Test drive - NEW RUPES Mille and Rotary Buffer by Mike Phillips
Test drive - NEW RUPES Mille and Rotary Buffer by Mike Phillips
The RUPES LH 19E Rotary Polisher and the RUPES BIGFOOT MILLE LK 900E
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After the recent RUPES detailing class here at Autogeek with Jason Rose and myself, I had a leftover car. The word car is probably not the most descriptive term when talking about a genuine, iconic 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS 454 with a 4-speed transmission and this is the real-deal, not a tribute car.
I brought down three cool cars for the RUPES class but after the class we ended up not needing the Chevelle. (We used a 1967 Chevelle with a 427 and a 4-speed and a 1948 Ford Coupe Streetrod). Jason had brought 2 of the new RUPES rotary buffers and 2 of the new RUPES Mille gear-driven 5mm orbital polishers to show and let the students use in the class.
The next day, while shooting new RUPES videos with Jason I asked him if it were be possible to keep the new tools. He said if he could he would let me keep them but all the 110 volt new RUPES tools in America were slated for direct RUPES employees.
Jason was leaving with one set of tools for himself and the other set was for Todd Helme. Jason made some phone calls and obtained permission to leave me with Todd's set of tools for a couple of days so I could detail the Chevelle, (a courtesy to the owner who let us use it for the class), and to give me the opportunity to do some real world car detailing on a very cool car in horrible condtion and thus get some real-world experience with the new tools, pads and products.
Thank you Jason and thank you Todd and everyone else at RUPES.
Here's the car... I know under florescent lights the paint looks great. But standing 10 feet away and inspecting the car is not how you do it.
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Here's the same car using a swirl finder light...
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Above Surface Contaminants
Besides having major swirls and scratches throughout the finish - the car was also heavily contaminated. Some of the students at the RUPES class did a waterless wash on the car so any loose dirt had been removed. Next I did the baggie test and the paint felt as rough as #40 grit sandpaper so I clayed each panel plus the glass and all the chrome and stainless steel.
Clay lube after claying half the hood....
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Bonded contaminant coming off the paint....
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Test Spot Time
Next up it was time to do a Test Spot. A test spot is where you test out the products, pads, tools and yes technique - to one small area and check to see what kind results you get. The GOAL is to dial-in a process that creates the results you hope for and dream about. If your process can make one small section look GREAT then in theory - if you simply repeat the same procedure to the rest of the car you should get the same results.
If you are not getting great results from your first test spot then you can make adjustments and tweak your process until you DO get great results and then repeat over the rest of the car.
The BIG PICTURE is by only testing your process to a small section and then inspecting, you can know for a fact what you're about to do to the entire car works. The last thing anyone should do is buff out an entire car without first testing and checking because if your process doesn't work you'll waste time, create more work and remove precious paint NEEDLESSLY. So always do a test spot on any car you've never worked on before - I do and I've been doing this a long time.
Doing the RUPES 3-Step
For my test spot I'm going to test a 3-step process in this order,
- RUPES Rotary Buffer with RUPES Rotary Coarse Compound
- RUPES Mille with RUPES Mille Fine Polish
- Seal with RUPES P808 Protective Sealant
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I've placed a strip of painter's tape on the clearcoated black stripe on the hodd and then buffed on just one side using the RUPES Rotary Buffer followed with polishing using the Mille. No sealant was applied for the test.
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After compounding and polishing I removed the tape and took these pictures using my trusty dusty swirl finder light to show my eyes the results.
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Judgment
In my opinion, the RUPES rotary buffer with the RUPES coarse compound followed with the RUPES Mille with the RUPES polish created a show car finish.
First step - remove swirls and scratches over the entire car using the RUPES rotary buffer with wool pad and RUPES Rotary Coarse compound
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After compounding with the rotary buffer, a wool pad and the compound I took a few pictures to show everyone what this type of process leaves for results.
NOTE: The swirls you see are NORMAL.
The swirls left by this process are shallow and will buff out easy. The idea is to use the aggressive rotary approach to remove 99.9% of the deeper random swirls and scratches leaving behind a controlled and uniform swirl which will easily be removed by the next step.
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Without the swirl finder light - just using overhead florescent lights - the paint looks pretty good but note - I have not removed the swirls from the rotary step in this shot.
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Second step - swirls left by the first step using the RUPES Mille with a RUPES foam pad and the RUPES Mille Fine Polish
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Here's the results after polishing - no sealant has been applied.
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Final results
Here's the final results after applying the RUPES P808 Protective Sealant.
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Final thoughts...
I'll have a review for each tool separate from this car detailing job so please wait for my thoughts about each tool individually. Overall the rotary buffer is light, compact is size and nimble making it super easy to use. The Mille is smooth and powerful, it removed the swirls with zero effort and really zero skill. There was no issue with pad stalling as that is the key feature provided by the gear-driven aspect of this new orbital polisher.
Two very nice additions to the RUPES paint polishing SYSTEM.
Remember... RUPES is NOT a tool - it's a paint polishing system.
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:)
Re: Test drive - NEW RUPES Mille and Rotary Buffer by Mike Phillips
Continued....
Question: When will the new RUPES tools, pads and products be available at Autogeek?
Answer: RUPES is hoping inventory will start arriving to Autogeek in January.
:)
Re: Test drive - NEW RUPES Mille and Rotary Buffer by Mike Phillips
Damn, that car turned out great. Those look like some fun tools. How do you find the rotation of the Mille vs the Flex?
Re: Test drive - NEW RUPES Mille and Rotary Buffer by Mike Phillips
GREAT results Mike!
Very cool of Todd to say "ok"
Very cool of Jason to make those calls
VERY VERY cool of the owner to allow use of his super mint OG Chevelle!!
Re: Test drive - NEW RUPES Mille and Rotary Buffer by Mike Phillips
I want...I want....I want....
Jeez....I have an illness.
Tom
Re: Test drive - NEW RUPES Mille and Rotary Buffer by Mike Phillips
Definitely a bit odd the US has lagged way behind for the new Rupes tools.
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Test drive - NEW RUPES Mille and Rotary Buffer by Mike Phillips
Well I’m gonna cop that rotary for sure!
How long did it take with the rotary and Mille?
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Re: Test drive - NEW RUPES Mille and Rotary Buffer by Mike Phillips
The rotary looks so light and small, especially compared to my Dewalt.
Incredible looking work Mike. What a cool looking Chevelle.
Re: Test drive - NEW RUPES Mille and Rotary Buffer by Mike Phillips
What a beutieful car! Great work and write up as useally Mike!
If I would not needed the power wash i got so badly I would have got the Mille this Black Friday. I got a great deal on Rupes polishers were I live. Since I live in Sweden I think I need to by them from here because of the warrenty on them and the 240v.
If I get to do more polishing this spring maybe the budget allows me to invest in great polishers. For the moment I get along good with the setup I have. But improvement in greater tools for the smooth running and quality is on the list.
I think it has with the 110v production of the new rupes polishers that it takes some more time before they can release them. And that they can get them out when they do release them and it's not saying out of stock all the time.
Looking forward to the individual review of them. Thanks for shareing this test.
Regards
Tony
Re: Test drive - NEW RUPES Mille and Rotary Buffer by Mike Phillips
Wowza! I bet Mike had to stop several times to wipe drool off the car as he was polishing!
I never considered buying a rotary, but that one looks a lot less intimidating than the rest. I also want to hear more about the Mille compared to the Flex.