Ive been doing this for 16 years, my brain is in constant overdrive with shiny cars plus I like helping folks out that are willing to take it on board and apply the knowledge to there own cars.
That kit is spot on kit lee_zee.
After the polishing you can apply the blackhole by machine on a finishing pad and just work it, work it and work it some more, this will richen the paint real nicely.
Seal and wax as per by hand mate, leave the machine as there is no benefit to applying/removing by machine plus you get to feel the benefits of your hard labour after polishing
Nothing quite like a smooth paint job to wipe down and finish
I will appologise for the length of this reply but hopefull it will become a little helpfull to those whom are debating on getting a DA/rotaray machine.
Bit of babble I wrote a while back with a few tweeks for DA/rotary usage.
Best correction is by rotary by far.
DA can achieve great results, far better than by hand and isnt as daunting as using a rotary polisher.
An excellent DA is the dodo buff daddy/DAS6 polisher.
Ideally I recomend meguiars pads as they have a perfect fit.
I use lake country 6.5" ccs pads at the mo but im going to transfer over to meguiars.
Polishes, I swear by menzerna final finish PO 85 RE 5 which is a great all rounder.
Another uber great finishing/glazing/swirl remover is dodo LP.
dodo LP has micro abbrasives that break down as you work with them so very lite cutting and refining in one.
Menzerna intensive polish which is a medium grade polish for lite/severe marring and menzerna power gloss which is heavy cutting for quite severe work.
You will need a polishing pad and finishing pad( I recomend 2 of each ), if its more severe then a light cutting pad will be needed.
The idea is to start with the least aggressive combo of polish and pad on a 1ft sqaure section and see what result you get.
If not the desired finish then step up to a more heavier polish with the same pad and so on until you find the best result.
Majority of the time you will find a medium polish with a polishing pad will give you the result your after but obviously you can go further if need be.
In worse cases you will use a more aggresive polish with a cutting pad which will remove a few microns of the clear coat and will look like there are more swirls than before but what you will do then is using a softer pad and less aggressive polish, refine the finish you are working on...............so in a nutshell you will be marring the paint more before correcting the swirling but it works.
As said if you start with a finishing pad and menzerna fianl finish firstly.
Just try different combo's.
Its all about slow and steady and finding that right combo.
When you start machine polishing its imperitive that you keep the pad face flat to the surface of the panel as you can burn through or get uneven marring ( buffer trails )put into the paint.
So you will have fitted your pad to the backing plate if you want give the pad a quick/lite spray with water or quick detailer ( just enough to feel moist, spray about 6" away )
Add to drops of polish to the pad adjacent to each other ( size of your little finger nail will do ).
Work the polish over the area before switching on.
Now at speed 1-2 ( 600-700 ) if DA ( speed 2 )work the polish slowly across the panel ( moving across 1" per 2 seconds roughly ) side to side twice at this speed so you break the polish down ready to work it.
At speed 2-3 (1100-1300 ) if DA ( 4-5 )continue with the 1" per 2 seconds as this will work the polish evenly so you getting all the surface, you can apply about 10lbs of pressure so you get the best of the pad and product ( look at the hotrod thread and the how the pad looks on my polisher, this will give you a rough idea of what pressure to use ).
Side to side around 3-4 times then come back down to speed 2 for 2 pass ( side to side ) to finish the last of the polish, burnish the finish to a high gloss finish at speed 1, no pressure let the machine flow easily across the paint for a few random passes.
With a soft microfibre cloth remove any residue and check your work.
If you feel it needs a stronger cut then step up with the polish.
Again if needs be step up to the next pad and so on.
If youve gone to the point of using a lite cutting pad you do the same process then come down to a polishing pad then a finshing pad reducing the strength of polishes as you go.
Think of it as youve sandied your car with 800 paper then you want to get rid of the nasty sanding marks so you go over it again with 1000, 1200, 1500 untill its smooth and what you want.
Majority of first timers like to play it safe and break there polishing cherry with a DA polisher such as the buff daddy/das6 or megs g220 but in all honesty, you will improve your finish but it wont de-swirl or correct like a rotary at all.
I strongly recomend the wright up by Davekg as he is very good at method and breakdown of method.
This is just a rough guide, I would strongly recomend getting a couple of panels from a scrapyard to practice on as john said tbh.
Knowing me ive missed something or someone is going to criticise what ive put but as said this is just a quick, rough guide but hope this helps.
Final finish - finishing polish/glaze
Super finish - refining and finishing polish
Power finish - medium grade polish
Power gloss - aggressive polish
Always start with the least aggressive combination of pads and polish then step up wit the polish then step up with the pad and so on until you find a combo that suits you.
Its all trial and error but remember slow and steady is the key to perfection.
This is a quickie guide which should help out. :lol:
