So I just picked up a griots garage 6'' and 3'' random orbital buffers, their orange pads, and machine polish 2-3.

I just did my civic, (love how it turned out) but really went into it blind. Although my dad used to own a detail company, it's been 20-25 years, and he's never used a ramdom orbital. so he could only help so much.

my main questions are, how hard should I be pushing, and how big of areas should I be doing and one time?

I buffed my cousins camaro, and it made a HUGE diference but I can't help but think how much better it would have turned out if I had a little info or tips from the people who know what they are doing.


Basicly, I'm looking for any tips, tricks, you can give me! Any and all answers are welcome, thanks guys!


A few before/afters of the camaro.



50/50 of the QP. This was the worst. pretty bad scratches, and althought the pictures don't show the paint was oxidizing pretty badly.


QP done.



I have no before shots of the civic, but here is a quick side shot in the garage.

 

It really depends on paint condition and hardness of the paint. Harder paint = more pressure and/or more agressive product. Same thing with paint condition....with the exception that if the clearcoat is already worn, being too aggressive will pull it right off.

Traditionally with stock civic paint, you need to use a little less aggressive product (as it is a soft paint) with more pressure. More aggressive product will micro-mar (sp?) the paint quickly because it is softer. Thus, a less aggressive product with more pressure tends to work better.

Area - depends on the temperature (you dont want the product to dry out). If your paint is in better condition, then you can do a larger area as it requires less "buffing" in a single area. So you have to measure how much product to use and how large of an area to do off those two conditions usually.

On a side note, the civic looks good from the side!

 

Is there a way to tell if the paint is hard or soft?


That's what I heard with civic paint. I used the griots orange pad, with their machine polish 2, the their 1 step sealant (said to have some machine polish 3 in it as well. Then their carnauba paste wax.

For the civic I basicly did each pannel as 1 section (except qp's) but my paint was 10 times nicer then that camaro. For it I just made boxes. As you can see, that paint was in bad shape.

Thank you!!

 

Ok guys, so for the next car I think i am going to step away from the Griots polish, and pick up Meguires M105/205.

I'm just kind of unsure how well he 105/205 is going to work with the Griots orange pads, or should I get a diferent type?

I definetly plan to stick with the griots 6'' random orbital.

<--detailing noob here. lol

 

Ive always used 3m rubbing compounds and it is the best by far worked for me. as far as using the buffer you dont need to be putting to much pressure on the paint and it can bring up the risk of burning the paint which you dont want to do. just light pressure working in a 2x2 area at a time. Check out the 3M rubbing compounds if you want to try out different kinds of compunds.

 

M105/205 are a great combo. I'd look into using the meguiars mf pads or similar. Also the good ol' orange/white lake country flat pad combo is great. There's just so many options out there with what kind of paint you happen to be working with. I usually use smaller pads with a DA machine to achieve correction faster. Also watch out for some of the oils in 205 making sure to do a good IPA wipe down after each pass. Don't want it hiding anything on ya HD also offers some great products like UNO.

 

I will deffinetly take a look at the 3m compound! Thank you.
Burning the paint is the main reason I picked up a random orbital.

I'll take a look at the Meguiars MF pads. I've been looking at Lake country pads, but theres just so many to chose from. lol

I was looking at a buying a DA, but after I saw all the trushine threads, and my brother getting a job Griots garage, I bought both 6/3'' buffers.


Thank you for the tips, and lets keep them coming! I may have another car in the gargae some what soon, so I'll post some pictures of that.

 

Let me know how the Griots works out for you. I have a PC 7424 and Megs g110v2 and like them a lot. Also the Flex 3401 is a great machine, but takes a little getting used to with it forced motion.

Good luck to ya and autopia is a great forum for info also. Any questions just ask!

 

So far I like. my only thing is, I don't really care for the handle. I pretty much always have my hand under it... Although, I don't really have much to compare it to.

I came really close to pulling the trigger on a flex, but my brother was able to get me a stupid good deal on the griots. Honeslty, it seems like a good starter buffer. You can't really hurt the paint.
My biggest thing now is finding pads/compounds that work well. The griot's stuff just isn't aggressive enough for the cars I've done.

I've used all of their polish and just feel it's meant for that garage queen lambo, and not a beat up camaro. lol Their most aggressive (Machine polish 1) didn't do any better then the 2 did.


I am going to sign up their later tonight!! I've heard great things about that site.

 

I took a look the Meg's MF pads, and they look good. may end buying them before the next car comes in.

But then I see waffle pads, and lake contry cutting pads. Man this **** can be confusing. lol

 

ive used a lot of pads and always end up going back to the lake country ccs pads

 

Also did you have an air compressor on hand? A blow gun works great to clean the MF pads out. I usually blow the pad out after each panel. It's a good idea to use the backing plate for the MF system. I believe it helps the pad run a little cooler and now gum up the polish.

 

I do... I tried looking for the backing plate but I didn't find it. I'll look more later.