Questions & Griots DA Comment, etc

[mtmebnj]

1st Off I got the Griots DA and all the goodies I ordered from the Geeks. Excellent service, etc from Matt and quick delivery.

Comment: I Love This Griots DA! I am an ex painter in a body shop and as soon as I got it I just fell in love. A few hours later I was using it on our new to me 08 red vette.

Questions:
Orange pad with Meg's Ultimate Compound, right?
I just ran this over the panel testing out a small section and it did an excellent job at removing scratches and imperfections. Left no swirls, etc and after I did the panel used the mf to wipe off the haze and view how it looked. This is the correct method right, meaning I dont have to break down the product?

Grey pad with SwirlX and DP Poli-Coat right?
I didnt try this out yet but my question is after using the ultimate compound it looks like i could just seal, wait and wax it. Question is I assume using the SwirlX will bring out more gloss on the paint? To what point do you want to work this in? In otherwords when is the panel done and ready to move onto the next section?

Getting the paint to the point its showing as best as possible question? The cars an 08 so does using the Ultimate compound besides working out some tougher inperfections yield me with a better shine? Better paint prep or if there are no imperfections just using the SwirlX would get the job down.


I noticed a few deeper scracthes but upon further inspection it looks like these imperfection could infact came from the factory "meaning its the panel not the paint" Just the way the paint appears to be laying in the imperfection. So I just used the Ultimate Compound and got out all the scratchs and to the point where I was satisfied. I can but will not wetsand, it is what it is.

I plan on heading out to the garage in a few minutes.

Last question I bought painters tape but it seems so wide. I think 1/2 or 3/4 blue tape. Is the realy any chance that the Griots DA with an orange pad and Meg UC can burn an edge? Or is it really as safe as it seems. Because this vette has a lot of curves in the panels. I have a body shop supply store nearby should I buy some thinner tape? Or just go over the areas by hand once removed?

Lastly I never got it up past 4 on the speed. Is this bad? I just worked small areas and made a few passes. I can can crank it up but is it necassary? Does the speed do anything besides speeding up the process? For the compounds to work properly do I really need to bump up the speed?

Interior Product? What can I grab at a local store for the interior and tires thats any good? The black moldings are in terrbible shape for an 08. I have Back to Black is this any good?

Guys / Gals... Thanks for viewing and any comments. I just really want to get this vette looking its best!

Using
Griots DA
Meg's Soap with 2 buckets, Megs UC, Megs SwirlX, DP Poli-Coat, and DP Max Wax
Not sure what I want to use on the tires and interior yet?

Sorry for all of the questions but I am ultra excited! beep beep

That Griots DA is freaking awesome! I have not used the PC or Megs but I am 100% satisfied with my purchase! Thanks

[Rhudeboye]

Lastly I never got it up past 4 on the speed. Is this bad? I just worked small areas and made a few passes. I can can crank it up but is it necassary? Does the speed do anything besides speeding up the process? For the compounds to work properly do I really need to bump up the speed?

Im a bit new at this but I can answer this one. When cutting crank it on up to 5 -6. It will break down the compound and cut much faster. When i started out, I was doing passes between 3 - 4.5 After making about 8 passes I was still unsatisfied with the results. After cranking it up and applying very light pressure I noticed results and product breakdown on pass 3.

My car however is much older then yours and has a totally different type of paint but I assume you would have to get better/faster results as well at a higher speed.

BTW- I know how you feel about your polisher. I love using it.

[Mike Phillips]

I plan on heading out to the garage in a few minutes.

Hang on....

1st Off I got the Griots DA and all the goodies I ordered from the Geeks. Excellent service, etc from Matt and quick delivery.

Comment: I Love This Griots DA! I am an ex painter in a body shop and as soon as I got it I just fell in love. A few hours later I was using it on our new to me 08 red vette.

DA polishers in general are very effective when used with the right pad, product and technique and a whole lot faster than working by hand...

Questions:
Orange pad with Meg's Ultimate Compound, right?
I just ran this over the panel testing out a small section and it did an excellent job at removing scratches and imperfections. Left no swirls, etc and after I did the panel used the mf to wipe off the haze and view how it looked. This is the correct method right, meaning I don't have to break down the product?

Correct. You can stop anytime in the buffing cycle.

Grey pad with SwirlX and DP Poli-Coat right?
I didn't try this out yet but my question is after using the ultimate compound it looks like i could just seal, wait and wax it. Question is I assume using the SwirlX will bring out more gloss on the paint? To what point do you want to work this in? In other words when is the panel done and ready to move onto the next section?

Everyone has different criteria for what an "Excellent" finish is but "yes", some people could and would go right to wax after UC, also you could use a less aggressive pad with UC and get a nicer finish.

Remember, it's not just the product that is a factor, application material is also a huge factor.

As for pads, you would use a softer pad like a gray finishing pad for the less aggressive polish and for applying a wax but you would want to use separate pads for each product, don't cross-contaminate your pads.

