Each one teach one - 1935 Ford Pickup - Swirl City!

[Mike Phillips]

Each one teach one - 1935 Ford Pickup - Swirl City!


Two things I post all of my online life and that is,

1. I love detailing cars.

2. I love showing other people how to detail cars.

Last night at the Stuart Tuesday Night CarSpa Car Show I shared with Joe how to safe it is to machine polish instead of hand polish by using a very safe tool, the Porter Cable 7424XP. And that by using thin 5.5" Lake Country Flat Pads, good technique and super high quality compounds and polishes he could remove the swirls and create a perfect shine to the paint on his 1935 Ford Pickup.


Here's Joe's truck under the Autogeek tent at the car show.






Here you can see the paint is dull and lifeless...




And with the flash of my camera you can see the swirls....






Machine Compounding

Here's Joe machine polishing after about 4-5 minutes of a little hands-on training.
For this first step he's using an orange foam cutting pad with Pinnacle Advanced Compound.





Just to note, last week he purchased and read a copy of my how-to book

The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine

So he educated himself with knowledge and now he's backing it up with real world experience.





I placed a tape line on the hood so he and everyone else there can easily see the before and after differences.




Machine Polishing
Here's he's switched over to a white foam polishing pad and Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish.





Perfect technique
Joe has his hand on the head of the polisher so that he applies equal pressure to the face of the buffing pad while supporting and controlling the tool with his other hand.

Note the black mark on the backing plate? That's to make it easy for his eyes to monitor pad rotation. As explained in my how-to book, the pad needs to rotate in order to remove swirls and scratches.





Machine Waxing

Now Joe is using a soft blue foam waxing pad to machine apply Pinnacle Liquid Souveran Wax.





Wiping wax off

After allowing the wax to dry to a haze Joe inspected his microfiber towel and then folded it 4-ways to gently remove the wax film.






Removing the tape to inspect the differences

Note how he's pulling the tape off at a low angle to the side.





Before







After






Not bad for his first time ever machine polishing with a safe, easy to use dual action polisher.

Watch for Joe's truck at this year's detail fest, he has about 5 weeks to finish the rest of the truck!


Thank you for trusting Autogeek with your classy 1935 Ford Pickup!

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Mike, you always have cool cars featured in your write ups. Always makes these posts intriguing.

BTW, nice job Joe!

[Mike Phillips]

You can do it!

Machine polishing is really easy when you're using the right tool, the right pads quality products and good technique.

You can certainly use the same products by hand if you wish as they work great by hand too.


You can also hire a Pro Detailer to do the work for you just be sure the person you hire actually knows what they are doing. (I'd recommend using a forum like this one to find a qualified detailer).

Of do-it-yourself.

Get the products, tools and pads, read my book or watch one of my videos and then simply tackle a single panel a day. This will keep it fun as you will transform your swirled out, oxidized water spotted paint to a rolling work of art panel by panel.



Here's what you need to follow in Joe's steps...


On Autogeek.net

Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover

Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish

Pinnacle Liquid Souveran

Lake Country Flat Pads

Porter Cable 7424XP



Also get at least a dozen of these great quality microfiber towels.


Gold Plush Jr. Microfiber Towels



Here's why....

First... I can't count how many times someone getting into detailing asks me this question,


How many towels do I need to detail my car?


Great question. But here's the deal. You only want to wash your high quality microfiber towels with high quality microfiber towels. You DON'T want to wash them with bath towels, your socks and jeans or anything else.

So think about it.... you're not going to make a wash load with only 2-3 towels, that's wasteful. So instead, if you're SERIOUS about taking care of your car... then get enough towels to make a dedicated small wash load.

Then get a dedicated clean laundry hamper for your garage to place dirty microfiber towels into and when you're down to your last few towels make a dedicated wash and dryer load of your towels.

Then fold them, place them and keep them someplace clean where they won't get dirty.

Think of your microfiber towels as an investment in high quality tools. Kind of like a Master Mechanic has a roll-around tool chest where each drawer has a place for each prized tool in his collection.

Get quality towels and take care of them.

Why?

Because the paint on your car scratches easily. The term is called,

Scratch-Sensitive


It doesn't make any sense at all to wash and wax your car by hand or machine only to come back and re-instill swirls and scratches because you're using inexpensive janitorial microfiber towels or tatty or contaminated towels.


What did your car cost? Or in the case of a classic car, streetrod etc., what did the custom paint job cost?

The answer is THOUSANDS of dollars. So be wise, invest in at a minimum a dozen high quality microfiber towels and dedicated them for your special car, truck, motorcycle or whatever it is that you're into.


Hope that helps....

[Mike Phillips]

Here's another tip....

Because the microscopic fibers that make up a quality microfiber towel are grabby, that is they tend to grab onto all kinds of things like sticks, leaves, dirt, anything abrasive and sharp.

Before you use a microfiber towel first inspect it both visually and with your sense of touch. Often times your sense of touch will detect contaminants bound up in the weave of your microfiber towels that your eyes cannot see.


