Recommend tools and polishes for sanding and restoration work on collector cars

[Mike Phillips]

Recommend tools and polishes for sanding and restoration work on collector cars



Anytime I get questions via e-mail, a PM or a FB message I prefer to invest my typing time where

A: It's easier for me to share links, pictures and videos.

B: More people can read and thus benefit from the information. (no just one set of eyeballs)


The reality is, most people that contact me found me via an article I've written or a reply I've written on this forum. The thing is, instead of figuring out that the whole reason they are contacting me is because they found me via an article or answer I wrote on the forum that they to should bring their question to the forum because not only will that help them.... but it will help a future "them". If I answer everything in a private e-mail or other touch point, no one would find and contact me. It's a cycle or pattern that repeats as long as everything is shared in the public domain.

The above is kind of wordy but re-read it slowly and it will make sense.


So I get an e-mail asking,

Hi Mike,

I’ve been following you and learning from year for the past 10 years now (from your Meguiar’s days) and I’ve learned a lot from just your forums and videos.

I left detailing about 4 years ago to sell cars and now I’m looking at entering it again. I’ve decided to go Small this time with most of the work done myself and probably hiring a helper. I also want to go a bit exclusive and charge more as I’m looking at more restoration work with sanding for people with collector cars.

I was wondering if you could recommend a good set of tools and polishes that I could work with. At the moment, I’m down to either Griot’s Garage (never used) and OPT (used with pleasure before).

Any help here is appreciated.

Regards,

Danny

P.S. I’d also love to come over for some training from you for the things I’d like to do (above).

Great questions Danny. Like mentioned above, I don't answer questions, especially questions where I have to type out lots of detailed information via e-mail. You followed me for years in the forum world, so I'm sure you understand this is why I'm taking your e-mail to the forum. Hundreds, thousands and even tens of thousands of people will read your questions and my answers by posting this on the forum. If I were to answer you via e-mail - only one set of eyeballs would see the answers and benefit from the time I invest on behalf of Autogeek to type out the answers. Typing time is limited, right now I have THOUSANDS of pictures I should be posting showing happy people having fun at classes I've taught this year alone, not to include last year and the years before. Pictures are very time consuming and as far as I can tell, I'm the only guy that teaches car and boat detailing classes and also shares pictures from the classes in volume show people that have NOT taken one of our classes exactly what they get to do when they do take a class. The other guys that teach classes? How would you ever know what you get to do? There' no pictures.

Now on to your questions...

First, there are a number of articles I've written that I share the MOST - here's one of them... click on the link and look at the pictures...

Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips

My point is, the ONLY time most people should be wet sanding entire cars is when the car in question has a CUSTOM PAINT JOB where the paint is thicker than factory paint. Otherwise you're going to have problems.

Now that we're past that point, when it comes to sanding, I fully recommend the Nikken brand of "Finishing Papers" for hand sanding. Most people don't know this but the Nikken brand are an electronics grade paper, not your average automotive wet/dry paper. This is important as these papers offer uniform particle size and uniform particle distribution. The results in faster sanding with reduced risk for tracers while leaving the most paint on the car. The sanding mark pattern will be faster and easier to remove too.

As for tools...

I can do EVERYTHING with,

1. Rotary Polisher
   
2. 8mm Free spinning orbital
   
3. Gear Drive orbital
   

There are lots of choices for the above, here's mine,

Flex PE14 Rotary Polisher
This rotary is lightweight, compact in size, offers low RPM ranges and it's quiet. Plus it's incredibly well-built. It doesn't hurt the FLEX gave me the #2 Production Unit and I have the #1 Production unit in a glass case in my office. I know RUPES has or is introducing a lightweight, compact size rotary polisher, in fact I've used it and written a review for it but it's not available yet so I don't have hundreds of hours behind it like I do with the FLEX PE14.


Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher
This is easily the most powerful and best built simple 8mm free spinning random orbital polisher on the market. Tons more power than the very well-build and reliable Porter Cable, which I've easily used more than most anyone still breathing so my opinion is based on long-time, real-world experience. With this tool I can machine damp sand as well as compound, polish and wax.

