paint correction. It is a guide to let you know what you are working with. About half of the paint thickness is gonna be the clear coat and you want to have at least 50 microns of clear on the car. So if you paint reading shows 90 microns, you should not be doing any compounds but if it shows 150 microns you know it will be relatively safe to correct the paint.

For the rest, there are gazillions of videos on youtube to learn how to actually polish the paint.

[SWETM]

It's easy to overthinking things when you not have been done it before. As for products it's also a hassle to now what brand and what products to go with. Sadly it looks like the polishes CG has is little on the older side in abrasive technology. But you will be getting great results if you take your time to get it. That's the other thing time. The worst you can do is to have short of time. Polishing is time consuming even for pros. Then there is tools and products and methods that can shorten the time it takes to be doing polishing more effective.

First I would set my mind to work clean. That's doing a proper prep work and also when you polishing you clean the pads after every or every other 2 sections you do. Also have great clean mf towels to wipe off residue from the polishes.

Get masking tape and tape up any trim and rubber which is in the area of an ooops to happen. Cover the wheels and other larger areas if you you would have a lot of dusting from the polishes. This makes it more easy to clean up afterwards. Also a tips is to have a couple of buckets with mf detergent in both or if you have a pad cleaner in one of them. Put your dirty pads and mf towels in each bucket for an easier cleaning afterwards.

When you have all preped and time to starting to polish. It's time for the test spot/spots. Look at a section that is like the rest of the worst areas of the paint. As with the general swirls and not the few deeper scratches areas. This can be a little tricky if you have parts that's very different in the amount of swirls and depth of them. My recommendation is to get the swirls out that is covered on your vehical. And leave the deeper ones for a later time when you have getting used to the polishes and the polisher. Focus on get the best clarity and gloss on the finish you can get the first time you polishing. It's when you do correction on the deeper defects on the paint where the risk goes up and you need more control on the paint thickness.

You seems to know about your cars paints hardness. So with your wifes car with that amount of swirls. I would start the test spot with a polish and a polishing pad right in the middle of the cut of the products you have. If you have a lot of swirls left go up in aggressiveness to the compound and the medium cut polishing pad. And if this still is not enough go up to a heavy cutting pad. Remember to do this on different test spot and not the same one. Here you are looking for getting the swirls out and take care of the haze it leaves you with the finishing polishing. When you are done with the first step and satisfied with the results of swirl removal. You do that test spot with a polish or finishing polish on a finishing pad or light polishing pad. This is all depending on the haze the cutting step gives you on how aggressive combo you would need. When you have found your combo you do this on the rest of the car. On the test spot I use a panel wipe product or ipa to inspect the results so the polishes don't mask the results you get. If you useing glaze and sealant as mentioned it's not so important to panel wipe product wipe down afterwards. It's no wrong in doing it either as it's gets the polishing oils off and leaves you with a cleaner paint that is ready to be protected.

On your own truck I would start with a polishing pad and a finishing polish. Since you have a softer clearcoat on yours and not so much of defects. And see where it gets you. Also see if you have the clarity you got from the swirl removal to be satisfied with the results and go to the protection with only one polishing step.

If you want to get used to the polisher a scrap yard panel is perfect. But you could also do 1 panel as the trunk on your wifes car. With a finishing pad and finishing polish. Just with that little of cut this has you will not mess anything up and at the same time get a feel of the polisher on the paint. It's no wrong in in just gloss up the paint on your wifes car with the most aggressive combo that still finishing great. A one step polish and protection is going to do much to the finish you get from it on your wifes car. It can also be good to do this and try to maintain this finish and see so your washing method is good to not being swirling or wash indused marring the paint. Many goes for show car results the first thing they do. But you have the deeper defects still left and can correct these when you have getting used to polishing more. And remember that not even the pros always correct to perfection with swirl free finish. It's about what the customer is paying. And mostly you show these where you have the customer that wants the paint as defect free as possible. It's just another option to do.

And hope you have fun when doing this. Newly polished black paint is awesome to look at. Take your time and be thorough and you will be fine.

/ Tony

[jdgamble]

Hey OP... I hate to say this, but if you can return your polisher, I would. I got a 10FX initially, and it’s a very hard machine to keep moving. I would return and get a Griot’s 6” polisher with a 5” backing plate. It’s so much better.

Then just start working. Start small with a test spot to get comfy with the process. I was in the same boat a few years ago, and it’s pretty hard to screw up. Just keep the polisher moving.

For the record, I also tried a CG polish, and it was not effective. I got some Griot’s stuff and it was night/day better.

Just my .02. Have fun!


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[Mike Phillips]

Here's my recommendation.

Watch the video that dlc95 shared above. In my humble opinion, it's the best video on YouTube that 100% completely walks you through the process.

Process = what you want to do to your car.


Also - in my experience, (not opinion), the TORQ 10FX is one of the weakest free spinning random orbital polishers on the market, at least the one I have here is what I would consider anemic.

So MARK YOUR BACKING PLATE


By placing some form or type of mark on the back of the backing plate you make it easy for your eyes to SEE and MONITOR pad rotation.

When the pad rotates it also oscillates. If the pad does NOT rotate than all the pad is doing is VIBRATING against the paint and if all the pad is doing is vibrating against the paint then...


YOUR NOT DOING ANYTHING


When I day you're not doing anything I mean the machine is NOT removing paint and thus the machine is NOT removing paint defects.


You must have pad rotation to have effective pad oscillation and no pad rotation means you're simply wasting time. This is true for any brand of free spinning random orbital polishers. Period.


Here's my article on this topic from 2012 - as I type, that would be 7 years ago. :laughing:


Video: Mark your backing plate to make it easy to see pad rotation (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-car-garage-how-videos/49489-video-mark-your-backing-plate-make-easy-see-pad-rotation.html)


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1423/MarkYourBackingPlate01.jpg

Here's a quick video that show how and why to mark your backing plate to see and monitor pad rotation while doing any correction or polishing steps.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM8PnDooZP8


Let us know after you have attached a pad and centered it, then done some buffing how pad rotation is?

Also - turn the speed up to the highest speed setting.


Hope the above helps...


:)

[Mike Phillips]

And here's a few more articles that will bring you up to speed.


Kind of like marking your backing plate but also mark your pads - some polishers have hard to see backing plates.

How to Monitor Pad Rotation? Mark Your Buffing Pads (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/122544-how-monitor-pad-rotation-mark-your-buffing-pads.html)




Note there's two tips in this article not just one as it relates to DIRECTION to move the polisher

Crosshatch Pattern - Why and When to use a crosshatch pattern to buff paint (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/122965-crosshatch-pattern-why-when-use-crosshatch-pattern-buff-paint.html)



I always recommend people read this before they even take the polisher out of the box.

DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/37769-da-polisher-trouble-shooting-guide.html)



:)

[Calendyr]

I have a Torq 10 machine but I cannot remember if it is the FX or something else. Mine works really well, no issue with pad spinning. On the contrary, where my Rupes 21mm and my Boss 15mm stall, the Torq will soldier on through.

My only issue with my Torq is the way it operates. You have an on-off switch instead of a trigger which is a small annoyance and you have to set the speed everytime you turn on the machine, which is a moderate annoyance. For everything else, I love it. It's light, has good grip and as I mentionned it's almost impossible to stall it.

Since these are 8mm machines, I would suggest you go with microfiber pads for correction so you can get every Watt of power the machine can deliver to work for you. If not, Thin pads would be my second choice.