Here' how....


The Robert Diterlizzi Method


This is a technique my buddy Robert shared with me and I like it so much I show it at all my classes and always give him due credit as I don't steal other guys stuff.

After you've done all the hard work the last thing you want to do is to put any swirls or scratches back into the paint. Now I wash all the microfiber towels we use here at the garage myself and I'm very meticulous and careful about the entire washing and drying process because the last thing I want to have happen is for Max to come out here to get a few microfiber towels to work on his cars and have some kind of contaminant in the towel.

That said, before using any microfiber towel it's important to inspect it two ways.


Visually Inspect
First look closely at the towel, especially if the towel has a plush nap and inspect for any type of foreign contaminant that might be lodged in the nap. If discovered either remove the contaminant or get a different towel.


Tactically Inspect
Second, take your clean hand and run it over the face of the towel on both sides. Often times your sense of touch will detect foreign particles or contaminants that your eyes cannot see. If discovered, remove the contaminant or get a different towel.

Do this for each towel. It only takes a few seconds to inspect your towels and it can save you a lot of heartache.

[Mike Phillips]

More tips....


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.






5" Backing Plate
Lake Country 5" DA Backing Plate <-- Get this one as the Velcro will match Lake Country Pads


The 5" Lake Country Backing Plates fits all popular dual action polishers including Porter Cable, Griot's Garage and Meguiar's.




Lake Country

5.5" Flat Pads

In order from the most to the least aggressive

Yellow = Cutting pad (most aggressive)
Orange = Light Cutting Pad
White = Polishing Pad
Black = Finishing Pad
Blue = Waxing Pad (softest)




The outer edge of the face of these pads is tapered so they are actually a little under 5" in diameter





Approximately 7/8" thick







Still working by hand?
If you need a dual action polisher, the Porter Cable 7424XP is a quality tool from Porter Cable and the tool that started the DA Polisher craze.


Here's the link to get your own Porter Cable 7424XP

Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher









If you have not read this and you're new to machine polishing... read it!

DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide






DON'T LOOSE THE COMPRESSION WASHER!

The Compression Washer






Get a copy of my how-to book, comes in three options....


Detailing How-To Book and Detailing How-To E-book by Mike Phillips


Here are the links to get the paperback and e-book versions of the second edition of my detailing how-to book.

Mike Phillips’ The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine Paperback Book


For those that want the e-book version...

Mike Phillips’ The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine E-book Download








You're going to need to learn this....

How to clean your foam pad on the fly





Get head knowledge first and then go out into your garage...


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





Also see these videos...

Video: How to remove shallow RIDS and how to machine apply both a paint sealant and a finishing wax


Video: How to buff tight areas plus concave and convex curved panels by machine

[Mike Phillips]

Questions?

Need help?


Call the friendly customer care staff here at Autogeek and they can answer all your questions and make sure you get everything you need for your detailing project.


1-800-869-3011


If you're local to the Stuart, Florida area you do a Will Call and pick your products up here at Autogeek

Autogeek
7744 SW Jack James Drive
Stuart, FL 34997
Mapquest Driving Directions




Cars & Coffee
And if you're local don't forget about our Cars & Coffee Show which takes place every SECOND Saturday of the months.

Not only do we have great cars, hot coffee and fresh pastries we also hold a Detailing Tech Session from 9:00am to about 9:20am where you will learn tips and techniques to help you detail your ride.



Cars & Coffee Tech Session
There will be a Tech Session covering a different topic about car detailing at each Saturday Cars & Coffee inside Autogeek's Show Car Garage. The tech sessions start at approximately 9:00am and go to about 9:30am.












And be sure to like us on our Cars & Coffee Facebook page!


Autogeek's Cars & Coffee Facebook page

[Kamakaz1961]

Very cool post!! When Mike Phillips talk....people listen!!

[Aaryn NZ]

Definitely something I noticed while I was attending Boot Camp was - Mike genuinely wants you to succeed. There's no secrets held back, Mike shares his knowledge with anyone wanting to learn.

That is unfortunately a rare quality in today's world & for that Mike - hats off to you my friend!!!

Aaryn NZ.

[Mike Phillips]

Definitely something I noticed while I was attending Boot Camp was - Mike genuinely wants you to succeed. There's no secrets held back, Mike shares his knowledge with anyone wanting to learn.

Thanks for sharing that Aaryn, I call it a brain dump. I take what I've learned and do my best to take it out of my brain and get it into everyone else's brain in the class.

That is unfortunately a rare quality in today's world & for that Mike - hats off to you my friend!!!

Aaryn NZ.

I think there's lots of guys in this industry like this... and that's a good thing... I think... they think... like me...

The Mindset of a Professional Detailer

[dlc95]

Good to see all the basics of paint care covered with so thoroughly. This is a must read for a beginner. And for guys like myself, it always good to "address the foundation", as former Journey drummer Steve Smith has previously stated.