Getting the paint to the point its showing as best as possible question? The cars an 08 so does using the Ultimate compound besides working out some tougher imperfections yield me with a better shine? Better paint prep or if there are no imperfections just using the SwirlX would get the job down.

Decide what your goal is and then do some testing to see which combination of products get you to your goal. Do a Test Spot to one section of the hood, that is do every step to this one section even up to applying and removing the Poli-Coat and then inspect your results. What you see is what you'll get if you duplicate that process over the entire car. If you like what you see in your Test Spot then simply duplicate the process used for the test spot over the entire car. It's a sure fire recipe for success.

One bit of advice, even though it sounds like your experienced, you might want to break the car up into sections and only tackle a section a day, spread the project out over 2-3 days so you don't burn out.

I noticed a few deeper scratches but upon further inspection it looks like these imperfection could infact came from the factory "meaning its the panel not the paint" Just the way the paint appears to be laying in the imperfection. So I just used the Ultimate Compound and got out all the scratches and to the point where I was satisfied. I can but will not wet-sand, it is what it is.

Deeper defects that don't buff out, or at least deeper scratches that don't buff out are called RIDS

RIDS - The Definition of RIDS and the story behind the term...

Last question I bought painters tape but it seems so wide. I think 1/2 or 3/4 blue tape. Is the really any chance that the Griots DA with an orange pad and Meg UC can burn an edge? Or is it really as safe as it seems. Because this vette has a lot of curves in the panels. I have a body shop supply store nearby should I buy some thinner tape? Or just go over the areas by hand once removed?

Most people use painters tape to cover plastic and rubber trim to keep compound and polish residue. It's a good practice not to buff over high points and body lines but with a DA Polisher it's not anywhere near as aggressive as a rotary buffer.

Lastly I never got it up past 4 on the speed. Is this bad? I just worked small areas and made a few passes. I can can crank it up but is it necessary? Does the speed do anything besides speeding up the process? For the compounds to work properly do I really need to bump up the speed?

You want the pad to be rotating if you want to remove defects as its when the pad is rotating that paint is being removed and removing swirls and scratches is the process of leveling the paint.


Have fun!

[mtmebnj]

Hanging... I have reviewed so many posts and probably viewed answers but. so much out there to read.

[Mike Phillips]

Watch these,

Show Car Garage Video: How-To do a "Section Pass" when Machine Polishing with a DA Polisher

Show Car Garage Video: How To Remove Swirls, Scratches and Water Spots using a PC 7424XP, Meguiar's G110v2 or Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher


Or order this, the link below goes to a page with everything included on the DVD

Mike Phillips' Principles of Machine Polishing

[ScottB]

I might add that the grey finishing pad is best used with the finishing polish. You could move to a red pad for wax/sealant application, but with DP Polycoat you could add and remove by hand just as easily and likely conserve some product. Its quite easy to apply and remove by hand.

Final polishing is often done to remove lighter marks the abrasive polish and pad could have left (often not noticed in garage, but more noticable with direct sunlight or flashlight closeup) and to amp up gloss and reflection.

[mtmebnj]

Am I using the right pads
orange for uc
grey for swirlx or should I use orange?
grey for dp poli-coat - waxing after 24 hours or 12 hours
and the wax I think I am going to do by hand?
Sound good?

I feel like a pervert but the lines on the vette are so awesome you just dont realize the curves on a car by looking at it. I dont even want to drive the damn thing, I enjoy working on it more then driving it. Before I started the process I took my hs friend for a ride, he was like now I know why people buy these cars! I feel like a pervert the way I touch this car and I have a pretty hot girl friend. She would be jealous if she only new hahah I only did the left quarter panel and deck lid last night and covered her up. I dont want to polish on top of dust, etc.

I feel like a drug addict over this... I am going pretty much for perfection but I refuse to wetsand unless I get something major in the future.

One last thing I want to go to Home Depot and buy a light for the garage should I get one of those with the 2 haolgen style lights on the frame or whatever its called. Will that help for low light situatuions?

Thank you for the replies... My gf doesnt know it yet but she will only be seeing me at bed time! So I can get my final polish haha yeah I am bad

[ScottB]

Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light, Brinkmann Maxfire Dual Xenon Rechargeable Spotlight

your best friend to check progress while polishing. Tell GF its plugged in for security purposes (smiling).

as for the lines of a Vette, I indeed know what you mean. Just remember less is more with sealants and waxes. More product is not more protection, just harder to remove.

I wish I could help you more on products versus pads. I am not all that familar with UC and Swirl-X but Mike Phillips is extraordinarily well versed in all that is Megs and how to use them properly.

[chrisw2]

I actually finished using UC and the griotts with an orange pad on my 05 vette. Honestly I'm not satisfied with the finish and am going back over it with 205 and a white pad and menz 85rd with a gray pad. the finish looked ok in the sun and under lights but was pretty hazy on a cloudy day

[mtmebnj]

You own a vette right Killr
When I am using the da I dont have to worry about going over the body lines that much? because this car has more lines then you think or we know. Anyway thanks guys.