There are a LOT of times I don't want or need a long-stroke free spinning orbital polisher as the long stroke will be a hindrance to what I want to do and a short stroke will work better. I know the latest rage if for long stroke polishers and of course I use them and teach others how to use them. I'm also the ONLY guy that has written a book about them. I believe a 21mm free spinning long stroke orbital polisher will create the BEST looking, most clear, high gloss result out of any polisher I've used. The issue is, by the time you seal the paint, any gains made by long stroke are diminished by the sealing process so you back to the same appearance results you could have and would have created with any shorter stroke polisher, 15mm, 12mm, 10mm or 8mm. As I always say,


Wax is the great equalizer - Mike Phillips

(You can substitute the word synthetic paint sealant or ceramic paint coating for the word WAX in the above quote, sometime I use the word wax as a generic term for products that seal paint)


Also - the 6" in the name of the Griot's 6" Random Orbital Polisher doesn't really mean anything as it relates to it being a 8mm free spinning tool. It is boxed and sold with a 6" backing plate and for years I've asked Griot's to replace this with a 5" backing plate as smaller diameter pads fit the body panels of most cars better than 6.5" pads, which is what you usually use with a 6" backing plate. Also, for 8mm free spinning oribitals, generaly speaking, thinner smaller diameter pads rotate better than thicker wider pads. So instead of a person starting out with a 6" backing plate and then investing $$$ in larger pads, if the tool came with a 5" backing plate or if you take my advice and BUY a 5" backing plate when you buy this tool you can start out investing $$$ in smaller, thinner pads and at the end of the day you will be happier.




FLEX 3401 Gear-driven Orbital Polisher
I like doing one-step details to most cars. It's fast, easy and profitable. I find I can do this type of work the fastest with the 8mm gear-driven FLEX 3401. I have used the RUPES Mille with it's 5mm gear-driven orbit stroke and clockwise rotation direction and the Makita PO5000C 5mm gear-driven orbit stroke counterclockwise rotation direction. I really LIKE both of these tools. The smaller gear-driven orbit stroke length automatically makes them SMOOTHER operating tools. That's a given. The thing is I prefer speed over a smooth feel and after using all three, I still find myself grabbing the FLEX 3401 to as I like to say,

Power through a detail job

I know there are a lot of guys that feel they are faster with the 5mm gear-drive tools and I have nothing but support for their choice, it's what makes all of us humans unique, that is we're different and we experience things differently. I'm all for everyone choosing and using whatever they like, it's a free country.


As for products, I answered this question in another thread I crated today also answering a question that someone sent me via e-mail.

What is the best professional polisher on the market and what products do you recommend?


As for coming here to attend a one-on-one training class, we tried that one time, actually it was a 3 on 1, where I had three guys fly here to get individual training with me and to be honest, for all the time and resources Autogeek ends up investing into these types of projects it's simply not a winning business model. It's nice to do and I like to do it but so far, it's not a winning business model.

I cover pretty much every topic under the sun in my big 3-day classes including hand sanding, machine sanding an how to use a rotary buffer. I'd HIGLY recommend attending the next one coming up in September.


Click here to sign-up for the September 3-Day Detailing Bootcamp Class



If you can't make that one, we hold the 3-day class THREE TIMES A YEAR - ALWAYS HAVE. And they are the SAME TIME EVERY YEAR. We are consistent. Here's the schedule for 2019 - This is posted on the BOTTOM of the forum homepage


Detailing Classes for 2019!


2019 HANDS-ON Boat Detailing Class - February 9th and 10th

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3-Day Car Detailing Classes for 2019

We hold these classes the SAME TIME every year. January, May & September!

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May 3rd, 4th and 5th with Monday the 6th for IDA SV testing

September 27th, 28th and 29th, with Monday the 30th for IDA SV testing



These are for the most part, all hands-on, very little sitting. Ask anyone that's attended one of our classes.





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Hope that helps and feel encouraged to join our forum, this is where I answer questions. Email is okay, but the forum is powerful.


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[Mike Phillips]

I hope you can see by the volume of information I've typed out for you that this is why I don't reply to e-mails but instead take e-mails to the forum.

Hope to see you join the forum Danny.

[dannoor]

Thanks for the awesome, in-depth tips, Mike.

I'll agree with the 3 polishers you've suggested and I'm especially looking forward to using a lightweight rotary like the PE14 compared to a bulkier and heavier Hitachi I had. I especially like your reasoning behind getting a long stroke (for now) and decided on using the $$$ on attending your course (probably in January 2019) instead.

Since we're on that subject, I might have missed this on the training's page but does "IDA SV Testing" mean that it includes the IDA membership and exam fee?

Again, thank you for your help Mike.

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks for the awesome, in-depth tips, Mike.

My pleasure, I'm always good with this type of typing time investment as info on this forum endures over time and helps a lot of people.

I'll agree with the 3 polishers you've suggested and I'm especially looking forward to using a lightweight rotary like the PE14 compared to a bulkier and heavier Hitachi I had. I especially like your reasoning behind getting a long stroke (for now) and decided on using the $$$ on attending your course (probably in January 2019) instead.

Check out any of Tom's posts, like this one...

66 GT350---The real deal

Tom attended our February 2017 3-day class. Now he's a Rock Star Detailer!

Since we're on that subject, I might have missed this on the training's page but does "IDA SV Testing" mean that it includes the IDA membership and exam fee?

Sorry but no, the costs for joining the IDA are on you.