Average time for 1 pass on a vehicle?

[m4gician]

Hey guys,

I average like 2 hours per pass on one polish, sometimes just using it on speed 6 with 106ff.

Is that too long? I take my time I realize, but how long should it take me ideally with the flex to work in the polish and create that smooth shiny exterior?

[Old Pirate]

That's sound about right, if your using a PC on speed 6. Some job's if those swirls are worst than your looking at much more time........

[Brian_Brice]

What you should probably be paying attention to, is how long you are actually polishing each section. That of course is going to vary by wide margin depending on the product.

If you are talking about a one step machine polish with abrasives as opposed to a all in one type product, on the norm with a da you should be concentrating that one small area at least 3 minutes.

Some polishes require more time to fully break down than others, but if you are figuring 3-5 minutes per pass/per section, you will be able to shave time off your completed process by trial and error, not to mention if you're tackling the same body every time, practice makes perfect, but make sure you are completely breaking the polish down, or time really doesn't matter.


To give you a frame of reference in terms of different machines, I can probably polish a standard four door sedan with one finishing polish via rotary in a little under an hour. I have never timed myself, but off the top of my head that's seems pretty accurate.

[Pyrocite]

Takes me about 1hr on my hood alone... well the 1st time i did it anyway

[m4gician]

What you should probably be paying attention to, is how long you are actually polishing each section. That of course is going to vary by wide margin depending on the product.

If you are talking about a one step machine polish with abrasives as opposed to a all in one type product, on the norm with a da you should be concentrating that one small area at least 3 minutes.

Some polishes require more time to fully break down than others, but if you are figuring 3-5 minutes per pass/per section, you will be able to shave time off your completed process by trial and error, not to mention if you're tackling the same body every time, practice makes perfect, but make sure you are completely breaking the polish down, or time really doesn't matter.


To give you a frame of reference in terms of different machines, I can probably polish a standard four door sedan with one finishing polish via rotary in a little under an hour. I have never timed myself, but off the top of my head that's seems pretty accurate.

I think I'll upgrade to a rotary for this summer's business, keep the flex for smaller panels, and possibly sell my UDM.

[Pyrocite]

I think I'll upgrade to a rotary for this summer's business, keep the flex for smaller panels, and possibly sell my UDM.

Good luck with rotary, as far as the UDM keep if for right now in case your Flex brakes down. Just my $.02