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  1. #1
    Mike Phillips
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    From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.

    From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.


    Hey we all start out in the same place and that's knowing nothing. Most of us started out working by hand, by this I mean polishing and waxing the paint on our car by hand.

    Then, with the help of discussion forums like this one many of you reading this made the jump from working by hand to working by machine.

    Can I get a witness?



    Pictures: 4th Autogeek's Cars & Coffee

    At the 4th Autogeek's Cars & Coffee I met Mitch, the owner of a 2003 Mustang Mach 1 in Azure Blue. In the below picture you can see Mitch's Mustang with the hood up and Mitch is the guy with the sunglasses on drinking coffee talking to the guy in the green shirt to his left.





    There were some rock chips in the front and Mitch asked me the best way to deal with them and I recommended the Dr. Color Chip rock chip repair kits sold by Autogeek. Mitch purchased the kit but was a little apprehensive about using it so I invited him to Autogeek and offered to lend a hand.

    When Mitch arrived I inspected the paint and it had the normal swirls, scratches and rock chips...


    Swirls and scratches photographed using the technique I share in this article.




    Close-up...




    Major Rock Chip




    Another rock chip smaller in size...





    How to remove swirls and scratches

    Now Mitch told me he had never used a machine to polish his car and instead had always worked by hand. I said we're going to change that today and in just a few minutes taught him how to use a simple, entry level dual action polisher called a Porter Cable 7424XP with Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover and a Lake Country Yellow Foam Cutting pad and Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish and a Lake Country Black foam finishing pad.

    These are the same polishes that are now used in Wayne Carini's shop so Mitch is in good company.





    First we removed the swirls....







    Then re-polished to maximize gloss and clarity....





    Then I showed Mitch how much easier and faster it is to machine apply wax...






    Here's what a machine applied coat of Pinnacle Liquid Souveran looks like....




    Here's the results after wiping off the wax....





    Mitch isn't ever going back to working by hand but I do expect a LOT of people to start asking him,

    How did you get your Mustang's paint to look so good?



    Product used....






    On Autogeek.net

    Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover

    Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish

    Pinnacle Liquid Souveran Car Wax

    Pinnacle Clay Lube

    Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay

    Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher

    Lake Country 5.5" Pads

    Lake Country 5" Backing Plate

    How to Properly Use the Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher

    Dr. ColorChip Rock Chip Repair System



    See how we used the Dr. ColorChip Paint Chip Repair System on Mitch's Mustang here,

    How to use the Dr. ColorChip Paint Chip Repair Systems








  2. #2
    Super Member KMdef9's Avatar
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    Re: From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.

    Very awesome of you Mike!




    Can't wait for write up on the Dr. Color Chip!

  3. #3
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.

    Quote Originally Posted by KMdef9 View Post

    Can't wait for write up on the Dr. Color Chip!
    I've never used the Dr. Color Chip products till this project. I've watch them in use and it always looked pretty straight forward.

    I'm happy to say it's just as easy to use as it looks.

    The key thing is to have realistic expectations. If you think after using this or any touch-up paint system that no one, especially you the owner will never be able to see any trace of the damage then live with the rock chips or have your car re-painted.

    If you understand that after using this kit you can stand around 5-6 feet and the panel will have a uniform appearance with no eye sore white spots of primer sticking out like a sore-thumb then you'll be very happy.

    In this example, the owner was very happy with the kit, the color match and the results.


    I was impressed by how well the products and technique worked and I would buy this kit and recommend this kit again.



  4. #4
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    Re: From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.

    Very nice, as usual, Mike.
    Bill

  5. #5
    Mike Phillips
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    Re: From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hoytman View Post
    Very nice, as usual, Mike.

    Thanks Bill...

    Still haven't got a witness...


    I figured there would be lots of people over the years that came here or to MOL only knowing how to work by hand and then after getting help on this forum moved up to machine polishing. Some have even gone on to start detailing businesses.

    Some hang out on this forum, other forums and even blogs taking what they learned here and helping others that like them, use to work by hand.


  6. #6
    Super Member
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    Re: From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Autogeek View Post

    Still haven't got a witness...

    I figured there would be lots of people over the years that came here or to MOL only knowing how to work by hand and then after getting help on this forum moved up to machine polishing.
    OK Mike, I got into using Mirror Glaze products 100 years or so ago, but we had a couple rounds of water rationing here in the late 90's and I had kind of gotten less enthused with detailing. My friend got a new car in 2003 and I decided the OTC Meguiar's stuff would be better than my old Mirror Glaze stash, but we were disappointed with that route.

    So off to the Meguiar's website in 2004 to see what was new, and a link to their discussion forum, MOL...wound up with a G100 and 80-series polishes to replace my 2/9/7/26 by hand (and once with a "wax spreader" that I decided was more trouble than it was worth).

    Haven't looked back and now I have too many machines, too many brands, too many towels, too many forum posts, etc.

  7. #7
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    Re: From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.

    Great work Mike! I was parked a couple cars over from that Mach 1 at the last cars and coffee. Can't wait to see it in person.
    IGL Authorized Coating/Kenzo Installer

    Final Inspection Auto Detailing- https://www.facebook.com/FinalInspection

  8. #8
    Regular Member Chevota Guy's Avatar
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    Re: From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Autogeek View Post
    .........Still haven't got a witness...


    I figured there would be lots of people over the years that came here or to MOL only knowing how to work by hand and then after getting help on this forum moved up to machine polishing..........
    Okay, I'll confess although I'm going to date my self in doing so. In high school I worked part time and summers for a friend who had a body shop. He specialized in absolutely stunning multi layer lacquer paint jobs on custom cars. I learned the hard way how to sand entire cars between each coat, and final buff by hand. He was a perfectionist and showed me what a show car finish with a customized clear coat could look like. Production base coats/clear coats weren't around yet.

    All of these years, I worked by hand..........until I discovered AGO about a year and a half ago. Now I have a PC, Flex 3401 and just ordered the PE 14-2. I can't do much any more without a machine. The only thing that hurts now is my wallet, but I'm not complaining one bit.
    Rick......(Spelled with a "D" )

  9. #9
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    Re: From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Autogeek View Post

    Still haven't got a witness...

    OK my hand is up,
    got the similar version to GG 6 from Europe and done my windows with Ceriglass and Carpro pads, still waiting for my foam pads & polishes to arrive so I can get on the paint. Still horrified of the thoughts of putting the machine on the paint though, specially since it took 6 years to restore the ride, oh well.....
    Oh Mike, have been reading lots of your posts and learning a lot,as well as reviews by the likes of Swanicyouth, Ceedog and others.
    Muchas Gracias Guys.

  10. #10
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    Re: From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.

    Hey Mike, I remember doing everything by hand from the late seventies, until I bought your dvd on show car detailing where you detailed the 1960 black corvette. That when I made the decision to buy a porter cable dual action polisher and start using the techniques that you demonstrated on the dvd. I finally attended your boot camp in Sept 2012 where I learned so much more about the detailing world, I will be attending the next boot camp again this Sept and I can't wait to see the demo cars that we will be working on. Thanks Mike!!

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