My car had 89,000 miles and 12 years worth of fair wear and tear by the previous 4 owners when I got it, plus another 3 months & 2000+ miles of my own.
I have a bit of a knackered shoulder and find that polishing the car by hand really aggravates the injury.
The car has a few swirls and blemishes here and there, however it isn’t really tatty and looks reasonable immediately after washing.
My idea is to give the car a once over with some T-Cut metallic, then polish.
So I think that I have established that a “DA” polisher/sander is what i have always known as an ‘Orbital’ (sander).
I have a smallish compressor in the garage and have seen some reasonably priced Pneumatic Palm Sanders and others with handles to use with 6" pads.
I also have Halfords Trade Card and seen their Electric DA machine recommended.
So looking for recommendations and ideas from those that know.
I started out using an air polisher on my Model A when I was restoring it but I changed to an electric one, a Meguiars DA wuich I found easier, I guess it`s down to the individual which you get on with best……………………………………….
With a half decent DA Polisher and no more than a medium/soft Pad and a light polish, you shoul be able to make a difference to the paintwork without damage
This one from Halfords is based on the Meguiars Basic DA…Dont use the red pad though …Its too harsh
Mazda paint is both thin and soft. You must never use a harsh polish either like TCut …youre asking for trouble
Start on Speed 1 and carefully spread the polish out. Then turn up to speed 4
Always work on a small area at a time in criss cross pattern, with slight weight put into it and do the same again with just the weight of the machine
Do this 4 or 5 times on the same area
Use no more than 4 small blobs of polish on the pad and work it carefully. keep checking what youve done and wipe away with a mf cloth when youve done the number of passes
Depending on the polish, some dont diminish, it may or may not start to go clear
Polish…so many out there…If using Halfords, go for Meguiars Ultimate compound and a medium pad, then do it again with a finishing pad with half the polish on the pad
If you follow these steps, you should be ok, but remember, its thin, so dont be aggressive…caress the paintwork instead
Thanks for the informative replies so far, much appreciated.
I do have a few ‘windy’ tools as we call them in my work world (Aircraft Maintenance ).
I will try my drill and Die grinder to see if my compressor is up to the job - prob should have thought of this before asking… doh !
Although sometimes the air line and couplings create the restriction. I have only used my Aldi/Lidl compressor to inflate tyres and used the solvent gun to clean the engine bay (with water and auto glym vinyl care mix - came up like a new pin ! ).
You mention hard pads etc…
Are they all universally colour coded .
I don’t want to ruin my paint lacquer (Stormy Blue Mica Metallic).
I will also look at the provided hyperlinks - cheers.
Good choice. I was about to pitch in a say go electric. Not from any usability point of view but just the noise perspective. I have a 50 litre compressor but went electric just because the amount of noise the compressor makes when it kicks in. Doesnt matter when it’s only occasionally like topping up tyres or removing the wheels but on a job that uses the air for a good hour or two and it will drive you nuts!
The DA Machine worked well for applying Compound and Polish. I applied the Liquid Wax by Hand. I used Meguiars Ultimate for compound, Polish and Liquid Wax as readily available form Halford 4 minute drive down the road.
I had to buff the final Wax off by hand using a MF towel as i didn’t have a suitable buffing head for the DA Machine - recommendation ?
As per original post car is 12 years old and coming up for 93,000 miles now so has seen some road, car wash and weather in that time.
My effort definitely looks much better than before i started and so time not wasted.
I think i am done Polishing for this year though…
Whilst cleaning all of the rubber seals I found one of my hood drains blocked with about 1" of standing water in it, trombone brush was a good investment and cleared it. Maybe need to find the other drains and give them a swish too…
