Porter-Cable 7424 Polisher

[donv]

Originally Posted by Lux

Swirl marks are hard to diagnose thru words. Take your digital camera and take a picture of the car in direct sunlight (with the sun directly reflecting back in the pic) and one in the garage using the flash (again, with the flash reflecting directly back). This will expose how bad the swirls really are. Post the pics so we get an idea what you're dealing with. This in turn will determine the polish and, more importantly, the type of pad that you're going to need.

OK, had some time to clean and photograph the car today...

This was taken outdoors in sun - today was overcast.

[donv]

Another outdoor shot...

[donv]

Same hood, outdoors, close-up showing light scratch where AutoBahnd was replaced...

[donv]

Indoors with flash...

[donv]

Another indoor flash shot... that spaceship is the garage light.

[donv]

And for contrast - the Subaru DD with flash indoors. This one gets way less pampering... the swirl marks are easily seen just with the garage fluorescent lights on this one, while the Boxster swirls are really hard to see.

I'm looking forward to your recommendations for pads/polishes based on the shots!

[Lux]

Don,

Your car looks to be in fantastic shape. I think my '04 had more swirls than yours does.

For compounds I would get Poorboy's SSR2.5 and SSR1. 2.5 is a mild cutter and 1 is a final polish. Both are available on detailing sites on the net. This is what I use and I'm happy with the results. If you plan on using different compounds, consult autopia for suggestions.

For the subie:
1. Medium cutting pad with SSR2.5. Work in a 2'x2' area. Work the SSR2.5 until it breaks down and starts to dust. I put 4 dime sized dots on the pad and spread it on speed 1 and then crank it up to speed 5. You'll use this technique on pretty much all the compounds.

2. Light cutting pad with SSR2.5.

3. Finishing pad with SSR1.

4. Your favorite wax.


For the Boxster:
1. Light cutting pad with SSR2.5

2. Finishing pad with SSR1

3. Your favorite wax.


Here's some things to keep in mind:
1. Try and use the least aggressive pad/compound that you think you'll need.
2. Sometimes you'll have to go over an area 2 or 3 times to get the result you want.
3. It's ok to apply a little pressure to the PC. But just letting the weight of the machine apply the pressure is usually adequate. Again, move the PC ~3" per second. Let the speed of the PC do it's job.
4. Make sure whatever you use to remove the compound (I use MF towels) does not contribute to swirls/scratches.

Post the results when you're done. I think you'll be happy. BTW, it gets addictive really fast.


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[slogans7]

Beautiful! I got a PC a couple of months ago and love it. I either use Klasse All-in-One followed by a couple coats of Klasse SG, or AIO followed by P21S.

So you've got two suns north of Boston? And they say there's nothing wrong with our environment!

[lexuspilot]

I'm not a professional paint man(but I did stay in a holiday inn express last night)

But, It looks like it needed a more aggressive cleaner before you polished it.

Hard to tell from the pictures.

[donv]

Originally Posted by lexuspilot

It looks like it needed a more aggressive cleaner before you polished it.

Hard to tell from the pictures.

Can you say more about this? The car was washed, clayed, washed and dried with Water Blade before polishing. This vehicle was last "Zainoed" about a year ago.

The paint does have a slight "orange peel" like appearance but it appears to be mostly under the clear coat. I can see some actual small (pencil-lead sized) shallow dimples on the surface if I look closely enough while sighting along the surface (maybe pitting from acid rain?). I guess I could polish more to get rid of them, but I'm concerned about running out of clearcoat.

This car is over 7 years old and spends most of its life outdoors.