Cut And Polish

[Kid-Ae]

Going to try to make my car spotless tomorrow.

 

What are the best method(s) that people use when it comes to cutting and polishing/waxing their pride and joy? I'm a little unsure on it and would love some suggestions/input.

 

The paint isn't the best quality, but I want to try to get as much shine as I can out of it.

 

So; What product(s) do you use and what is the best method for cutting and polishing?

 

Thanks, Sam

[RocksRolla]

I use 'T Cut' its really good stuff, its only like $15 a bottle too hope it helps

[19914afc]

I found that taking my time doing it by hand it looked much better than when I used a electric buffer.

If your really keen one of the Lexus detailers at work leaves the polish on the car for 24hrs before rubbing off, apparently keeps it shiner for longer.

[ForzaAE92]

Well it depends on what sort of coin you're looking to spend first.

 

Ideally you'd go for a dedicated cutting compound, then follow it up with a good quality wax or glaze to seal everything. Cut and polish works, but if you then try to wax over it, it just ends up looking blurry and smeared.

 

I use Meguairs products because I've had nothing but really good results with them, and I would steer away from cheap brands.

 

As for electric buffers, using them for waxing/buffing takes a lot of the effort out of it as opposed to doing it by hand, but do it by hand first till you get a feel for what you're doing. Oh, and don't use them for applying the cutting compound, as you can leave burn marks in the paint... I've done it.

 

Other than the obvious, i.e. wash/cut/wax in the shade, have lots of clean open weave cloths, follow the instructions (for the cutting compound) you'll learn as you go :)

 

Hope this helps you somewhat dude :cool:

[JJT036]

Well all i can say is go to bayfords campbellfeild and get som stuff called JUICE polish

its one of the best on the market and easy to work with, Most panel shops are using it these days.

 

cheers

woz

[Ben-89]

Your lucky because its a white car Sam, however its a car designed with tedious edges,

grooves which are a pain to polish around regardless.

 

When I bought my ae92, first thing was use a good cutting compound slightly watered down,

By hand I did the channels down the lenght of the roof, the top half of the tailgate, groove along the tops of the doors and the pressings above the black door mouldings.

 

Doing the above will make machine buffing the car a whole lot easier as you'll have flat

areas to work on. We have an old makita buff with a lambs wool pad, the key to a mean polish is be liberal with the polish, and keep the polish moist when its dabbed over the area to be polished. With the buff, now this will sound odd but with the buff you need to "keep up with it" as you move it side to side when polishing. So use your feet!

 

Then you notice the buff pad is getting dirty when the paint looks smeared. Then what you do is place the buffing machine between your knees with it on a low speed if you have that that option and with a old screw driver run it through the pad (but make sure the pad is spinning away from you) and gently apply pressure as you run the blade through the pad. This will get rid the polish and old paint and then continue the polish.

 

Once the car is cut and polished, give it a good rinse off and wash it with hot water and

soap to clean out any cutting compound, then chamois and lastly polish it with a crem'e/wax

to seal the paint. It will transform the car.

 

After a good cut and polish.

 

 

*I may have forgot to mention it, but polishing all hte edges and high spots by hand will

prevent any paint burning.

Edited April 30, 2011 by "The Mint KE70"

[ninja-philbo]

and at the end if it still come out all swirly and what not get some scratch and swirl remover takes about an hour but gets rid of every mark can make the worst job look like a pro has done it

[Jesseb369]

Ben is amazing hahaha!

[Ben-89]

Ben is amazing hahaha!

Haha thanks Jesse! I love to pass on advice to others :blush:

[clubby2084]

With out showing my age too much I've been using this stuff for the better part of 25 years, and I promise, it is good. I don't use buffing machines, I prefer to polish my cars by hand. I've seen too many paint jobs burnt by the inexperienced (like me).

 

 

It is a cleaning polish, not an abrasive cutting compound. It will remove light to mild oxidization easily. Most cutting compounds require big muscles. This stuff really is wipe on wipe off easy. Most cutting compounds also require a cream polish to "seal" in the shine. Not required but it's up to you.

I've also noticed a lot of big brand polishes use oils (or silicone), leaving the surface smeared with swirles that need to be washed out.

This is an old trick, my dad used a cap of kero in the wash water on his black cars, it made them shine without having to polish them.

And best of all because it doesn't have a trendy name, and it's been around long enough for people to forget about it, it's less than $10 from Repco or Autobarn.

I use it on both my Corolla and Clubsport, and I constantly get told how great they look. I've converted a few people to this stuff, and they seem to be happy with it.

It's also a very liquid polish, not a cream. So if you do use it be careful, it comes out the bottle like water.